Brand Recognition: Definition, Importance, and Strategies

Have you ever thought about how often potential customers think of your brand? Are your advertising efforts working?

For your brand to thrive in a crowded space, creating a memorable impact that will help you achieve high brand awareness is key, especially in the earlier stage of your business. And brand recognition can be a crucial step toward that goal.

Imagine this: You decided to try a new restaurant near your office for dinner. As you browse the menu, you come across a dish you've had before and enjoyed. You immediately recognize it and order it because it is something familiar.

Brand recognition works the same way. When consumers see a familiar brand name, they often remember what they liked and experienced with the brand. If they can recall that positive brand experience, they will likely choose it again.

Read on and learn how brand recognition can boost your brand. Plus, discover inspiring examples from leading brands with positive consumer perception and high recall worldwide!

Brand recognition then becomes a vital element in the brand awareness framework.

Say, you want to buy a new smartphone as a present for someone else. What brands did you think of? Before you can even search online, mobile brands Apple and Samsung may have crossed your mind. This is an example of brand recognition at play.

So, how does brand recall or brand recognition differ from brand awareness?

Brand Recognition vs. Brand Awareness

Because of how crucial brand recognition is to building brand awareness, these terms are often confused but are separate brand concepts. Achieving brand recognition means your audience knows your brand exists. Exposed to your visual assets and other branding efforts consumers can tell you apart from your competitors.

Brand awareness is the bigger picture where consumers have a deeper understanding and knowledge of your industry, what your brand stands for, your story, etc. When you have a good brand, your brand becomes a part of their lifestyle. Hence, they are less likely to overthink their purchases.

Nonetheless, brand awareness and recognition work hand in hand in establishing your overall brand.

There are many reasons why brands invest so much into branding just to be recognized. It is an effective strategy for fostering a tight-knit community of brand advocates who can help your business achieve long-term success.

Below are some advantages that brand recognition offers.

Brand Recognition Nurtures Trust

In social psychology, the mere-exposure effect states that people gravitate toward things they are familiar with. And this applies to branding, too! With repeated exposure to the packaging, logo, and other visual elements, people can process and recognize your brand over time.

Beyond creating aesthetic design, though, it is important to consider what emotions and experiences you evoke in your branding. When you reinforce positive associations in your messaging, your brand evolves into something reliable and trusted.

Brand Recognition Enhances the Brand Experience

Potential customers who recognize your brand are more welcoming of the brand experience you bring. This is especially true when consumers have a positive connection to your brand, whether through relatable ads or engaging social media content that tugs their hearts.

As you continue to deliver consistent brand experience, you can build a strong foundation for long-term success.

Brand Recognition Increases Brand Value

Depending on the degree of brand recognition your business has, customers are likely to trust the reliability of your products. It also strengthens the relationship with existing customers and attracts new ones to your community.

Consequently, it increases your competitive advantage crucial for reaching your audience, boosts sales, and improves brand equity.

Brand recognition can be an abstract concept, but it is certainly measurable. Below are some nifty tools and strategies to track or measure unaided or aided brands.

Brand Recognition Surveys and Feedback

A brand recognition survey is a tool for gauging the familiarity of your brand to your target audience. And with the right questions, you can understand how consumers perceive your brand. The brand recognition survey can offer vital information that tells if your marketing campaigns are working and helps streamline your brand spending, too.

Some examples of questions you can ask in your brand recognition surveys and feedback form include:

• Which brands come to mind when you think of (X) products?
• How did you come across our brand?
• Can you describe our brand and what we do?
• How do you feel when you see our brand?

Social Media Metrics

Multiple social media platforms now provide brands with tools to measure how well their content are doing online. These in-app tools can give data on the business’s reach, share of voice, response rate, and conversion rate, among others. Consider using all-in-one social media tools like Hootsuite and Buffer to monitor your brand across different platforms.

For brand recognition, take a look at the following data:

• Page impressions and reach
• Post impressions and reach
• Audience growth rate
• Social mentions

Brand Sentiment Analysis

A brand sentiment analysis encompasses reviewing customer feedback, assessing campaign performance, and using social listening tools to identify your audience’s feelings and thoughts about your brand. In short, do they associate a positive, neutral, or negative sentiment with your business?

Doing so helps determine risks you can mitigate in real-time and growth opportunities. In addition to measuring your level of brand recognition, the brand sentiment analysis also gives a glimpse into your overall brand health.

Sales Growth

An increase in sales is probably the best metric for brand recognition. The more recognizable your brand is, the more successful you are in reaching potential buyers. An increase in sales can also be due to word-of-mouth, where existing customers can convince others to trust your brand.

Step 1. Connect Core Values to Products

Winning over competition requires developing products with unique selling points that provide innovative solutions to problems. With your brand values as your northern star, you are well on your way to boosting brand recognition by providing reliable products for your customers.

