Brand Recall: How to enable customers to remember you?

The best marketers work day and night to set themselves apart, looking to use every tool at their disposal to generate distinction for the brand(s) they manage.

Achieving distinction and then retaining it is much easier said than done. A brand’s owner or employees can easily distinguish the brand that they support; but they are living with their brand every day. The question that really matters is: can the people you are targeting recall your brand when it matters most: that is, when they are in buying mode.  

Brand recall is essentially that people can think of your brand — hence ‘recall’ it — and associate it with what you are selling. Crucially, at the point they’re considering a purchase. If you play your cards right, that recall should be in a positive light.

Of course, this seems like something that would only occur in the long term. For example, if you are a company that needs to be associated with high safety standards in your respective industry, a prolonged and consistent user experience, focused on safety, plus effective campaigns (i.e. marketing communications & public relations) are necessary elements to help people make that association.

But the other critical element is developing a small collection of brand assets that, when used together, enable easier recall. This is about sensory stimulation and predominantly what someone can see. A brand can prompt recall through visual identity, as customers may recall your brand upon seeing a color: something that reminds them of your logo; a shape that they associate with you, or even a typeface. These and other elements form part of your identity and so should be distinct, protectable, and attractive.

What are the implications for brands that are just starting out? It may seem like a daunting prospect, but we’d respond with: start as you mean to go on.  Consider, for example, that you believe that you’d benefit from what’s commonly called a slogan or tagline — we call it a Brand Promise at Brandeeq.

That Brand Promise must be carefully contemplated and crafted to perform as a distinct Brand Asset: ultimately, one that aids brand recall. A brand owner may then work on establishing credibility for a Brand Promise by consistently delivering on the expectations being created.

From the example of Safety association above, an effective Brand Promise should in a few well-chosen words, reflect what is unique to a brand, as it relates to safety. For example, a popular car brand that wishes to emphasize its safety performance could promise its Pakistani target audience “Tahafuz apka, zimedari humari” (Your safety is our responsibility[GN1] )

However, let’s recognize that a Brand Promise isn’t something that you spend 10 minutes writing while having your morning coffee (or evening tea). It requires an entire process, as a combination of solid briefing, research, creativity, and due diligence. You must ensure that your Brand Promise is consistent, credible, and achievable. It must take cultural contexts into account, to prevent any unintended downsides within your targeted customer segments.

Considering what brand science informs, plus all these other considerations in the mix, it should become apparent — if not already — that there is a case to have your brand assets created and managed professionally.

If your brand assets are crafted with all these factors in mind, new businesses will have a much better chance of sustained success than they otherwise would.

After all, you don’t want to be one among many; so, investing in the development of distinct brand assets and strategies is certainly worthwhile.