While most aspects of Irish society have changed beyond recognition since the 1930s, there is one area that shows surprising consistency - branding.

Of the 52 brands advertised by McConnells advertising agency in 1937, more than half are still thriving and only 15 have disappeared.

This fascinating information was unearthed by Mr John Fanning, McConnells' chairman, to illustrate how the most important factor affecting brand fortune is the management of the individual companies concerned. Writing in the latest edition of the Irish Marketing Review, Mr Fanning says that brand failure is primarily due to weak management, which allow brands to disappear because they don't innovate sufficiently to take account of market conditions.

Among the survivors from the original list of 52 are examples of brands which appeared to have outlived their usefulness but went on to reinvent themselves. Twenty years ago, Chef was performing poorly in the Irish market with products which were static or in decline. However, management introduced new packaging and new variations of the product to suit changing tastes and the brand is now thriving. And Brylcreem is deemed one of the great successes of modern marketing as it has re-entered the fashionable youth market.

The struggle to keep a brand's position is relentless. Mr Fanning points to the growing belief that, in order to survive, all brands will have to add a service element. It's no longer enough for Persil to make your whites whiter, it must also provide a 24-hour help-line for washing dilemmas.