If you did an Internet search to find words that have emerged from obscurity to become popular nearly overnight, one that would inevitably appear on almost anyone's list would be the word "branding."
It has evolved from its original sense — burning a rancher's personal symbol on the hindquarters of a steer — into a word meaning "unique identification with a commercial product."
That is, certain makes of automobile convey the idea of "luxury" when you hear them, while others say "ruggedness" or "practicality" or "economy." The companies that make them have spent considerable time and money to establish their brands with those images.
That's the goal behind a new symbol created by a consortium of seafood processors, the fishing industry and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute to create an identifiable "brand" for four species of seafood that are sustainably harvested in the Gulf of Maine.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Portland Press Herald (Portland, ME).