Myrah:

There is an old line about advertising that goes like this: "We know half the money spent on advertising is wasted; we just don't know which half." (cf http://www.slate.com/id/2149594/)

One thing that definitely works in terms of advertising is building name recognition. I don't have any studies to cite, but I think you'll believe that people are (1) more willing to trust a brand they've heard of, and (2) more likely to start with a brand they heard of when shopping ("I need a lawyer. Here's a list of lawyers. Bartlett & Hart...that name sounds familiar...")

So does plastering your brand name everywhere count as "subliminal messaging"? I don't think it does in the classic sense. But it is definitely and example of how you can influence somebody's behavior in an indirect manner.

Please try my web-based experiments at http://coglanglab.org