I once had a discussion with a gentleman involved with designing CSX's "boxcar logo" (this one: [CSXT] ). My contention is that it was rather inappropriate for a railroad transportation business, because it uses elements brought over from our social-media/texting-obsessed society, and wasn't representative of the job the railroad does. The response was: "Well we tested it and it has better recognition numbers than the regular logo!".. My question is, tested among what group? Corporate traffic managers? Teenagers? The general public at large? In any case, yes, there is some thought given to branding.
Makes me think about this...
