What Is Branding and Brand awareness In Marketing ?

 

Brand awareness





Brand awareness is the degree to which consumers can remember or recognize a brand under various circumstances. 


One of the two dimensions of brand knowledge, an associative network memory model, is brand awareness. 


Consumer behavior, advertising strategy, and brand management all heavily weigh brand awareness. 


The decision to buy something is largely based on the consumer's capacity to recognize or recall a brand. 


Consumers must first be aware of a product category and a brand within it in order to proceed with a purchase. In order to make a purchase, a consumer must be able to recall enough distinctive qualities, which does not necessarily mean that they must be able to recall a specific brand name. The primary step in promoting a new product or bringing back an existing one is building brand awareness


Brand recall and brand recognition are the two parts of brand awareness. According to numerous studies, brand recall and brand recognition function in fundamentally different ways from one another because brand recall is linked to memory retrieval while brand recognition entails object recognition. 


In the buying decision-making process of consumers as well as in marketing communications, brand recognition and recall are both significant factors. Brand awareness is closely related to ideas like the "evoked set" and "consideration set," which refer to the particular brands a consumer takes into account when making a purchase. 





Over a wide range of product categories, consumers are thought to hold between three and seven brands in their consideration set. Since consumers have proven to only buy well-known, trusted brands, one of the top three brands in their consideration set is typically what they choose to buy.


Brand awareness is a crucial indicator of a brand's competitive market performance because brands compete in a highly globalized market. 


Marketers have created a number of metrics to measure brand awareness and other indicators of brand health because of how crucial brand awareness is to consumer purchasing decisions. The term "Awareness, Attitudes and Usage" (AAU) metrics refers to all of these metrics.



The management of awareness levels throughout the entire product life-cycle, from product launch to market decline, is essential to a product or brand's success on the market. Brand awareness levels are frequently checked by many marketers, and if they drop below a set point, the advertising and promotion effort is stepped up until awareness reaches the desired level.

Importance of brand awareness





How well consumers can recognize a brand under various circumstances is a key indicator of brand awareness because it relates to the functions of brand identities in consumers' memories. In the consumer's decision-making process for purchases, brand awareness is crucial. Brand success may be predicted by high brand awareness. 


The associations a brand has with itself, such as how customers perceive the brand and how they rate it, help to increase brand awareness. As a result, businesses concentrate on raising customer satisfaction and spend money on advertising to draw in more customers.


A brand's market performance can be largely predicted by its brand awareness. In order to compete for consumers' awareness and attention in a market that is highly globalized, brands make investments in international advertising and distribution. 




Many marketers regularly check brand awareness levels because capitalism and international transportation influence consumer behavior. 


The advertising and promotional effort is increased until awareness reaches the desired level if these levels drop below a set threshold. Setting goals to raise brand awareness and encourage consumer product purchases is crucial for marketing planning and brand management.



One of the key brand assets that increases the value of a good, service, or business is brand awareness. Spending money on increasing brand awareness can result in long-lasting competitive advantages and long-term value.


Brand Equity


Brand equity is the difference between a brand's assets and liabilities, including its name and logo, and it represents the value that a company, its customers, or a product or service offers. Assets and liabilities must be connected to the brand's name or logo in order to affect brand equity.





The assets and liabilities of the brand may then be affected by a change in name or logo, with some of them being transferred to the new name and logo, in either a positive or negative way. 


Brand equity is based on assets and liabilities, and it can vary depending on a number of factors, including customer perceptions of a brand's quality, brand loyalty, brand awareness, and other proprietary assets like patents and trademarks.


Types of brand awareness


Brand recall, also referred to as unaided recall or sporadically spontaneous recall, and brand recognition are the two parts of brand awareness (also known as aided brand recall). These distinct modes of awareness have significant ramifications for advertising and marketing strategy.





Brand recall


Brand recall, also referred to as unaided recall or spontaneous recall, describes a consumer's capacity to produce the right brand from memory when presented with a product category.


Most consumers can only recall a small number of brands when asked about a particular product category, usually 3-5 brand names. Few consumers can recall more than seven brand names from a given category in consumer tests, and for product categories with low consumer interest, most consumers can only recall one or two brand names.



According to research, both individual and product factors, such as brand loyalty, brand knowledge, situational and usage factors, and education level, have an impact on the number of brands that consumers can recall. Customers who are very familiar with a particular product category or brand, for example, might be able to recall a slightly larger set of brand names than consumers who are not as familiar with that product category or brand.


Brand recognition





Brand recognition, also referred to as assisted recall, refers to consumers' capacity to confirm that they have previously seen or heard of a particular brand. 


The consumers are not required to know the brand name in order for this to work. Instead, it means that the brand is presented so that customers can immediately recognize it, whether at the point of sale or after seeing its attractive packaging.


