Why is one of the Big Apple’s subway trains decked out in a tartan from a tiny studio on the edge of the Scottish Highlands?
First build in the early 1900s, that subway train is actually New York’s 42nd Street Shuttle, an historic automated, 820 metre (two minute) ride from Times Square to Grand Central Station,
In the ever-innovative Big Apple, the train folk now rent it out for promotional campaigns and this year’s festive holiday scene saw it furnished and dressed by Brooks Brothers of Madison Avenue.
Most spectacular however was that on the exterior is was emblazoned with a tartan that took life in my studio here in Crieff almost five years ago. As the famous store group’s signature tartan, it generated over £10 million pounds of Scottish exports that featured in over a hundred different products in Brooks stores around the world.
But the final accolade has to be that fantastic train, and I have to admit to feeling a bit ‘puffed up’ when I first saw it. Of course, not many of the clients for whom I design corporate tartans have the global reach – or the financial muscle – to use their tartan in that way, but Brooks Brother offers the best possible example of what you can do if you introduce your own unique tartan into your corporate branding arsenal.
For technical anoraks there’s some fascinating info on the 42nd St. Shuttle @
http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/IRT_Times_Square-Grand_Central_Shuttle
If you’d like to discuss the potential for your company, click here or give me call on +44 7874 774464