And ask people where they know us from? Where did they first hear about our brand?” we often hear this question. It’s a legitimate query that has accompanied marketing since the beginning of its modern history. You want to know which specific dollar out of those hundred in the budget lit up the Awareness light in someone’s head and worked the miracle.
But so-called brand and the entire process of recalling some brand is just a fleeting association. Nothing more. And association isn’t a conscious or voluntary process. As the pink elephant shows, you can’t control what occurs to you. Only with what occurs to you can you consciously deal somehow. When did you first realize that Evian or Sony exists? The very word “realize” goes against the nature of a brand. Associative connection is unconscious. Consumers—that is, people—don’t hold selection processes for ice cream and don’t read electoral programs.
You know you have a real brand precisely when people have no idea where they know you from. In research, they then unintentionally declare complete nonsense: “Well, where did I first see it? Probably on TV, like other brands. Definitely on TV.” The respondent speaks about a brand that never shot even a sponsored spot.
If a significant part of humanity can recall where they know you from, it’s usually not good news. You don’t have a brand then, just a big campaign. New brands with big campaigns are also the only examples when at least some respondents can recall where they know the brand from. But the campaign itself then tends to be the only thing they associate with it.
“That’s the brand from the ad,” respondents then say.