Step 2. Strengthen Your Engagement with Customers

Customers gravitate towards brands that listen to them and consider their well-being. A study from McKinsey echoes this sentiment, where 60 percent of the respondents say they would purchase from brands with sustainable products.

That said, brands remain attuned to their audience by maintaining customer engagement. For instance, leverage online channels like chat support via your website, social media platforms, emails, etc., and gain real-time feedback. Hosting events like AMAs (Ask Me Anything), workshops, competitions, and social media groups can foster brand recognition and experience, too.

Step 3. Be Consistent

It is quite tempting to ride on trends and be present everywhere to maximize your reach. But, doing so can be overwhelming for your customers because bombarding them with ads and content with different concepts can be confusing.

When building brand recognition, it is vital to remain consistent. Doing so creates a unified brand identity that is easily identifiable and represents what your brand is about.

You can ensure brand recognition by being consistent with your tone, visuals, and messaging. Identifying the most used social media platform by your audience and tailoring your content can benefit you, too. And finally, maintaining a positive brand experience that meets their needs encourages referrals and repeat business.

Step 4. Enhance Collaboration Among Your Teams

It’s important that everyone in your team be on the same page when it comes to understanding your brand. Without a deep connection between your brand and employees, there could be misalignment when developing products and communicating with your audience.

People want to buy from familiar, liked, and reliable brands. Below are some top global brands with high brand recognition and how they did it.

Apple

One of the pioneering brands in tech, Apple has evolved from a venture birthed in a garage to a multibillion-dollar company recognized across the globe. It has given us the iPod, iPad, iPhone, and Macbook—all of which sparked innovative change in the tech industry.

How did Apple achieve its popularity today?

With a focus on simplicity, Apple’s brand design has always been intriguing yet sleek, modern, and minimalist, with a touch of fun. Take the Apple logo, for instance, where people often wonder why it is bitten.

Logo designer Rob Janoff shares in an interview, “I designed it with a bite for scale, so people get that it was an apple, not a cherry. Also, it was kind of iconic about taking a bite out of an apple. Something that everyone can experience. It goes across cultures.”

This playfulness in design veers away from the conventional visuals of tech companies. The design also highlights accessibility and inclusivity, appealing to the not-so-techie consumers.

Over the years, the brand has established a clear identity that other smaller businesses try to emulate. And it has remained steadfast in bringing customers cutting-edge and user-centric technology that continues to challenge the norm so much so that the brand has established a cult following worldwide.

M&M’s

M&M's may not pack a punch, flavorwise, but it has remained competitive in the chocolate realm. So, what sets it apart?

Thanks to its playful mascots, the famous chocolate brand has withstood the test of time and remains to be a favorite, especially among children. M&M’s branding strategy focuses on developing characters that reflect the different personalities of its target audience.

For instance, Red is known as charismatic yet sarcastic; Orange is always worried; and Green is sassy and fearless. The brand also created personal profiles for each color, detailing their favorite memes, jokes, and pet peeves. Avid fans can purchase branded merchandise like blankets, mugs, t-shirts, and more.

M&M's creative and consistent use of mascots in all branding and marketing efforts helped humanize the brand to make it more relatable. These mascots are also highly personable, allowing the brand to evolve. Hence, the brand remains unique and stands out from its competitors.

Lululemon

From a humble space for yoga enthusiasts, Lululemon has been making strides as it rivals big names like Adidas, Underarmour, and Nike. It boasts an extensive product line of comfortable activewear fit for every physical activity like running, gym workout, dancing, and golf.

And from leading a community with shared values, the brand successfully implemented a grassroots approach. It partners with influencers and micro-influencers like yoga instructors and regular people passionate about fitness to create a relatable and inclusive brand.

Aside from promoting its products, the brand shares content that will improve the lives of its customers. Lululemon also optimizes its digital presence by consistently engaging with people looking for more information about the brand. It runs events like workshops and fitness classes to connect and enrich the relationship.

In terms of design, Lululemon captures its core values through creative typography in its physical stores, shopping bags, and other collaterals. For example, the design concept used by the brand shows shopping bags wrapped with thoughts that resonate and inspire people within the community. Some phrases used include ‘Start now. Find out what you’re capable of’ and ‘Get moving.’

Making a name for your brand is not an easy feat. It takes a deep understanding of the art and science of brand recognition to start. Having the right combination of employees, resources, and tools for implementing strategies makes a massive difference, too.

When done right, strong brand recognition offers many advantages. It can help your business gain trust, leading to more customers, quality products, improved brand awareness, and increased sales. Put simply, brand recognition drives growth, where your business can rise above the competition.

You can achieve all these and more when you have a professional brand design agency on your side. Learn more about branding and what we can do for your business.