Brand awareness

Brand recall is also known as unaided recall or spontaneous recall and refers to the ability of the consumer to correctly generate a brand from memory when prompted by a product category.[2] When prompted by a product category, most consumers can only recall a relatively small set of brands, typically around 3–5 brand names. In consumer tests, few consumers can recall more than seven brand names within a given category and for low-interest product categories, most consumers can only recall one or two brand names.[9]..

Research suggests that the number of brands that consumers can recall is affected by both individual and product factors including; brand loyalty, brand knowledge, situational and usage factors, and education level.[10] For instance, consumers who are highly experienced with a given product category or brand may be able to recall a slightly larger set of brand names than those who are less experienced with a given product category or brand.

Brand recognition is also known as aided recall and refers to the ability of the consumers to confirm that they have seen or heard of a given brand before.[2] This does not necessarily require that the consumers have to identify the brand name. Instead, it means that consumers can recognize the brand upon presentation, either at the point-of-sale or after viewing its visual packaging.[11]

Consumers will normally purchase one of the top three brands in their consideration set. This is known as top-of-mind awareness.[12] Consequently, one of the goals for most marketing communications is to increase the probability that consumers will include the brand in their consideration sets.

By definition, top-of-mind awareness is "the first brand that comes to mind when a customer is asked an unprompted question about a category."[13] When discussing top-of-mind awareness among larger groups of consumers (as opposed to a single consumer), it is more often defined as the "most remembered" or "most recalled" brand name(s).[14]

A brand that enjoys top-of-mind awareness will generally be considered as a genuine purchase option, provided that the consumer is favorably disposed to the brand name.[15] Top-of-mind awareness is relevant when consumers make a quick choice between competing brands in low-involvement categories or for impulse type purchases.[16]

Brand awareness is closely related to the concepts of the evoked set (defined as the set of brands that a consumer can elicit from memory when contemplating a purchase) and the consideration set (defined as the “small set of brands which a consumer pays close attention to when making a purchase decision”).[17] One of the central roles of advertising is to create both brand awareness and brand image, in order to increase the likelihood that a brand is included in the consumer's evoked set or consideration set and regarded favorably.[18]

Consumers do not learn about products and brands from advertising alone. When making purchase decisions, consumers acquire information from a wide variety of sources in order to inform their decisions. After searching for information about a category, consumers may become aware of a larger number of brands which collectively are known as the awareness set.[19] Thus, the awareness set is likely to change as consumers acquire new information about brands or products. A review of empirical studies in this area suggests that the consideration set is likely to be at least three times larger than the evoked set.[20] Awareness alone is not sufficient to trigger a purchase, consumers also need to be favorably disposed to a brand before it will be considered as a realistic purchase option.

The process of moving consumers from brand awareness and a positive brand attitude through to the actual sale is known as conversion. [21] While advertising is an excellent tool for creating awareness and brand attitude, it usually requires support from other elements in the marketing program to convert attitudes into actual sales.[22] Other promotional activities, such as telemarketing, are vastly superior to advertising in terms of generating sales. Accordingly, the advertising message might attempt to drive consumers to direct sales call centers as part of an integrated communications strategy.[23] Many different techniques can be used to convert interest into sales including special price offers, special promotional offers, attractive trade-in terms or guarantees.

Percy and Rossiter argue that very few shoppers use lists and this has important implications for the purchase decision and advertising strategy.

Percy and Rossiter (1992) argue that the two types of awareness, namely brand recall and brand recognition, operate in fundamentally different ways in the purchase decision. For routine purchases such as fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), few shoppers carry shopping lists. For them, the presentation of brands at the point-of-sale acts as a visual reminder and triggers category need. In this case, brand recognition is the dominant mode of awareness. For other purchases, where the brand is not present, the consumer first experiences category need then searches memory for brands within that category. Many services, such as home help, gardening services, pizza delivery fall into this category. In this case, the category need precedes brand awareness. Such purchases are recall dominant, and the consumer is more likely to select one of the brands elicited from memory.[24] When brand recall is dominant, it is not necessary for consumers to like the advertisement, but they must like the brand. In contrast, consumers should like the ad when brand recognition is the communications objective.[25]

The distinction between brand recall and brand recognition has important implications for advertising strategy. When the communications objectives depend on brand recognition, the creative execution must show the brand packaging or a recognizable brand name. However, when the communications objectives rely on brand recall, the creative execution should encourage strong associations between the category and the brand.[26] Advertisers also use jingles, mnemonics and other devices to encourage brand recall.

Brand dominance occurs when, during brand recall tests, most consumers can name only one brand from a given category.[27] Brand dominance is defined as an individual's selection of only certain brand names in a related category during a brand recall procedure.[27] While brand dominance might appear to be a desirable goal, overall dominance can be a double-edged sword.

When a brand name becomes so well known that the brand becomes synonymous with the category, the brand is said to have 'gone generic'.

A brand name that is well known to the majority of people or households is called a household name[28] and may be an indicator of brand success. Occasionally a brand can become so successful that the brand becomes synonymous with the category. For example, British people often talk about "Hoovering the house" when they actually mean "vacuuming the house." (Hoover is a brand name). When this happens, the brand name is said to have "gone generic."[29] Examples of brands becoming generic abound; Kleenex, Sellotape, Nescafé, Aspirin and Panadol. When a brand goes generic, it can present a marketing problem because when the consumer requests a named brand at the retail outlet, they may be supplied with a competing brand. For example, if a person enters a bar and requests "a rum and Coke," the bartender may interpret that to mean a "rum and cola-flavoured beverage," paving the way for the outlet to supply a cheaper alternative mixer. In such a scenario, The Coca-Cola Company is the ultimate loser because it does not get the sale.

