Glossary

Every one of us is confronted with about 3,000 brand touchpoints every day. Which of them do we remember? In order to determine the degree of brand awareness, we find out what percentage of people remembers it.

There are two different methods for doing this:

1. Unsupported measurement of brand awareness (brand recall): We find out whether consumers remember the brand and can name it without any prompting ("When you think of cars, what brands can you name off the top of your head?").
2. Supported measurement of brand awareness (brand recognition): We research whether consumers remember the brand in so-called "recognition tests". In this method, they are given memory aides, such as a list of different brand names ("Which of these brands do you know?") or a visual of brand style elements.

What is the difference between brand awareness and brand attractiveness?

Awareness – particularly in saturated markets full of interchangeable products – is only a prerequisite for the next, more important level: brand attractiveness. Because: Just because a brand is well known, that doesn't necessarily mean it is desired. BrandTrust's 10th conviction is therefore: Attractiveness beats awareness.
Conversely, the attractiveness of a brand does not say anything about its awareness. An example for this are niche products that only address a specific target group and – even with a high level of attractiveness – can only achieve low awareness levels.

The pure awareness level of a brand can be increased with monetary means like classic advertising, events, or sponsoring. But in a world of overabundance, it is desirability that determines a buying decision. This is why, from a brand strategic point of view, increasing brand awareness should be a consequence of the brand's attractiveness (https://www.brand-trust.de/de/glossar/markenattraktivitaet.php) in order to inspire people and keep them loyal in the long term.