Power of Branding

Having been in the marketing profession for most of my working life, I have a decent working & academic knowledge of how powerful branding can be.

I was never more convinced of it, however, until my daughter (at 3 years of age) made a connection. And, I'm not talking about stuff she see's everyday... the Treehouse logo, the Disney castle, etc. I'm talking about making a connection between two things that she sees very rarely.

Sitting on our kitchen table was a napkin from Subway. The Subway logo is all over the napkin. So much so that the ink actually comes off when you use it. Gaby doesn't eat at Subway and has never been in a Subway. Her Daddy does, periodically... and had the night before, after she had gone to bed.

The next day, Gaby took one look at the napkin, pointed to it, and said, "Did Daddy eat there?"

May not mean much to the lay person, but she can't read. Her only recognition is colours and shapes. And, she made the connection between the colours/shapes on the napkin to a place where Daddy eats.

The realization of what had just occured literally stopped me dead in my tracks.

Now, I need a sub.