Fundamentally, brand awareness comprises of brand recognition and brand recall. As such, it represents the degree to which the consumers are familiar with a product or a brand. Furthermore, it also demonstrates how many consumers can link a certain brand to its particular product and the ratio of the niche market that knows about a certain brand.
As already mentioned, the two main aspects of it are brand recall and brand recognition. Brand recall is actually the potential to which a consumer can remember a certain brand. If the consumers can name a specific brand when presented with a category or product class, as well as the benefits that come up from using such a brand or a buying scenario, then they have successfully remembered a brand. In contrast, brand recognition is their ability to answer certain questions about a specific brand, and it shows that they have some prior knowledge of it. It tells us that they’ve seen or heard of it.
Of course, recognising a brand is easier than remembering it.
Improving brand awareness
In order to boost brand awareness, brands need to consider it from the very beginning. They need to start with the brand name, as that’s one key factor that will influence it. For example, Coke is a memorable brand name, as it’s not difficult to pronounce or spell. Furthermore, it’s distinct and different, which makes it even a better choice. More often than not, Coca-Cola is referred to as Coke, just because it’s shorter and easier to recall.
Nevertheless, we can recognise two types of brand awareness:
- Aided – recognition based on showing the customers a list of brands and giving them a product category
- Top-of-mind – also known as immediate brand recall; the customers can immediately remember a brand when given a product category.
Which is more important – brand recall or brand recognition?
It all depends on the situation. For example, in a supermarket, companies rely on brand recognition, as the brands are physically present in a store. However, when they are not present, then it’s far more important to work on brand recall, as that’s what online brands and those that offer services via the Internet would benefit from.
Building brand awareness
In order to build brand equity, it’s vital for brands to build brand awareness. However, that entails the use of promotional channels. Brands have to use advertising, social media, launch events or product releases, as well as sponsorships and word-of-mouth publicity so as to boost brand awareness.
Furthermore, to actually create it, they need to first have a trustworthy brand image, taglines, and catchy slogans. More importantly, they need to have a brand message they can consistently convey to their target audience.
The benefits of having strong brand awareness are immense. Brands can hope for a higher market share and higher sales rates. Thus, brand awareness is a powerful tool, and it’s indispensable if we want our target audience to become familiar with our brand.
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