What is Brand Awareness?

Brand awareness is the extent to which customers are able to recall or recognize a brand under different conditions.

Ideally, consumers’ awareness of the brand not only means recognition, but also includes positive perceptions of the product versus the competition. This makes brand awareness important as the initial step in every customer journey, shaping the overall experience with a brand.

The higher the brand awareness of a product, the more consumers naturally pay attention to it. In other words, whenever someone wants to buy something, the brand that is already in that person’s mind has a head-start on being eventually selected (and purchased).

Not only does brand awareness enable consumers to recognize and recall a brand more easily, which increases the likelihood of purchase. Strong brand awareness, in particular, can lead to customer loyalty. When faced with choices, consumers simply tend to stick with brands they recognize and have positive associations with—which can result in repeat purchases. An effective brand awareness strategy involves using multiple channels to reach audiences and leveraging community recommendations to drive word-of-mouth buzz around the brand.

How Brand Awareness Works

Brand awareness gives the product an identity by linking brand elements—for example, brand name, logo, symbol—to a product category and associated purchase and consumption or usage situations. This helps create brand awareness and helps consumers understand the product or service category in which the brand competes, and what products or services are sold under the brand name. In other words, knowing the brand helps consumers know how the brand is also going to satisfy their need for its products.

Brand awareness is what helps consumers evoke memories and other brand information they associate with a brand—which form what is known as an associative network of memories. In this network, consumers’ mental connections and recall of a brand are seen as interconnected nodes and links. Nodes represent any piece of information that related to a brand, such as concepts, ideas, thoughts, feelings, contexts, and experiences. Links represent the connections or associations between these nodes, indicating how strongly or weakly they are linked to one another, and to the brand itself, in the consumer’s mind.

To increase brand awareness, companies can utilize various marketing and public relations strategies to engage audiences on a personal level.

Why is It Important to Build Brand Awareness?

According to Vivaldi advisory board member and marketing professor at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business Kevin Lane Keller, brand awareness can be measured along two dimensions, depth and breadth.

The depth of brand awareness measures how likely it is for a brand element to come to mind, and the ease with which it does so. A brand we easily recall has a deeper level of brand awareness than one that we recognize only when we see it. The breadth of brand awareness measures the range of purchase and usage situations in which the brand element comes to mind and depends to a large extent on the organization of brand and product knowledge in memory.

What this means is: Consumers should at least recognize a brand when it is presented to them. Beyond that, consumers should think of that brand whenever they think of the product category, particularly when they are considering buying something in that product category. Ideally, consumers would think of that brand every time they were deciding to make this same type of purchase. This is important because consumers’ path to purchase is unique and complex, with multiple and various opportunities to become distracted during a buying process.

In fact, one of the challenges—and objectives—for any marketer or brand manager is to link the product to usage situations beyond the traditional context, to boost the consumers’ breadth of awareness of the brand and boost brand awareness.

Building brand awareness is crucial for establishing a company’s presence and recognition in the market; ongoing efforts to maintain brand visibility and consumer loyalty are essential.

Types of Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is a crucial aspect of marketing, and it can be categorized into two main types: aided brand awareness (or brand recognition) and unaided brand awareness (or brand recall). Understanding these types helps businesses tailor their marketing strategies to effectively build brand awareness and strengthen their market presence.

Aided Brand Awareness (or Brand Recognition)

Aided brand awareness, also known as brand recognition, refers to the ability of consumers to recognize a brand when prompted with a specific question or scenario. This type of awareness is typically measured through surveys or focus groups, where respondents are shown a list of brands and asked to identify the ones they recognize. For instance, if participants are shown a list of car brands and they can identify “Toyota” among them, it indicates aided brand awareness.

Aided brand awareness is an important metric for businesses, as it helps them understand how well their brand is known and recognized in the market. High levels of brand recognition suggest that marketing efforts are successfully increasing brand visibility and familiarity among the target audience.

