Abstract

Much has been written over the years concerning the separate domains of conflict and branding. However, the combination of the two areas and the impact that one has over the other are relatively scarcer, especially from a British perspective. It can be argued that conflict and the well-documented effects of war can directly influence a brand’s visual development and positioning during the Second World War. Furthermore, this can also be aligned with contemporary brand strategy and recent events concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted the world in early 2020 to 2022 and continues to have a considerable economic impact. This research offers an insight into how modern-day brands have evolved when referencing and adapting their brand’s identity, influenced this time not only by wartime conflict but by an equally pernicious global event such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic, and identifies how they shared similar advertorial approaches from the early 1940s and 2020. The research will also discuss how modern-day brands leveraged and adapted their visual persona to reflect their new environment, brands that traditionally were unrelated to pharmaceuticals and healthcare, and the circumstances that enabled them to change their brand persona and tone of voice.