The Nivea brand is one of the most recognized body-care brand in the world. It was founded a century ago, in 1911 by the Poland and later German company Beiersdorf after developing water-in-oil emulsifier Eucerit ("beautiful wax") to combine fats with oil for longer period.
The Levi’s brand, which symbolizes the USA, was founded by two imigrants, Levi Strauss (Löeb Strauss), a merchant from Bavaria, and Jacob Davis (né Jacob Youphes), a tailor from Latvia, who came to America in mid 50s of the 19th century (the detailed story is on Levi Strauss & Co page).
The history of the Bacardi company started when Facundo Bacardi Masso was born in a Spanish town of Sitges (Catalonia) in October 1814. In the 1820s his older brothers moved to a port city Santiago de Janeiro, trying to escape from the recession and yellow fever, and became successful merchants in the new area. In 1930 they were joined by their brother Facundo, who was just 15 then, and by 1938 he’d saved enough money to open his own wine trade company.
Dove soap, which is positioned as a "beauty bar" with 1/4 cleansing cream rather than a regular soap, was introduced by Lever Brothers in 1955. The owners of the Unilever Company bought soap factory in the Netherlands, which was called De Duif (Dove) and the name of the plant became the one of brand’s (the meaning of the Dutch and English words are the same) and made a flying pigeon to be its main symbol.
The Guinness beer was “born” in 1752 when Arthur Guinness inherited 100 pounds from his godfather, the Archbishop Price, and rented an unused brewery near Dublin for 100 pounds at once and 45 pounds per year for a period of 9 000 years and started a small business.
The globally recognized brands Levi’s and Docker’s, as well as less popular Signature, appeared on the world marketing stage thanks to Levi Strauss, who was born on February 16, 1829 in Buttenheim, Bavaria. In 1847 he, his mother and two sisters move to America.
The Heineken beer is one of the long-standing leaders on the global alcohol market. It was incorporated in the Netherlands almost 150 years ago, in 1864 by 22-year-old Dutchman Gerard Adriaan Heineken, who bought a local brewery De Hooiberg (The Haystack), which was renamed on January 11, 1873 to become Heineken Breweries (English for Heineken's Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij N.V).