Furthermore, the market for crayons is extremely static and practically guaranteed -- there will always be children, and children will always want to draw brown puppies on green grass under a yellow sun. Yet, despite competitors’ efforts and a product that is not technologically superior, Crayola crayons are asked for by name.

One hundred years ago this year, a box of eight Crayola crayons made its first appearance. Crayola was the brainchild of two cousins, Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith, who had founded a chemical company that produced the red and black pigment materials used in products such as lampblack, automobile tires, shoe polish and red barn paint.

In 1900 the company, Binney & Smith, began producing slate pencils for schools. Further research into drawing utensils produced a wax-based crayon, the most important aspect of which was its non-toxicity. In 1903 Crayola was born. Its name, having been coined by one of the founder’s wives, combines the French words craie (chalk) and ola (oleaginous).

More than a billion crayons later, the company produces an average of 12 million crayons a day, which are available in 120 colors and packaged in boxes of eight to 120 individual crayons. Crayola products are available in more than 80 countries and 12 languages. The brand covers colored pencils, markers, chalk, Silly Putty and paint. Various public research has found that 92 percent of mothers of children aged 2 to 12 identified the Crayola brand when asked to name a brand of crayon; 100 percent of mothers who have bought crayons could draw a Crayola box from memory; and the Crayola name is recognized by 99 percent of Americans. A Yale University study found that the scent of Crayola crayons is the eighteenth most recognized scent to American adults.

Perhaps best known for its creatively named colors, brown puppies on green grass under a yellow sun become beaver puppies on asparagus grass under a macaroni and cheese sun when drawing with Crayola crayons. Naming colors proved a perfect way to engage the Crayola end user, which is, of course, a child.

Yet, Crayola demonstrates a great deal of self-control by limiting the zany “wow” aspects of its business. The brand managers have been careful not to make color renaming a bigger part of the identity than the Crayola brand itself, a lesson other companies could learn from (e.g., Ben & Jerry’s). Throughout Crayola’s 100-year history, the brand has maintained the same packaging, the same green and yellow trademark colors and the same design on the crayon labels. Also, Crayola applies a dual pronged strategy of reaching out to both children and their parents (the actual customers). A few examples include:

• In 1996, the 1 billionth Crayola crayon was made by a popular childhood TV personality in the US, Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

• Crayola held Crayola ColorJam ’96 -- the largest gathering of people with colors in their names, including Crayola-hometown Easton, Pennsylvania’s Mayor Tom Goldsmith.

• On Royal Caribbean’s cruise ships, Crayola offers art programs for children and adults.

• Crayola surveyed celebrities on their favorite colors. (Fascinating results included Britney Spears: robin’s egg blue; Tiger Woods: wild strawberry; Mario Andretti: pig pink; and George W. Bush: blue bell.)

Branding is as much about building a brand as it is about protecting it. And when a brand is as strong as Crayola’s, it can be expected that others will try to capitalize on the success. In 2001, Binney & Smith went to court to defend its trademark green chevron laid over a yellow background, a design Crayola had been using since its inception, when competitor Rose Industries began packaging its own products in green and yellow boxes.

Crayola’s name is as recognizable as its packaging. Entered into the common lexicon of pop culture, Crayola’s name was used to denote the dumbing down of US high school English curriculums as “Crayola Curriculum.”

Crayola personifies the ideal mix of patience, steadfastness, creativity and flexibility -- for example, while rarely changing the names of its colors, Crayola remains sensitive to changes in society. In 1962 the company changed the pinkish "flesh" color to "peach" recognizing that not everyone’s flesh is the same color. Literal generations of children have grown up with, and will continue to grow up with, Crayola, promising a continuation of the brand’s colorful history.

Abram D. Sauer, former columnist for The China Daily and co-founder of Chopstickfactory.com, lives in New York and welcomes freelance opportunities.