Top-of-mind awareness


Typically, consumers will pick one of the top three brands from their list of options. Top-of-mind awareness is the term used for this. Therefore, one of the main objectives of most marketing communications is to raise the likelihood that consumers will add the brand to their list of potential purchases.





Top-of-mind awareness is defined as "the first brand that a customer thinks of when a customer asks an unprompted question about a category." Top-of-mind awareness is more frequently described as being the "most remembered" or "most recalled" brand when referring to top-of-mind awareness among larger groups of consumers (as opposed to a single consumer) (s).


If the consumer feels positively toward the brand name, they will typically view a brand that is top-of-mind as a real purchase option. When consumers choose quickly between competing brands in low-commitment categories or for impulsive purchases, top-of-mind awareness is important.


Marketing implications of brand awareness


The ideas of the evoked set (defined as the group of brands that a consumer can recall when thinking about making a purchase) and the consideration set are closely related to brand awareness (defined as the "small set of brands which a consumer pays close attention to when making a purchase decision").






 For a brand to have a better chance of being included in a consumer's evoked set or consideration set and being viewed favorably, it is important to build brand awareness and brand image.


Advertising is not the only source that consumers use to learn about goods and brands. Consumers gather data from numerous sources before making decisions about purchases in order to make informed choices. 


Consumers may become aware of a greater number of brands after looking up information about a category; these brands are collectively referred to as the awareness set.Therefore, as consumers learn new information about brands or products, the awareness set is likely to change. 




The consideration set is probably at least three times bigger than the evoked set, according to a review of empirical studies in this field. Consumers must feel positively toward a brand before they will consider it as a viable purchase option. Awareness alone is insufficient to spur a purchase.



Conversion is the process of guiding customers from brand awareness and a favorable brand attitude to the actual sale. Advertising is a great tool for spreading awareness and developing brand attitudes, but it typically needs assistance from other components of the marketing strategy to translate attitudes into actual sales. 


When it comes to generating sales, other promotional activities like telemarketing are far superior to advertising. As part of an integrated communications strategy, the advertising message may thus try to direct customers to direct sales call centers. Various strategies, such as special price offers, unique promotional offers, alluring trade-in terms, or guarantees, can be used to turn interest into sales.





 
Few shoppers use lists, according to Percy and Rossiter, and this has significant ramifications for both the purchasing decision and advertising strategy.

Brand recall and brand recognition, according to Percy and Rossiter (1992), function in the purchase decision in fundamentally different ways. Few shoppers carry shopping lists when making routine purchases, such as fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). 


For them, the visual cue provided by brand displays at the point of sale prompts category needs. Brand recognition is the most prevalent mode of awareness in this situation. The consumer first experiences a category need before searching their memory for brands within that category for other purchases where the brand is not present. 




This category includes a wide range of services, including pizza delivery, gardening assistance, and home help. Brand awareness comes before the category need in this instance. Such purchases are dominated by recall, and the customer is more likely to choose one of the brands that come to mind.


Consumers must like the brand even if they don't like the advertisement when brand recall is the dominant factor. In contrast, when brand recognition is the goal of the communication, consumers should like the advertisement.

For advertising strategy, the difference between brand recognition and brand recall is crucial. The creative execution must feature the brand packaging or a well-known brand name when the communications objectives depend on brand recognition. 




However, the creative execution should promote strong associations between the category and the brand when the communications objectives depend on brand recall. Jingles, mnemonics, and other techniques are also employed by advertisers to promote brand recall.


When most consumers can only recall one brand from a particular category during brand recall tests, this is known as brand dominance. 


When conducting a brand recall, brand dominance is when a person chooses only particular brand names within a related category. While brand dominance might seem like a worthwhile objective, overall dominance can have its drawbacks.





 
A brand is said to have "gone generic" when its name becomes so well-known that consumers associate it with the entire category.

A household name is a brand name that is well known by the majority of people or households and may be a sign of a successful brand. 


On occasion, a brand can become so popular that it becomes associated with its category. For instance, British people frequently interchange the terms "vacuuming the house" and "hoovering the house." (The brand name Hoover.) 


The brand name is said to have "gone generic" in this situation. There are many examples of well-known brands going generic, including Kleenex, Sellotape, Nescafé, Aspirin, and Panadol. 


When a brand becomes generic, it can cause marketing issues because consumers may receive a competing brand when they ask for a specific brand at a retail location. 



For instance, if someone walks into a bar and orders "a rum and Coke," the bartender might interpret that as "a rum and cola-flavoured beverage," allowing the establishment to serve a less expensive substitute mixer. The Coca-Cola Company loses the sale in this case, making it the ultimate loser.


Measuring brand awareness


There are numerous ways to measure brand awareness, just as there are various types that can be identified. Surveys asking a sample of consumers about their knowledge of the focus brand or category are frequently used by researchers.


