The concept of branding really took off in the 1980s, following the recession and the downturn in profits and productivity of some of the world’s largest manufacturers. For the first time, production could be moved overseas, to places such as China and India, for a fraction of the cost, due to a reform in the law governing labor and trade. Prior to this, masterminding the manufacturing process was the core business strategy, this slowly began to be replaced by developing the brand essence.