Creating a viable identity is important. But if no one knows about your brand or what you stand for, then you have a significantly reduced chance of being selected for purchase.
So, when they get to the toothpaste shelf, they would most likely be looking for the Colgate logo and range of products.
They may not always choose the Colgate brand. For instance, they may see another brand they have heard of that is on special and choose that instead.
But in most cases, a consumer will either choose the brand they expected to purchase, or another brand whose saliency is strong. (i.e. would be trusted and in the consumers’ consideration set)
Whilst brand awareness and brand salience may seem similar, they measure different levels of consumer commitment to a brand.
The purchase journey becomes a lot simpler for consumers when they know of a brand or brands that can provide what they need, and they can trust that their products will deliver.
If a consumer knows and trusts your brand, then it means less time researching their purchase choice. And therefore more time for the other important decisions they need to make.
There are a variety of ways to measure brand salience, but one of the most common and simplest is to include a saliency metric in your brand health research. This should be administered to consumers in your target market.
You could incorporate a question in your brand health research such as, “What is the first brand you think of when you need to buy (e.g. toilet paper)?”.
You can also ask consumers an unaided brand awareness question and pay particular attention to the first brands they mention. First brands mentioned are usually the first consumers would think of when in a purchase situation.
You know you have strong Brand Saliency when more people naturally think of your brand as a purchase choice than your competitors.
Brands that are truly winning this metric are those whose brand name are used interchangeably with the product they sell.
Some examples of this include:
To summarise, Brand Awareness and Brand Saliency are indeed very different propositions. Every brand should be trying to maximise their performance in each.
It’s critical for brands to measure both of these metrics periodically. Brands must see whether their marketing activities are having a positive impact on these metrics across their target audience.
At Brand Health we help our clients measure these in ways that make sense for both their customer and industry. We recommend including these metrics in all brand tracking programs.
If you would like to discover the best way to measure Brand Awareness and Brand Salience amongst your customers, get in touch here.