brand awareness mapping

Brand awareness is considered as the lowest level of brand recall and this is where the brand recalls continuum begins, extending from simple brand recognition to having complex cognitive structures constructed on the basis of detailed information concerning the brand.

The set of associations and facts about a brand is the direct result of a company’s marketing activity, and also because of other factors beyond the company’s direct control, like recommendations by other product users and so forth. The process of building brand image among customers or consumers should be methodically performed and monitored by the company’s marketing department.

brand awareness is a dominant factor in purchasing choices

Employing brand awareness as a shopping guide is a strategy applied by consumers in order to save time and effort which, while dealing with an unknown brand, they would devote to comparing the products in relation to other respected attributes like quality, packaging and price and various other factors. Brand awareness is therefore interpreted as cognitive simplification. Purchasing choices are made by reference to such simplification, especially when the product is economic and easily disposable (like food, hygienic and every day-use products and so forth).

Relying on brand awareness is a tactical decision made when buying a product at the very first instant. While making subsequent purchases the consumer focuses on the product’s attributes, such as quality, functionality, taste or fragrance. Brand awareness has a stronger impact on the subsequent purchasing choices, if the product once used out fulfilled the consumer’s expectations.

The attributes of the same product are more significant in the subsequent purchasing decisions, especially when the products from which the consumer can choose differ significantly from each other in relation to criteria to which the he/she attaches great importance. This is why it is vital to understand which product properties matter to the consumer. This requires additional research.

good brand recall has a number of desirable effects

• the recall of one brand blocks off the other brands from the range of alternatives in which the consumer makes his/her selection,
• within a set of familiar brands consumers pick the ones better known to them, especially if they cannot see any special differences between the competing offerings,
• good brand recall forms the basis for a clear and attractive brand image,
• brand recall coupled with high customer satisfaction levels translates into customer loyalty

how global vox populi researcher measures brand awareness?

In order to measure brand awareness, our researchers ask the target respondent to name all the brands which he/she associates with a given product classification/category. Then we ask him/her to pick from a list the brands he/she recognizes. As a result we obtain the brand recall indicators:

• spontaneous brand recall: the brands named by the consumer himself/herself are the ones from among which the consumer chooses when buying the product of a given classification/category. spontaneous brand recall thus defines the consumer’s selection range.
• top-of-mind recall (“the most remembered and recalled brand”): the brand first named by the consumer himself/herself. this brand is attributed with the highest value – when choosing which product to buy the consumer will probably pick a product of this brand. the strength of the consumer’s emotional link with the brand is better reflected by the brand named first than by spontaneous recall.
• aided recall: recognition of a given brand among others. the spontaneous recall defines that the consumer remembers the brand, whereas the aided recall shows that the consumer is only able to recognize it (“has heard about it/has seen it”). aided recall indicates a weak link to the brand on the part of the consumer.