Brands are unique identities imparted to a service or product by the customer. Today, many companies spend millions to build and maintain this identity. Brand knowledge is the total result of brand awareness and image.
It’s important for business owners and companies to have a good understanding of their brand, so they can see how it influences buyers and investors. The 2 components of knowledge of the brand, Brand Image, and Brand Awareness are interrelated in order to have an effect on both the buyer and investor as well.
Brand Image Vs. Brand Awareness
The contrast between a brand’s image and its awareness is that Brand Image refers to the meaning people give to a company, while Brand Awareness is about recognition and recall.
Brand image, in simple terms, is the positive associations people have with a product or company. They are psychological associations and abstract ideas that influence decision-making choices. A reputed brand image can be translated to positive emotions associated with it- like how Kellog’s has healthy breakfast as its branding versus Maggi’s junk snacks being their marketing strategy.
If people easily identify a product brand in cases of its physical features or recognize it by name, the product is supposed to have brand awareness. In other words, if there are many recollections about a product’s image associated with it (such as Maggi packets), then that product is likely to get recognized and identified quickly. This indicated good brand awareness for Maggi packets.
Comparison Table Between Brand Awareness and Brand Image
| Parameter of Comparison | The Brand Image | The Brand Awareness |
| Definition | Meanings and associations are created by the mind of the buyer. | Ability to identify the brand’s core values. Whether or not you have prior experience with the brand. |
| The Nature | Often, it’s latent or it’s passive. | There’s no such thing as a “latent appeal” or an “active appeal.” What you are testing for here is the ability of your offer to capture someone’s attention. |
| Markers | You can use things like headlines, subheads, bullets, graphics, layout, and design to influence the image of the brand. | Physical attributes like the look and feel of the package, the logo, the color scheme, and so forth are all important in raising brand awareness. |
| Longevity | It’s Enduring | It’s superficial. |
| Goal | Is meaningful. | Being memorable. |
What is the Brand Image?
The Brand Image is how a product is perceived by others. It includes all of the attributes that other people associate with that product. These attributes may indicate what the product is for or what the company behind it stands for.
The first step to creating a high-impact sales message is to understand the psychology of the buyer. Once you do that, you can craft a powerful message that speaks to the buyer on an emotional level. This will infuse the buyer with the necessary belief to make the sale. A brand’s reputation is built on the quality of the products or services it offers. It is the interplay among customer emotion, belief, and a brand’s reputation that collectively influences a brand’s image.
The image of a brand changes intentionally. Brands spend millions to maintain the image of the brand in the public domain. Brands work hard to create a positive image. However, the meaning of “positive” changes depending on the brand and the product.
For a certain brand, let’s say it’s Royal Stag, the goal is to personal success and associate individuality with the brand. In this case, the target customer would be young people or business professionals. In the case of Kurkure, the target customer would be families and festivals.
Brand identity is the core element in the success of any business and needs constant maintenance and improvement. Placement of the products and the campaigns that they engage in helps in manipulating their brand identity. For example, Godrej has been involved in promoting eco-friendly and sustainable solutions for living in the past decade. To further enhance their brand image, the associated and sponsored themselves with various TV shows and events that promote a sustainable environment.
The main goal of creating a brand image is to establish the uniqueness of the product. In order to enhance the perception of t If the customer is not satisfied with the product, it will negatively impact the company’s brand image. That is why it is so important to provide excellent service.
What is Brand Awareness?
A high degree of customer awareness of a brand is important for the success of any marketing campaign. Your customers should be able to easily recognize your company’s name and logo. The precise level of customer association a brand has with its product is determined by how well the brand does in creating a powerful emotional link with the customer.
A brand that is well known and trusted in the market will have high brand awareness. If a company or brand has a high level of consumer awareness, it will be able to reach out to more customers.
Brand awareness is an important part of any marketing campaign. Brand awareness can be a huge benefit to your business. It puts your company in a class by itself and gets your customers to notice you when others are invisible. You must make sure that your customer is well aware of your brand so he’ll always pick it out from the rack. That’s why it’s important that he has enough information to help him decide whether or not to buy your product.
In order to create brand awareness, you need to build two primary components. Brand recognition is the first step in building a customer’s trust in you and your product. They must be able to identify the source of your product so they know it is legitimate and will not give them a substandard product.
The 2nd significant component is brand recall. The brand recall component is important. The ability of someone to retrieve the identity of the brand from their memory is marked by this.
Brand awareness means creating memorable experiences for your customers so they positively remember your brand and are more likely to purchase from you again. It’s a very important part of the entire sales process.
Difference Between Brand Awareness and Brand Image
The brand image is what people think and believe about a brand, and it encompasses everything a brand is associated with and includes how people perceive a brand. Brand awareness indicates how popular a product is within the targeted customer.
Brand Image is not something that can be created on its own but will have to work with the branding of it, including strategic collaboration and taglines. On the other hand, Brand Awareness comes from how well you construct your logo and packaging in order to create an image for people.
Brand image and brand awareness are two different concepts. Brand image is the emotional response to a particular piece of content, whereas brand awareness is the emotional response that you get from being exposed to a specific title or name.
Customers base their decisions on the brand’s image. The longer this characteristic lasts, the more likely customers are to purchase from that particular brand in the future. Awareness of the company might haven’t an enduring effect on decisions of positive purchase, but it can be superficial and temporary if not used correctly.
Emotional and Psychological meaning is more dominant in the former, while appearance is more prominent with regards to the latter.
Conclusion
Brand image and awareness are tools that companies need to have in order to be successful. A sustainable customer base is a requirement for any company wanting success in the market today.
Brand Awareness and Brand Image are two different concepts, but they both focus on the same basic idea. One is about what customers say about their product or brand and one is focused on exactly how much customers remember.