The Different Kinds of Brand Awareness

2. Brand Recognition

Brand recognition is defined as the ability of consumers to recognize a particular brand by audio or visual mediums such as brand logo, music, advertising campaigns, tagline, packaging etc. To get good brand recognition, a company must maintain a consistent brand image.
For example - the swoosh of Nike and golden arch of McDonald remain same throughout the past years and helps in creating a strong impression in the minds of the vast majority of the population.
Companies invest millions of dollars in order to enhance their brand recognition and often conduct market research to see the impact of their campaign. Moreover, brand recognition is also called active brand recall as it is the capacity of a person to remember the brand name in a specific niche.

Here are some of the tips to expand the brand recognition for medium and small businesses -

• Use different social media to target your customers and on all these platforms make sure that the representation of brands remains consistent.

• Try to connect people at personal and emotional level and one way to do this is that while sending them messages or emails, do address them by their name.

• As a small and medium sized business, your aim is to exceed the expectations of customers. This can be done by sending gift cards or providing them education through blogs, videos etc. so that the perceived value of your product or services seems high as compared to the real value.

• Provide excellent customer service support to your customer. A bad user experience can not only hinder your word of mouth mode of marketing but also cause a loss of a valuable customer for lifetime. Hence, do invest in customer support.

Brand recognition is built on the idea that consumers not only recognize your brand, but that they think of your brand first when they think of a product category. Its’ similar to when a person sees a brand's logo on a car and instantly knows what kind of car it is.
Brand recognition can be extremely valuable to a company, which is why brands are tirelessly working on building it. However, it takes more than a logo to make your brand recognizable, which is why you should also be working on building your brand identity.
Brand recognition is an indispensable tactic in marketing campaigns of businesses and if done properly leads to growth in customer loyalty, preference, trust and therefore profit margins.

3. Visual Branding

As it has been said, the first impression is the last impression, the visual branding works in a similar way.
A brand is the personality of a company, which is the underlying message, identity, and values of an organization. Visual branding is the visual representation of a brand, such as logos and taglines, and is an important aspect of a company's identity.
The visual elements of your brand are the elements that customers will begin to recognize first when they encounter your brand, so it is important to pay attention to what you look like.
Visual identity is the visual expression of a brand. Using logos, typography, colors, photography and illustration, a brand can evoke a specific emotion or idea in consumers.
It’s no surprise that the Nike swoosh, Apple’s signature font, McDonald’s golden arches, and Starbucks green mermaid logos have become recognizable around the world.

4. Top of the Mind Awareness

What comes to the mind of people when they think of soft drinks - Coca Cola. That’s the type of TOMA that the company has consistently maintained throughout the years.
Top of the Mind Awareness is the key concept in marketing research and it measures the ranking of a brand in the consciousness of the consumer in a particular niche.
It is obvious that not all consumers think of the same brand but they usually recall two to three brands in a particular sector but the results are a clear indication of the popularity of the brand.
On the paradoxical side, the TOMA has some negative associations too if the customer remembers the brand which is involved in some kind of scandals of malpractices.
Here is the reason why TOMA is important

• Effective marketing - Since your brand is already popular, the consumer will think of it even when the competitors advertise their product to them.

• PR is Smooth - When a brand is renowned, it is bound to get lots of media coverage and they do not have to pay for PR.

• Benefits from SEO - When consumers are directly typing the brand’s name in the search bars of search engines like google, they will recognize the brand’s website as authoritative and the brand will attract more traffic online.

• Builds Trust and Integrity - Since the brand is already popular and acceptable by people, it creates a sense of trust and integrity in the minds of consumers towards the brand.

• Higher Profit Margins - Now the brand can charge higher prices and increase their profit margins.

5. Dominance of Brand

When creating an online presence, it is mandatory to establish an emotional connection with the customers. In Aaron Pierson’s book, How To Create A Disruptive Social Brand, he states that when this type of connection is established, the audience not only refers to a brand to their family and friends but also stands up in support of the brand which leads to an exponential growth of that company. The stronger the emotional bond, the stronger is the business.
Here are our top tips for brand dominance -

• Position At The Top Shelves in Shops - Well, positioning of your products or services plays a crucial role. To exemplify, in supermarkets, customers tend to buy products that are placed on top shelves as compared to those who are at bottom. However, if your ideal clients are children, then the products are usually placed at the bottom because the babies can reach them. This is how by cleverly placing your product, one can improve chances of sale.

• Presence - In this, the main motive to brand is to make customers feel royal. This is the reason why people go to expensive restaurants and places and spend money on these things as it gives them a feeling of affluence. So, make sure the brand is advertised by renowned celebrities or influencers in the niche.

• Reconsider the Packaging of Product - The packaging motivates a customer to buy that thing. If the packaging of the products is boring or dull then it will create a negative impression on customers. In order to stand apart from competition, the packaging should be engaging by using logos, proper fonts and colors to represent the uniformity of the brand.

The Bottom Line

In conclusion, the deep-seated influence of a "brand" on society's psyche in many ways resembles the omnipresence of a "religion" — but, unlike in religion, the "brands" we choose to associate with are the product of our own decision and can therefore be altered, replaced, or even abandoned.