Brand Recognition

Brand recognition or aided brand recall is the ability of consumers to identify a brand through certain attributes, like a logo, slogan, or jingle, without necessarily knowing the organization's name. Companies can create a distinct brand, build customer loyalty, and maximize sales by taking measures to improve brand recognition.

The higher the recognition, the less apprehensive a consumer is about spending money on a business's products or services. It is the foundation of acquiring new customers and helping them become familiar with the products and services, leading to increased brand equity. There are five stages of brand recognition — awareness, preference, reputation, trust, and loyalty.

• Brand recognition refers to a state where consumers can identify a brand through its distinct attributes, for example, a logo, tagline, jingle, etc. It provides a company with a competitive edge and enhances brand equity.
• There are multiple disadvantages of brand recognition. For example, it can be costly and time-consuming. Moreover, companies with an extensive range of offerings can find it difficult to create brand recognition.
• Businesses can conduct two tests — prompted brand recall and unpromoted brand recall to check if consumers recognize their brand.
• Creating brand recognition impossible without building brand awareness.  

Brand recognition is a concept that measures an individual's ability to recognize a brand via auditory or visual cues, for example, color, packaging, logo, jingle, etc. Businesses use this concept in advertising and marketing to boost sales, increase customer loyalty, and differentiate their brand from their peers.

Typically, organizations invest substantial funds and a lot of time to increase brand recognition. Their marketing department identifies a target audience and collaborates with songwriters, graphic designers, etc., to develop audio and visual cues and achieve the objective. These cues help consumers recall their brand. Moreover, they play a crucial role in creating an identity distinct from other brands in the market.

Let us look at the different stages of brand recognition in detail.

#1 - Awareness

Organizations must ensure to get their name out there to become successful. In other words, they must focus on brand awareness — this is the first stage. People might be unfamiliar with a business's name. However, the organization would want consumers to notice the brand and be familiar with its name. For that to happen, the company must ensure that the people recognize specific attributes associated with the business.

For instance, suppose a consumer, John, hears an advertainment on the radio and then sees an online store come up. He recognizes that both are associated with each other. The more association between the audio and visual components, the higher the recognition.  

#2 - Preference

In the second stage, consumers learn to choose a company's products or services over the alternatives available in the market based on price, quality, or any past positive interaction with the brand.

Also, one must note that the differentiation strategy is vital in convincing consumers who observe if the brand's product or service offers additional value. If they can find something extra that they are seeking, they would opt for the brand's products over the alternatives.

#3 - Reputation

In this stage, the brand's reputation becomes more crucial than preference, as a company already has consumers' attention. Although individuals know what a company is about by this stage, they want to know whatever the brand is doing is worthwhile before making a purchase again.

Consumers may try out a brand's products first to see if they offer value and how they compare to the other available options. Therefore, companies must show consumers that the brand is worthwhile and that the offerings will positively impact their lives.

#4 - Trust

After getting consumers' attention and making them believe that the brand is worthwhile, businesses must gain their trust. A business must take measures to ensure consumers emotionally connect with the brand to achieve this objective. Such measures may include charitable donations, environmental initiatives, etc. In other words, the choice to purchase from the brand is not only about the product's reliability at this stage. It is also about the attachment to the brand and its products.

#5 - Loyalty

This is the final stage of brand recognition in marketing. In this phase, a company has loyal customers who go out of their way to purchase from it. Moreover, they might consider their lives incomplete without their products.

The following are some strategies to increase brand recognition in marketing:

• Create and use a brand voice: This involves creating catchy slogans and visuals instantly recognizable to consumers.
• Utilize data to create a better customer experience: Marketers are sitting on a lot of data that are not yet deciphered. So, they must dig in and utilize them to introduce new solutions that can help craft an improved customer experience.
• Focus on the brand's culture and story: Businesses can use interactions with the media, investors, and clients as opportunities to make a positive impact on consumers. After all, what people remember are stories, not lists of product specifications.
• Build credibility via public relations: Businesses must understand that PR is the only way to build credibility. After they have credibility, they can run pull-through marketing campaigns and increase their brand awareness significantly.
• Connect the brand with something more recognizable: Businesses focusing on increasing brand recognition can create something that helps consumers associate with the brand. For example, becoming an event sponsor can increase brand visibility.

After implementing various strategies, businesses measure their success by performing market research studies. As a part of their research, they often host experiments where they observe a particular group's ability to recognize a brand by conducting the following tests.

#1 - Unpromoted Brand Recall

Companies use this method to measure how many individuals think about their brand without initial prompting. The idea, in this case, is to see which brands come to consumers' minds when they think of a particular category. As a result, the business has outstanding brand recognition if most people think about the company's brand.

Organizations can follow these steps to measure it:

1. First, they must ask the consumers which brand comes to mind when considering a specific category. When doing this, the company must not give any hint.
2. The company must divide the number of people who mention its brand and divide it by the total number of people asked.

Finally, multiply the result by 100 to get the unprompted brand recall score.

#2 - Prompted Brand Recall

In this case, businesses prompt consumers with their brand, thus giving them the best chance to prove that they recognize the brand alongside other brands owned by competitors.

An organization must follow these steps to measure consumers' ability to identify its brand.

1. A company must list the competitors within its category and ask the audience to choose the names of the brands they know. Also, it must ensure to keep its brand name in the mix.
2. The individuals who mention the company's and competitor brands will show if consumers are familiar with it. Moreover, it will show if they are familiar with the competitors' brands.

If people choose brands other than the company's, it is a sign that the organization must take measures to boost its brand recognition.

Let us look at a few brand recognition examples to understand the concept better.

Example #1

Without reading the name, an individual can identify a brand as Adidas because of its highly recognizable three-stripe logo. The large-scale marketing campaigns and customer exposure have made this possible.

Example #2

Coca-Cola aims to kick off 2023 with various executive transitions, which include naming a new marketing leader for North America. Shakir Moin, who has extensive international experience, will be responsible for developing consumer-first storytelling for growth and brand recognition.

The company's management team believes that the new leadership appointment will ensure that the company operates from a position of strength. Moreover, it will be their first step into making new investments where they have prioritized capabilities.  

Let us look at the benefits and limitations of benefits and limitations of brand recognition in marketing.

Advantages

• Companies can achieve a competitive edge, which differentiates them from other organizations.  
• Introducing new products becomes easier for companies.
• It enhances a business's credibility.

Lastly, it leads to maximized sales, new customers, and increased customer loyalty.

Disadvantages

• Building brand recognition can be a complex process, especially for companies that offer a wide range of products and services.
• Creating and designing jingles, logos, etc., can be time-consuming and expensive.
• Maintaining it is not easy for companies as the taste and preferences of consumers are constantly changing.

Individuals new to the business world are often unfamiliar with brand recognition, brand recall, and brand awareness. Understanding the differences between these concepts is crucial to building a successful brand. So, let us look at this tabular representation of their distinct characteristics.

This article has been a guide to Brand Recognition & its definition. We explain its strategies, examples, advantages & differences with brand recall and awareness. You can learn more about it from the following articles –

• Brand Identity
• Brand Extension
• Micromarketing