I want to boost brand recognition

Put chocolate and the colour purple together, and most people will think of Cadbury. How about a simple and sleek, white or silver design? That’s probably an Apple product. None of this happens by coincidence; each brand has gone out of its way to build natural associations in consumers’ minds.

In fact, it’s a big part of why these companies are so successful.

Building relationships

It’s normal for people to build relationships with the brands they see on supermarket shelves, in shopping centres or online. Maybe they’ve been introduced by parents, or perhaps they chanced upon them through friend recommendations. What’s important is that they’re familiar and, as a result, trusted.

A study carried out by Nielsen found that almost two thirds of global consumers would prefer to buy new products from a brand they recognise than to swap for a new maker altogether.

Getting to that point of familiarity and trust is something every business aims for, but not all achieve.

Awareness or recognition – Which are you looking for?

It’s important not to get these confused; while both are crucial – and related – they’re attained in different ways.

Awareness is, as you’d probably guess, all about ensuring as many (of the right) people as possible know about your business and its products. It can be achieved, as our guide suggests, using a healthy dose of great content.

Recognition is the next step. It requires consumers to recall prior knowledge and establish their own psychological links between certain products, based mainly on appearance. For brands, it’s all about providing a consistent visual and auditory learning experience across the products themselves, as well as advertising and marketing materials. Think billboards, packaging, website – everything has to match.

Make it memorable

Consistency alone won’t be enough – everything you do or produce needs to have an impact on the audience if it is to be memorable. Think about how many products and how much marketing content the average person encounters every day; your offering has to stand out in some way.

Identify what it is that makes you different from everybody else out there, and highlight this wherever possible; a clever and snappy tagline can work wonders, for example.

You also need to develop a personality by utilising the same tone of voice throughout all of your marketing materials and correspondence. It’s through this (as well as strong imagery) that people will begin to put the pieces together. Of course, the options you choose will depend to a large extent on your audience, but it’s safe to assume that boring, corporate-flavoured content will get you remembered by nobody.

Looking for some examples of how to get it right? The obvious two at present would be smoothie giant Innocent and mobile service provider GiffGaff, which each have a friendly but colloquial approach to brand tone – something that has proved immeasurably beneficial to them.

Brand positioning and identity

OK, you’re right to assume brand recognition would be something to aspire to, but it’s not always positive; what if someone was to recognise your products with negative connotations? Brand positioning is about the place you occupy in the minds of consumers – or that of the wider marketplace.

You need to determine how you want your company to be seen in relation to the nearest competitors. This will come down to the factors that make you special – your selling points. You might want to be seen as the ‘value’ player, with the lowest prices around. Customer service might be your biggest weapon, or perhaps its innovation. Refinement is another option, but then you’re likely to be targeting a slightly different audience.

Being in business already, you should know who your audience is; now you just have to make sure everything you do is tailored appropriately. You have to consistently reach and engage the right people while also making sure you come across as distinctive from others in the market.

Only when you’re settled and comfortable with your identity will your audience start to feel the same.

This is merely a basic introduction to a massive topic, but it’s something every business should be focusing on. By building brand recognition, you’re making the whole job of marketing a whole lot easier.

To get it right, though, you need experts by your side. Seek professional assistance and reap the rewards that come with having a brand name people already know and trust.
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