Brand recognition
Recognition
The ability to identify a brand as something seen or heard before when the brand is presented as a cue.
By Suman SharmaUpdated Editorial policy
Kevin Lane Keller distinguishes brand recognition from recall: recognition uses the brand as a cue, while recall asks a person to retrieve it from memory using a category or another prompt. Seeing a name and recognising it answers a different question from naming a supplier during a buying situation. Consistent design can support familiarity, but a team's judgement that its materials match cannot establish what buyers remember.
Sources and further reading
How Branding Tatva uses it
Use the Services diagnostic to review the brand's presentation. For evidence of buyer recognition, ask intended buyers about prior familiarity with the name or identity. Record the cues and sample, and assess preference, enquiries and purchases separately.
Questions this term clarifies
- What makes a brand memorable?
- What are distinctive assets?
- How does consistency create memory?