Brand Awareness Plays a Critical Role in Building a Strong Brand

In 1991, David A. Aaker—U.S. economist, marketing expert, the “father” of modern branding, and Erich Joachimsthaler’s co-author of Brand Leadership—developed a theoretical model called The Awareness Pyramid, in a study that investigated the relationship between brand awareness and a brand’s strength in the marketplace. Starting from the base of the pyramid, levels progress from:

1. Unaware of brand
2. Brand recognition (In terms of the associative memory network, this is the ability to identify a brand (a node) when presented with a cue or visual representation (another node).
3. Brand recall (In terms of the associative memory network, this is the ability to retrieve a brand name from memory (a node) when prompted with a product category or cue (another node).
4. Top of the mind

Aaker argues that moving up from one level of the pyramid to the next, and the next, requires specific marketing strategies, over a sustained process of relationship-building with the brand. These are what builds a strong brand, maintaining positive brand associations, and eventually leading to brand loyalty**.** This also makes brand awareness a critical component of brand equity. Brand awareness campaigns are strategic initiatives aimed at increasing a brand’s visibility and recognition in the market, often optimized using data-driven insights to allocate resources effectively.

Eventually, consumers are more likely to choose brands they are familiar with and have positive associations with—making brand awareness a key factor in influencing purchasing decisions. Successful brand awareness examples include high-profile ads aired during notable events like the Super Bowl and local business initiatives that effectively enhance brand visibility and customer familiarity.

Measuring Brand Awareness Metrics

Brand awareness can be measured in two main ways: We can ask consumers what they think, by conducting brand awareness surveys and customer panels, which gathers first-hand feedback on consumer knowledge and feelings towards your brand. We can also watch what they do, by looking at branded search volume, social media mentions, website traffic, and share of voice. These methods help measure brand awareness effectively and provide insights into the effectiveness of marketing strategies.

We can also measure brand recognition through aided recall—which measures how well a consumer recognizes a brand when prompted by the name or other branding feature—or unaided recall—which measures how well a consumer recognizes a brand without any prompting. A high unaided brand awareness indicates that a brand is strong and highly recognized in the market. Raising brand awareness is crucial, as it involves creating memorable customer experiences and engaging with audiences through social media.

Brand Awareness Metrics

Measuring brand awareness is crucial for businesses to understand the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. By tracking specific metrics, companies can gain insights into how well their brand is performing in the market and identify areas for improvement.

Key metrics to track: brand recognition, brand recall, and brand preference

1. Brand Recognition: This metric measures the percentage of respondents who recognize a brand when prompted with a specific question or scenario. It indicates how familiar consumers are with the brand’s logo, name, or other identifying features.
2. Brand Recall: This metric measures the percentage of respondents who can recall a brand without any prompting or assistance. High brand recall signifies strong brand awareness and suggests that the brand is top-of-mind for consumers in its category.
3. Brand Preference: This metric measures the percentage of respondents who prefer a brand over others in a specific category. It reflects consumer loyalty and the brand’s competitive position in the market.
4. Brand Equity: This metric measures the value of a brand, including its reputation, customer loyalty, and overall market presence. Strong brand equity indicates a well-established brand with positive consumer perceptions and high market influence.
5. Unaided Brand Awareness: This metric measures the percentage of respondents who can recall a brand without any prompting or assistance. It is a strong indicator of a brand’s prominence and recognition in the market.
6. Aided Brand Awareness: This metric measures the percentage of respondents who recognize a brand when prompted with a specific question or scenario. It helps businesses understand the effectiveness of their branding efforts and how well their brand is known among consumers.

By tracking these metrics, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of their brand’s awareness and reputation in the market. This data-driven approach allows companies to make informed decisions to improve their marketing efforts, ultimately leading to increased brand awareness and stronger market presence.

Increased Brand Awareness Drives Sales

Brand awareness helps drive sales by increasing loyalty among existing customers. When customers know and trust a brand, they are more likely to buy from it again and again. A successful brand awareness campaign can influence consumer consideration and ultimately drive purchases. Additionally, current customers can recommend a brand to others, which can lead to more sales.

Studies have shown, as early as by Aaker in 1982, that advertising has only a limited, short-term impact on sales. Instead, it is through positively impacting and increasing brand awareness (and other components of brand equity) that leads to a long-term impact on sales.