July 9, 2013
Measuring Brand Awareness
Measuring Brand Awareness is our first metric in our series of the 15 Metrics Every Marketer Should Know.
For soda companies, what is the first brand you think of?
Do you remember which soda brand wants to teach the world to sing, and which is a favorite of Britney Spears and Ray Charles?
We are surrounded by messages from various brands all day long. Walking down the street or sitting at home watching TV, companies are continually trying to make you aware of their product. The end goal is to get you to buy their product, but there are five levels to brand awareness:
- Brand rejection/negative associations. If someone associates your brand with something negative, they will purposely avoid your product. This can happen easily today with just one bad review or social media post, or due to true product defects, accidents and other issues that can turn public opinion against you. In a world made up of brand visibility, it’s critical to fess up and move on immediately to leave this situation.
- Brand non-recognition. Your brand does not enter in your customer’s mind when they make a choice. They have not seen or heard of you, nor are they aware of what differentiates you from others. Avoiding non-recognition means making sure your name is differentiated enough not to be generic, so that it stands out. To do this, find the differences in value between your product and your competitors and highlight that difference mercilessly.
- Brand recognition. Congratulations! You have entered your customers mind. Once they recognize your name, they are much more likely to choose your brand over one they have never heard of. Once you are at this stage, the next move for your brand is to create value.
- Brand preference. This is where customers – given a choice between two brands – will choose yours over someone else’s. It often is the result of a sense of differentiation and that your product or service uniquely serves their needs, including personal fit of values, service levels, reliability and association.
- Brand loyalty. Customers will now choose your brand consistently, even if they experience occasional poor service or if another product comes along that seems to be better suited to their needs. To achieve brand loyalty, you need to provide a product that is highly differentiated, with plenty of value added. On top of that, you need to offer them remarkable service at a level they will not get anywhere else, engage them deeply in customized services that meet their specific profile, and continue to grow and adapt to their changing needs. Providing this level of service is highly involved and challenging, but will ensure that they will not switch easily.
Measuring brand awareness is far more qualitative than quantitative. Yes, achieving higher sales is the goal, but to measure brand awareness, you actually have to ask the consumers what they think. If you were Coke, you would ask “For soda companies, what is the first brand you think of?” Once consumers know and recognize your brand, they will be more likely to purchase your products.
And check back on Friday, July 12 for our next metric in the series:
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