To gauge brand awareness, two different recall tests are employed:


  • Tests of spontaneous recall in which the respondent is given a product category and asked to name as many brands as they can. As a result, the respondent receives no hints or cues during the unaided recall test. Brand recall is tested using unaided recall tests.

  • Tests of assisted recall involve prompting the respondent with a brand name and asking them if they have seen or heard of it. The respondent may also be asked to describe what they know about the brand, such as the package, color, logo, or other distinguishing characteristics, in some aided recall tests. Brand recognition is evaluated using assisted recall tests.


Brand research frequently uses a battery of tests in addition to recall tests, including brand association tests, brand attitude tests, brand image tests, brand dominance tests, brand value tests, brand salience tests, and other measures of brand health. 


These tests offer broad indicators of brand health and are frequently used in conjunction with brand recall tests, despite the fact that they do not specifically measure brand awareness.


For instance, when placing products on a supermarket shelf, researchers give each brand an equal amount of shelf space in order to gauge brand salience. 


Customers are asked to identify the brands they noticed after viewing photographs of the shelf display. The rate of consumer nominations for a particular brand is a measure of its visual salience. This kind of research can offer insightful information about the efficacy of brand logos and packaging designs.





AAU metrics are the term used to refer to metrics used to measure brand effects (Awareness, Attitudes and Usage).

Brand awareness and the hierarchy of effects

 
 
Basic Hierarchy of Effects Model (after Lavidge, 1961)

A characteristic of models in the hierarchy of effects group is brand awareness. Assuming that consumers pass through a series of cognitive and affective stages, starting with brand awareness (or category awareness) and ending with the purchase decision, hierarchical models are linear sequential models. 







In these models, marketing and advertising communications function as an external stimulus, and a consumer's choice to make a purchase is their response..


The literature contains a number of hierarchical models, such as DAGMAR and AIDA. Vakratsas and Ambler (1999) found little empirical support for any of the hierarchies of effects in a review of more than 250 papers. However, some authors contend that hierarchical models still predominate in theory, particularly in the fields of marketing communications and advertising.


One of the first hierarchical models was created by Lavidge in the 1960s and is called the hierarchy of effects. From brand awareness to product purchase, it is suggested that customers move through a series of six stages:


Stage 1: Awareness - The customer learns about a category, a product, or a brand (usually through advertising)
↓
Stage 2: Knowledge -The customer learns about a category, a product, or a brand (usually through advertising)
↓
Stage 3: Liking - The consumer's attitude toward the brand changes from favorable to unfavorable.
↓
Stage 4: Preference -Consumers start to favor one brand over others that are similar.
↓
Stage 5: Conviction - The customer expresses a desire to buy (via inspection, sampling, trial)
↓
Stage 6: Purchase - The product is purchased by the customer.


The basic sequence of Cognition (C)- Affect (A)- Behavior (B) is followed by all hierarchical models, also known as C-A-B models. 



Hierarchical models have been widely adapted and come in many different forms. Some of the more recent adjustments are made to account for consumer digital media habits and social influence opportunities.


Following are a few different hierarchical models:


Basic AIDA model: Awareness→ Interest→ Desire→ Action

Modified AIDA model: Awareness→ Interest→ Conviction →Desire→ Action
AIDAS Model: Attention → Interest → Desire → Action → Satisfaction

AISDALSLove model: Awareness→ Interest→ Search →Desire→ Action → Like/dislike→ Share → Love/ Hate

Lavidge et al's Hierarchy of Effects: Awareness→ Knowledge→ Liking→ Preference→ Conviction→ Purchase

DAGMAR Model: Awareness → Comprehension → Attitude/ Conviction → Action
 
Rossiter and Percy's communications effects: Category Need → Brand Awareness → Brand Preference (Ab) → Purchase Intent→ Purchase Facilitation


Marketing Implications of hierarchical models


It should be clear that brand awareness is only one of the six steps that the average consumer takes to make a purchase decision. 





Even though awareness is a requirement before a purchase, it cannot ensure the actual transaction. Although they may be aware of a brand, customers may not enjoy it or fail to form a preference for it for a variety of reasons.


As a result, brand awareness serves as a predictor of sales performance but does not fully capture it. For these reasons, marketers track a brand's market performance using a range of metrics, such as cognitive, affective, and behavioral variables.


Consumers use a variety of sources to learn about brands as they progress through the hierarchy of effects (awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction, and purchase). 


While mainstream media advertising is effective at raising awareness, it has a limited ability to communicate lengthy or complex messages. 


Consumers rely on a variety of sources, such as product reviews, expert advice, word-of-mouth recommendations, and brand/corporate websites, in order to learn more specific information about a brand. 






Consumers start to rely more on more personal sources of information as they get closer to making the actual purchase, like recommendations from friends and family or the guidance of salespeople. For instance, the recommendation of a well-known blogger may be sufficient to support a preference or conviction, but a salesperson may be required to finalize the sale.


