Devoted to branding and building and protecting brands

No argument  that Disaster Set Off The Boom, but the city of Oakland, and surrounding  East Bay, simply could not unseat the "brand" which had already been established by the city of San Francisco.  The centennial commemoration of the 1906 earthquake and fire that devastated SF and neighboring communities dredges up some poignant reminders about how the fabled Bay Area became what it is today.  Geological and economic forces combined right after the disaster to spark (no pun) all kinds of growth in Oakland, a ferry ride across the Bay, Berkeley, and points north and south.  The spate of media retrospectives serves to remind us that there are some "brands"  that prevail despite bumbling executives,  fickle markets--or even forces of nature.  Take Oakland (please).  First, another disclaimer: I am an "Oakland" guy.  My dad was a railroad man who began his career there.  I was born and raised a half-hour north of Oaktown.  I relate to the A's, not the Giants.  OK.  But I smiled a sad smile being reminded how, in the months and years after April 18, 1906, investors and "city fathers" seized the moment to capitalize on the opportunity to supplant  the San Francisco brand as the center of West Coast business gravity.  Problem was, and is, that the same forces of nature that ruined San Francisco also endowed it with geography that Oakland could never match.  There's more to it than a pretty face, of course.  Flattened by one of nature's crueler sucker punches, San Francisco staggered to its high-buttoned feet before the ten-count.   With the help of financial bigwigs and a gilded worldwide reputation -- a "brand" if you will -- the total market forces refused to let "Frisco" go.   They prop it up even today.  Consider the product brands which, over the years, suffered their own varying degrees of calamities and emerged phoenix-like: Jaguar's XK, the Ford Mustang (admittedly, the jury's still out, but it's been an interesting attempt), Harley-Davidson.  Interesting how motor vehicles come to mind.  Hey, maybe cities, cars and motorcycles share commonalities more profound than we think: excitement, escape, panache, emotion, fantasy, even images of ourselves in our minds' eyes.  Fact is, vehicles have always factored heavily in the soul of a city.  But it remains that once we've imbued anything with brand attributes, we're reluctant to let go.  There's Oakland.  And then there's San Francisco.  The cities, and the brands.