It should be evident that brand awareness constitutes just one of six stages that outline the typical consumer's progress towards a purchase decision. While awareness is a necessary precondition for a purchase, awareness alone cannot guarantee the ultimate purchase. Consumers may be aware of a brand, but for different reasons, may not like it or may fail to develop a preference for that brand. Hence, brand awareness is an indicator of sales performance, but does not account for all sales performance.[46] For these reasons, marketers use a variety of metrics, including cognitive, affective and behavioral variables, to monitor a brand's market performance.

As consumers move through the hierarchy of effects (awareness→ knowledge→ liking→ preference→ conviction→ purchase), they rely on different sources of information to learn about brands. While main media advertising is useful for creating awareness, its capacity to convey long or complex messages is limited. In order to acquire more detailed knowledge about a brand, consumers rely on different sources such as product reviews, expert opinion, word-of-mouth referrals and brand/ corporate websites. As consumers move closer to the actual purchase, they begin to rely on more personal sources of information such as recommendations from friends and relatives or the advice of sales representatives.[47] For example, the opinion of an influential blogger might be enough to shore up preference/conviction while a salesperson might be necessary to close the actual purchase.

The purchase funnel indicates that awareness is a necessary precondition for purchase.

All hierarchical models indicate that brand awareness is a necessary precondition to brand attitude or brand liking, which serves to underscore the importance of creating high levels of awareness as early as possible in a product or brand life-cycle. Hierarchical models provide marketers and advertisers with basic insights about the nature of the target audience, the optimal message and media strategy indicated at different junctures throughout a product's life cycle. For new products, the main advertising objective should be to create awareness with a broad cross-section of the potential market. When the desired levels of awareness have been attained, the advertising effort should shift to stimulating interest, desire or conviction. The number of potential purchasers decreases as the product moves through the natural sales cycle in an effect likened to a funnel.[48] Later in the cycle, and as the number of prospects becomes smaller, the marketer can employ more tightly targeted promotions such as personal selling, direct mail and email directed at those individuals or sub-segments likely to exhibit a genuine interest in the product or brand.

The "Share a Coke" campaign received multiple "Creative Effectiveness" awards at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Coca-Cola is a well-established brand with a long history and one that has achieved market dominance. For any brand, such as Coke, that controls some 70 percent of market share, there are relatively few opportunities to enlist new customers. Yet Coca-Cola is always on the lookout for novel communications that not only maintain its brand awareness, but that bring the brand to the attention of new audiences. The company launched a campaign which became known as "Share a Coke", with the campaign objectives; "to strengthen the brand’s bond with Australia’s young adults – and inspire shared moments of happiness in the real and virtual worlds."[59] The campaign, originally launched in Australia, became so successful that it was subsequently rolled out to other countries.

The concept was to introduce personalized Coke bottles or cans. Popular names were written in a 'look-alike Spencerian script' which is part of the Coke brand's distinctive brand identity. The campaign organisers seeded social media by targeting "opinion leaders and influencers to get them to […] lead the conversation and encourage others to seek out 'Share a Coke' for themselves".[59] Within days celebrities and others with no connection to Coke were spreading the concept across social networks. The campaign extended the audience reach as more people were exposed to the messages. According to Coke's creative team, "That [Australian] summer, Coke sold more than 250 million named bottles and cans in a nation of just under 23 million people". This campaign helped Coke extend its awareness across a broader age profile as they interacted with each customer on a personal level.[59]

Ronald McDonald is an anthropomorphic brand character that has become part of McDonald's brand identity.

Consumers experience few difficulties assigning a personality to a brand and marketing communications often encourage consumers to think about brands as possessing human characteristics.[60] When brands are infused with human-like characteristics, it can assist in communicating a brand's values and creating distinctive brand identities that serve to differentiate an offering from competing brands.[61] "In an increasingly competitive marketplace, [some] companies rely on brand characters to create awareness, convey key product/service attributes or benefits, and attract consumers" (Keller, 2003).

The use of anthropomorphic characters has a long history. For example, the Michelin man, employed as a memorable character to sell Michelin car tires, was introduced as early as 1894. These characters benefit the brand by creating memorable images in the consumer's mind while conveying meanings that are consistent with the brand's values.

McDonald's created a similar anthropomorphic brand character known as Ronald McDonald as part of its brand identity. For younger consumers, Ronald McDonald injects a sense of fun and mystery into the McDonald's brand. For parents, the character clearly signals that McDonald's is a family friendly venue. Characters help to carry the brand's identity and can be seen as non-human "spokes-character", contributing to a strong brand differentiation. The likeability of the brands character can "positively influence attitudes towards the brand and increase [consumers'] purchase intention"[62]

British automotive manufacturer Mini investigated its brand perception in the UK by carrying out 55 in-depth interview designed to elicit key feedback about the brand's values. Consumers felt that the symbolic elements which represented the brand were that it was "fun, stylish and sporty image".[63]

Customer engagement with the Mini brand on a Facebook fan-page, promoted "positive effects on consumers’ brand awareness, through WOM activities and the purchase intention was achieved".[64] The brand, therefore, connected with users at an emotional level.[63]