Picture this: you’re driving to work one day, and you pass by a sign depicting a twin-tailed mermaid wearing a crown, superimposed on a green circle. There are no words telling you what the sign means, but that doesn’t matter: you already know that the sign represents Starbucks.
Their woodcut mermaid is so ingrained in our consumer conscience, Starbucks doesn’t even need to include a name on their products or locations anymore. And while that’s great for the world’s most successful coffee chain, it is not a phenomenon that happened by accident.
Starbucks made some smart decisions to ingrain that image in our consumer conscience. First, they settled on the image itself. It is a fundamental of advertising to develop a consistent brand, but many businesses fail to take that necessary step seriously. Or they create a brand, but then they change it. Too many times. According to their own corporate history, Starbucks settled on the mermaid image before the first store opened, and while they have made some slight modifications over the years, it is roughly still the same idea.
So, step number one is: settle on your image and keep it.
Next, Starbucks got their image “out there.” All of their advertising included the mermaid, and they advertised her over and over again. Did you know the average consumer needs to see a logo seven times before they remember it?
And by far, the most effective way to get your image “out there” is to put it on your vehicles in the form of car wraps. Especially here in Los Angeles where millions of people sit in traffic every day, vehicle wraps are guaranteed to ingrain your image in consumers’ consciences.
So, get your image “out there,” on your very own car wrap, and before you know it, someone will be driving down the street on their way to work, and they are going to see a sign depicting your image, and they won’t need any words to know it’s your business.
