A mercantilist brand: the British East India Company and Madeira Wine, 1756–1834

Câmara, Benedita; Lopes, Teresa da Silva; Fredona, Robert

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.13/5316

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Authors

Câmara, Benedita

Lopes, Teresa da Silva

Fredona, Robert

Abstract(s)

This study analyzes the long-term power of mercantilist firms and brands in industries characterized by high uncertainty and asset specificity. It contrasts the reputation-building and protection strategies employed in two similar industries in Portugal in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; namely, those of Madeira and Port wine. The Portuguese crown created a collective brand for Port in 1756, the first regional appellation in the world. Madeira wine only received similar protection in the late twenti eth century. This study argues that the Madeira wine industry relied on a different type of mercantilist proto-brand—a diffuse and multi-faceted “global” umbrella brand—of the British East India Company, which during its heyday more than rivaled the power of the Portuguese state as a product certifier and endorser.

Keywords

Mercantilism Mercantilist brands Proto-brands Merchants East India Company Madeira wine Port wine . Faculdade de Ciências Sociais

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.13/5316

Citation

Câmara, B., Lopes, T., & Fredona, R. (2023). A Mercantilist Brand: The British East India Company and Madeira Wine, 1756–1834. Business History Review, 1-38. doi:10.1017/S0007680523000387