Simple logos are the most effective, and bright colors lend a helping hand.
Brand recognition is a key part of any developing business and is often cited as being more important in marketing than salesmanship. Brand recognition is the brand's reputation, the way in which it is recognized for its attributes and services. Brand recognition can be stimulated by a simple logo, name or tag-line. It is an important part of building customer trust and loyalty.
Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is essential in creating positive associations with the product that you wish to promote. The brand itself is remembered, and then other information can be associated with it in a customer's mind. Essentially, the aim of brand association is to create loyal customers.
Tiers of Brand Awareness
There are five widely regarded levels of brand awareness, each with considerations for the business and the buyer. Brand rejection is when a customer has associated your brand with something negative and will, therefore, intentionally avoid the product. If your business is at this level of brand recognition, it is best to launch a campaign to combat it. Brand non-recognition is when customers either are not aware of or don't recognize your brand. This can often be because your product or service has no defining features compared to its competitors. In this situation, it is best to highlight the differences between your product and its competitors. Brand recognition is the third level and refers to when customers are aware of your product and its characteristics. It is important at this stage to continue setting yourself apart from your competitors as they surely are trying to do the same. Brand preference is when a customer, given the choice, will choose your product over a competitor. Finally, brand loyalty is when customers will choose your brand time and time again. This will be maintained despite occasional bad experiences and the availability of a better product. At this stage, you should work on maintaining this loyalty by keeping up-to-date and providing top-class service.
Brand Names
An easily-remembered brand name is essential to effective brand recognition. Most effective brand names are simple and easy to recall, such as a number of three-letter, acronym-named businesses: BBC, CNN, IBM, etc. Others are just as easy to remember because they have names that already exist in everyday life: Apple, Windows, Canon. That said, many successful brand names are made up out of the blue: Yahoo!, Cisco, eBay, Google.
Logos
Just as with brand names, generally the most simple logos are the most effective: consider McDonald's and Mercedes-Benz. Often just the brand name or its acronym is enough: Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, HP and Walt Disney. Distinctive coloring is also very important, for example, Ikea's trademark yellow and blue, Google's bright rainbow and McDonald's gold on red.
Other Areas
Brand awareness is not necessarily linked directly to the brand name or slogan. It could be linked to the position of the product in the shop or the shape of the packaging. For example, large food companies pay grocery stores for the coveted eye-level placement on shelves while lesser known and cheaper brands are located below. Moreover, Coca Cola drew attention to its brand in Spain by removing the trademark curves in its bottles to increase the amount of liquid per bottle. Sometimes, specific brand and company details are insignificant in the choice of a product. Word-of-mouth is why social networking sites have become such a popular marketing tool. Just a Twitter post or a free sample can introduce a product to hundreds of potential buyers who, in turn, will share their opinions with those around them, both physically and electronically.
Tags: your product, brand name, brand names, Brand recognition, when customers