On a recent business trip, I was sitting next to a nice guy on the plane ride home who was interested in talking about recruiting, hiring and team building in the consulting business. For most of the discussion, he didn't reveal where he works, I think waiting to hear enough about me to decide whether he wanted to share that information. After a little back and forth about our firing experiences (compelling stuff), he simply pointed to the TV monitor embedded in the seat in front of me and said, "I work for that company."
On the screen was a TV spot for IBM with its classic letterbox screen formatting. Instant brand recognition. No misunderstanding. Really cool.