 
According to the purchase funnel, awareness is a necessary condition before making a purchase.

All hierarchical models show that brand awareness is a prerequisite for brand attitudes or brand liking, which emphasizes the significance of raising levels of awareness as early as possible in the life cycle of a product or brand. 


Hierarchical models give marketers and advertisers fundamental knowledge about the characteristics of the target market, the ideal message, and the media strategy suggested at various points during a product's life cycle. 





The primary goal of new product advertising should be to raise awareness among a sizable cross-section of the potential market. After achieving the desired levels of awareness, the advertising campaign should concentrate on igniting interest, desire, or conviction. 


As the product progresses through the natural sales cycle, there are fewer potential buyers, creating a funnel-like effect. 


Later in the cycle, when there are fewer prospects, the marketer can use promotions that are more precisely targeted to those people or sub-segments most likely to show genuine interest in the product or brand, such as personal selling, direct mail, and email.



Creating and maintaining brand awareness

 

Brand promotion can raise the likelihood that a consumer will give a particular brand some thought. Spending on branding-related advertising has a favorable impact on brand awareness levels. 


Brand awareness is increased by practically anything that exposes consumers to a brand. "Repeated brand exposure in stores enhances consumers' recognition and brand recall." Increased exposure to brand advertising can raise consumer awareness and make it easier for them to process the information it contains, which in turn can improve their attitudes and brand recall.


As early as possible in a product or brand's life cycle, high levels of brand awareness must be created in order to increase the likelihood that the market will accept the product. Marketers have historically relied on aggressive advertising campaigns, especially around the time of a product launch, to achieve top-of-mind awareness. 








An intensive campaign needs both broad reach (to expose more people to the message) and high frequency to be effective (expose people multiple times to the message). 


Advertising, particularly main-stream media advertising, was thought to be the most cost-effective way to reach sizable audiences with the comparatively high frequency required to raise awareness levels.However, expensive and rarely sustained for long periods of time intensive advertising campaigns. 


Alhaddad (2015) asserts that by enhancing brand awareness and brand image in social media, advertising awareness serves as a valuable source of meaning and identity for a brand.


The number of competitors tends to grow as new products enter the market growth stage, which has implications for market share. To ensure steady sales and a stable market share, marketers may need to maintain awareness at a specific level. 


To determine the amount of advertising spending necessary to reach a specific level of awareness, marketers frequently rely on flimsy "rules-of-thumb." For instance, it was frequently believed that advertising expenditures needed to be doubled in order to raise brand awareness by just 1%.




The brand advertiser will switch from an aggressive advertising campaign to a reminder campaign once a brand is established and reaches the desired awareness levels, which are typically specified in the marketing plan. 


Simply maintaining brand awareness among target audiences and revitalizing the brand offer are the two main goals of a reminder campaign. 


A reminder campaign typically keeps a large audience but with less frequent distribution, making it a less expensive advertising choice. Established brands frequently use reminder advertising as they transition into the maturity stage of the product lifecycle. When a market is in decline, marketers frequently switch to a caretaker or maintenance program, where advertising spending is reduced.


 
The rise of social networks and digital media has altered how consumers look for product information.






Advertising still plays a crucial role in raising awareness, but the reliance on main media advertising has decreased due to changes in the media environment and in consumer media habits. Instead, marketers are aiming to spread the word about their brands across a much wider range of media. 


Consumers are spending more and more time and energy using digital communications devices, such as computers, tablets, and cellphones. 


Using platforms like social media networks, which have huge audiences, it is now possible to interact with customers in a more cost-effective way. For instance, Facebook has developed into a very significant communication tool. 



Additionally, social media platforms enable interactive, two-way communication that is unmatched by conventional main media. Interactive communications give brands more chances to engage with consumers and go beyond basic awareness, promoting brand preference, brand conviction, and ultimately brand loyalty.


Opinion leaders now have more opportunities to help promote brands thanks to the growth of social media networks. In theory, anyone can be an opinion leader, including journalists, public figures, and celebrities, but as the digital world has grown, our perception of who might be a useful influencer has changed. 


Indeed, because bloggers are regarded as approachable, authentic, and have a propensity for having devoted followings, the digital environment has increased the opportunities for them to become significant influencers. 


Bloggers have emerged as significant consumer product and service influencers in industries as diverse as fashion, consumer electronics, food and beverage, cooking, dining out, and bars. 


For instance, a survey by Collective Bias revealed that digital influencers are more popular than celebrities when it comes to product endorsements. 





Findings revealed that only 3% of participants said they would think about purchasing a product endorsed by a celebrity, as opposed to 60% who claimed that blog reviews or social media posts had influenced their purchasing decisions. The digital environment has made it somewhat simpler for marketers to recognize social influencers.

 

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