Brand awareness and more

Brand recognition is the extent to which customers recognize a brand and their attitudes towards the brand. When a new brand is introduced, brand recognition develops according to 5 progressive stages:

Brand rejection.

If customers have a negative experience with your product, they may make a conscious effort to avoid your brand in the future. It is important not to ignore negative customer experiences, but to address complaints and grievances before brand rejection increases. For example, if you are aware of complaints against your customer service department, create a logo or tagline that announces your commitment to excellent customer service. Once you accept that some consumers may reject you or your product, you can develop strategies to alter the situation.

No brand recognition.

If your product is not clearly different from your competitors, customers may not recognize your brand at all. It is essential to emphasize what makes your product unique. Carefully label each individual product or service with a distinctive name, just as you qualified your small business as a whole. Make sure the names of products and services serve to highlight and reinforce the unique characteristics of your brand.

Brand recognition.

If you are stuck in the non-brand recognition stage, brand recognition is your main goal. In brand recognition, customers simply recognize your brand. In this stage, customers will choose your product over a competitor’s product that they cannot recognize. However, brand recognition never confers a permanent advantage because your competitors are also working hard to distinguish your brand from theirs.

Brand preference.

Once customers can differentiate your product from competitors, customers who believe your product uniquely meets their needs will select your brand. Like brand recognition, brand preference confers temporary benefits: at any time, your competition can intensify your marketing campaign by adding value or lowering prices. Therefore, independent business owners should not limit themselves to mere brand preference, but should strive for the ultimate form of brand recognition, brand loyalty.

Brand loyalty.

This is the highest level of brand recognition. Customers who are loyal to your brand will choose your brand at all times, even if they experience occasional poor service or a superior product is presented to the market. Only highly differentiated products achieve brand loyalty; remember that intangibles like customer service can help distinguish your brand.