What is Brand Awareness and how does it affect your business
February 16th, 2022
Brand awareness is defined as the knowledge of an organization's brand, including its name, trademark, and other associated information. Brand awareness is also sometimes referred to as corporate visibility. Being aware of a company's brand can be achieved through various forms of marketing efforts or advertising campaigns. Advertising strategies are typically used by companies to create high levels of brand awareness; however, it can be achieved with the little cost if enough consumers are aware of your product or service because word-of-mouth becomes more prevalent.
Creating brand awareness may not result in immediate business growth but can contribute to increasing sales over time due to increased consumer recognition. For example, Coke has done well creating strong national brand awareness for their cola. However, the Coca-Cola company has been unable to achieve as high brand awareness for their non-cola beverages such as Minute Maid and Powerade. As a result, they have had less success in selling those beverages.
Consumers tend to prefer brands that are already known by others due to familiarity. An example of this can be seen in a study done on consumer behavior post-hurricane. In a study about consumer behavior after a natural disaster, it was shown that consumers were more likely to purchase familiar brands over new brands because of the perception that new brands might not be as good as existing ones after disasters where resources are scarce. However, if resources aren't scarce then purchasing decisions will go into the consideration of which product is superior instead of which product is more familiar.
As a result, the familiarity of a brand will play a significant role in influencing buying and purchasing behaviors in consumers. However, it may not be effective in situations where there are many brands that consumers find equally attractive such as in commodity markets (i.e., gasoline) or when consumer needs change rapidly (i.e., phone).
Brand awareness can set your company apart from competitors by building credibility and trustworthiness with consumers. One way to accomplish this is through positive word-of-mouth marketing via satisfied customers telling others about their experiences with your products and services; however, this can also backfire when negative word-of-mouth marketing occurs on social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter.
Overall, the Coca-Cola Company has done very well with creating brand awareness for its main product, Coca-Cola. However, they have not been as successful in having brand awareness for their other products such as Minute Maid and Powerade because of their lack of advertising on these products. When resources are scarce consumers tend to purchase familiar brands over new companies but when resources are plentiful purchasing decisions go by which company has the superior products instead of which company is more familiar to consumers. Brand awareness can set your company apart from competitors if it isn't already known by others through positive word-of-mouth marketing or negative word-of-mouth marketing that occurs via social media channels.
