Brand Awareness

What is brand Awareness? By definition, Brand awareness, in marketing, is the ability a consumer has to recognize and recall a brand. [1]

Before we discuss brand awareness, let’s first understand the process to get to it.

An individual or a group decided to form a company based on an idea to deliver a product or service. An analysis of the macro and micro environment is made to include industry, threats, suppliers, buyers, demographics, locations, laws and regulations among other drivers.

Once all of that is sorted, the brand is created. A brand may come in different forms such as a logo or a name. The concept behind the brand is to create an identity to the company’s product or service. Companies protect their brands by registering a trademark which is a type of intellectual property.

Now we have our company, wholesaler or retailer functioning with a name and a product. But how do we get people – consumers – to know us? How do we get them to know our brand? How do we build brand awareness?

It’s a delicate process very similar to build trust on a relationship. Like people, some products and services are very sensitive and the actions of a company can be very detrimental to its brand. In other words, one lie can kill one thousand truths.

It’s extremely important to brand correctly because at the end the price paid for your product is direct related to your brand.

Some strategies have been used to build brand awareness. A clear mission and vision is the starting point. A brand statement defining who you are gives the foundation to move ahead.

Develop a brand that is worth believing in. Make sure that your product or service can deliver, that it can meet your consumers’ expectations.

Create a relationship with your customers because they are the ones that ultimately will determine your brand’s value. Listen to them and build a consistent, efficient and fast customer relations unity.

Understand your competitive advantage, what sets you apart from your competitors - Strategic awareness*

Overall, the aforementioned strategies are a good point of start but depending on the industry, product, target segment, etc... Many other factors may be considered as well.

*Strategic awareness occurs when not only does the person recognize your brand, but they also understand the distinctive qualities that make it better than the competition. Strategic awareness occurs when you have differentiated your brand in the mind of your market. This distinction as to why your brand is unique in your category is also referred to as your Unique Selling Proposition or USP. Your USP tells your target market what you do and stand for that is different from all of your competitors. [2 & 3]

1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_loyalty
2 - http://www.the2bowmans.com/Strategic-Awareness-intro.html
3 - http://www.davedolak.com/articles/dolak4.htm