Brand Recall
Business Dictionary defines Brand Recall as "a qualitative measure of how well a brand name is connected with a product type or class of products by consumers."Often tested through surveys or interviews, brand recall is tested by asking participants questions such as "name as many car models as possible" or "can you explain what a Kleenex is?"[1]
Categorization of Brand Recall[2]
Generally speaking, brand recall can be divided into two main categories, namely unaided and aided recall. In terms of aided brand recall, researchers measure the extent to which a brand name is remembered when the actual brand name is brought into the discussion. For example, one type of question can be “Do you remember BMW brand?”. Thus, in this example, the name of the brand is mentioned, enhancing the memory in the customer’s mind. However, in order to remain competitive in today’s highly challenging business environment, managers are focusing more on unaided brand recall, as it would mean a competitive advantage against their rivals. By this we mean that if the customer can remember the brand without having it previously mentioned, then the brand has a high impact on the customer and he recalls the brand very well. A brand’s value is directly connected to its presence in the memory of consumers. Quite simply, if a customer remembers a brand, he is likely to buy that brand. If he doesn’t remember it, he will buy the one he remembers. Thus, for a brand, it is important to set itself in customers' memory.
Importance of Brand Recall[3]
To increase their brand exposure, companies want their brand to come under unaided recall in relation to their competitors. The first brand name which is recalled (often known as "top of mind") has a distinct advantage in brand space over other competitors, as it has the first chance of evaluation for purchase by the consumer. If a company has a high brand recall, this would mean there are more chances that while buying the customer will remember it more often and would end up buying more of the brand. If this cycle continues, repeat purchases would be more. Hence Brand Recall is very important for a brand manager.
See Also
Branding
Brand Ambassador
Brand Asset Valuator
Brand Identity Prism
Brand Loyalty
Brand Management
Brand Personality
Brand Recognition
Brand Strategy