More on brand awareness

Back in May I discussed brand awareness and how it occurs when people simply recognize your brand as yours. Brand awareness is not necessarily good or bad.

As I discuss in my e-book, How to Build and Manage Your Brand (in sickness and in health), brand awareness does not necessarily mean that people prefer your brand or even attach much value to it. It just means they recognize your brand and can identify it under different conditions.

In my opinion, too many marketers tout the merits of building brand awareness without giving further thought to building strategic awareness that represents positive associations and superior value that in turn make people wish to choose the brand over competing brands in the category.

New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin fell into the brand awareness trap back in August when, as reported by the Washington Post, he stated that the high violence rate in New Orleans was a "two-edged sword" because "it's not good for [New Orleans], but it also keeps the New Orleans brand out there, and it keeps people thinking about our needs and what we need to bring this community back".

So if high murder rates and violence build high brand awareness for New Orleans, is that a good thing? I think not.

Keep this in mind the next time somebody tells you that you need to build brand awareness. Tell them you know better and you understand the importance of building the right brand awareness.