Learn how to create brand awareness and positively impact your marketing efforts, customer perception, top-line profitability and revenue.
Brand awareness background
Have you ever heard people refer to themselves as “Apple Fans”, “Nike Fan”, “Starbucks Fan”, Springbok Fan”, “MacDonald Fans” and so the list can go on?
Two questions to think about
- Firstly – think and make a list of 3 things you are a fan of. Also, describe why are you a fan of these things. Or in other words, what makes you happy when you think of these things?
- Secondly, list 3 things you are not a fan of and think of the reasons why you are not a fan of them. Or in other words, what makes you upset when you think about these things?
People want to belong somewhere, as explained by Maslow in his Hierarchy of Needs. It is a human need to belong somewhere or be connected to people or things.
When people are grouped like this, we normally talk about tribalism. People see them as belonging to a certain tribe and they are motivated to belong to this tribe, and they will do anything to remain part of this tribe, Apple is a tribe for example.
I think you started to realise that the tribes you belong to are strongly connected to business brands.
Another question to think about
Before we go into detail about a business brand and specifically your business brand, ask yourself this question – How many business fans do you have who will do anything to belong to your tribe? Many, not sure, nobody…
My father explained it in this way to me “It is like a gold coin, worth millions of dollars. If nobody knows that you have such a precious coin, you don’t need a safe, because it will never be stolen, and the simple reason is that nobody knows about it”.
Then you are in trouble
If this is, you then you are in trouble. You don’t have a tribe or maybe you have just started and dream of creating your own tribe or customer group.
Thinking about it will not help you at all.
You need to get your business or your brand out there so that people know that you exist, and what solutions you offer.
The solution
This blog will help you better understand what brand awareness is. Why brand awareness is so important. How to establish your brand among your audience or tribe. And finally, how to measure success. Let’s dive in and see what it’s all about.
What is brand recognition?
Brand recognition is a marketing term for the degree to which customers recognize a product by its name.
In other words, the brand is your trading name or in Afrikaans, your “handelsnaam” and awareness means “bewustheid”.
Brand awareness might seem like a vague concept, and in truth, it is. For those marketers and business owners out there, who like to gauge success with neat and tidy numbers, brand awareness will likely ruffle your feathers.
A brand is about your business
So, it’s more about your logo or business name and not so much about your products and services. However, customer awareness of the brand may include positive perceptions of the qualities that distinguish the products or services from its competition.
In this blog, I am not talking about the effect of overall customer experience on your brand, because it is a subject totally on its own.
Creating brand recognition is a key step in promoting a new product or reviving an older brand. But just because it isn’t a metric that can be perfectly determined doesn’t mean it doesn’t carry value.
Establishing brand awareness is valuable when marketing and promoting your company and products, especially in the early stages of a business.
How to recognize brand awareness
Furthermore, brand awareness represents how familiar your target audience is with your brand and how well they recognize it.
Brands with high brand awareness are generally referred to as ‘trending,’ ‘buzzworthy,’ or simply popular.
When a person is aware of a brand the brand is embedded in the consumer’s lifestyles and purchase habits so that they don’t have to think twice before becoming a customer, time and time again.
Why is brand awareness important?
As of 2019, Internet users spent approximately 38 minutes per day on Facebook, 26 minutes on Twitter, and 27 minutes on Instagram.
Not surprisingly, companies are now spending a great deal of energy promoting brand awareness on these platforms. This has led to new forms of promotion in which consumers themselves generate discussions about products and services that they like and use.
Targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram accounts for a large majority of brand recognition tactics used, especially among Millennial and Gen Z audiences.
Inevitably, consumers also share unfavourable experiences, and marketers are adapting to that reality. It has become crucial for a company to respond to negative reviews and offer a solution to the customer’s problem, in real-time.
However as consumers view and interact with social media posts and updates, brand awareness will increase, positively or negatively.
For brand awareness to be most productive, consumers should be able to connect to the company’s website seamlessly from the social media platform. Or from any other platform they use for brand awareness.
Brand recognition is incredibly important for business success and overall marketing goals.
Here’s why…
Brand recognition fosters trust
In a world where consumers rely on extensive research and others’ opinions before making a purchase, brand trust is everything.
Once a consumer bonds to your brand, they’re more likely to make repeat purchases with little to no consideration — which then bridges the gap between trust and loyalty.
Brand awareness establishes that brand trust. When you put a famous face to your brand name, consumers can trust it easily.
Brand awareness efforts give your brand a personality and outlet to be sincere, receive feedback, and tell a story. These are all ways that we, as humans, build trust with one another.
The human/brand relationship isn’t any different.
Brand awareness creates an association
When you’ve had a paper cut, I bet you’ve put on a Band-Aid. When you had a pressing question, I’m sure you’ve Googled it. When you needed to make a few copies, I’m guessing that you Xeroxed them. And when you’ve packed for a nice picnic, I’m willing to bet you grabbed a Coke to drink.
Am I correct? Most likely. But … notice how some of the words above are capitalized. These are brands, not nouns or verbs.
Speaking in brandless terms, Band-Aid should be referred to as a bandage, Google as a search engine, and Xerox as a copier. But it’s more fun to refer to the brand itself, even if we aren’t using their specific product.
That’s what brand recognition does. It associates actions and products with particular brands, subconsciously encouraging us to replace common words with branded terms. And before you know it, simple paper cuts or picnics are doing the marketing for us.
Brand awareness builds brand equity
Brand equity describes a brand’s value, which is determined by consumer experiences with and overall perception of the brand. Positive experiences and perceptions equal positive brand equity, and the same goes for negative notions.
Here are a few valuable things that come from positive brand equity:
- Higher prices due to higher perceived value
- A higher stock price
- The ability to expand the business through product or service line extensions
- Greater social impact due to brand name value
How does a brand establish (and increase) brand equity? By building brand recognition and consistently promoting positive experiences with the brand. Brand awareness is the foundation of brand equity.
Once a consumer is aware of a brand, they start to recognize it without assistance. They seek it out to make a purchase. They begin to prefer it over other similar brands and establish a loyalty that not only spurs other purchases. But also inspires recommendations to family and friends.
They become a fan that advocates the brand promote it and sell it on behalf of your business.
That is why brand awareness is so important. It establishes trust with your customers, creates positive associations, and builds invaluable brand equity that allows your brand to become a household name, where the customer sponsors and endorses your business for free.
Always remember it costs 5 times more to acquire a customer compared to retaining a customer. Since you have a trusted brand, your fans sell your products and services for free, that is where every business owner wants to be.
Make sure you retain your customers by building a strong brand awareness, but more on this in another blog.
How brand awareness works
Products and services that maintain a high level of brand awareness are likely to generate more sales.
Consumers confronted with choices are simply more likely to buy a name-brand product than an unfamiliar one.
Consider the soft drink industry. Removed from their packaging, many soft drinks are indistinguishable.
The giants in the industry, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, rely on brand awareness to make their brands the ones consumers reach for.
Over the years, these companies have employed advertising and marketing strategies that have increased brand awareness among consumers, and that has directly translated into higher sales.
This higher rate of brand recognition for dominant brands in a category can serve as an economic moat that prevents competitors from gaining additional market share.
Your brand awareness challenge
You should understand by now, why brand awareness is the key to business success.
Consider your brand awareness situation and how well-known your brand is in front of your audience.
Based on this blog make a few notes on how you can increase your brand awareness so as to establish your brand among your audience or tribe.
Let us know how you are doing.
If you want us to help you with brand awareness click on this link and learn more.
