I drove down a busy street in Dallas this week and glanced at a forlorn transit shelter. You know, the kind that has glowing advertising on either side. At 35 mph I didn’t have much time to see it. The plastic ad was smashed so I could see the exposed fluorescent lights and just part of the ad shards that remained.

I could easily tell who the ad was for. Gap.

See? Good companies/brands can be smashed, and still identified.

When Coca-cola developed their bottles, they wanted them to be unique. A light green tint, a slight hour-glass shape, and the “ribs” so you can hold on to it easily. This unique shape (unlike anything else on the market at the time) became so mirrored to the brand of Coke, that even when someone broke a bottle, a small piece of it was identifiable. They trademarked it.

Your brand should be the same. Everyone relies on logos to communicate their brand; but in order to develop a world-class brand, you should be able to “smash” your website and still be able to identify your brand by small components or parts.
The same with your signage. Your ads. Your direct mail.

How do you do that?

• Think unique design.
• Think unique style.
• Think unique colors.
• Think unique fonts.
• Think unique sounds.

Get the drift? Uniqueness (that’s memorable and builds your brand positioning) will allow you to “own” a smashable brand. And the benefit? People who don’t have time to read, or look at your entire message, will start to understand and remember your brand when they need your benefits.

Yes, a smashable brand will make more money for you. It’s worth getting it professionally done.