To be remembered is important but in business, it can make or break the bank. Brand recognition is important do you have a brand and do your customers recognize it.

What brands to you remember?

Coke the real thing Molson Canadian - I am Canadian PEI Aerospace The sky is no limit. (Find your place in aerospace) Take 30: for the family Cost nothing. Worth everything.

You don't have to be big business to have brand recognition. Here is a brief overview to guide you into thinking about brand recognition.

Brand Rejection This is something you don't want. Your brand is associated with something negative, like Maple Leaf and tainted meat; who with a good PR team appear to have corrected the negative. Or a bad customer service experience. For example; I had a terrible experience in a restaurant franchise off island and to this day I will not enter that brand of restaurant in any location.

Brand Non-recognition People don't remember your business. Maybe you don't have a brand at all so who are you? And what is your positioning in the market? Have you even thought about what people remember about your business?

Brand preference

This is where customers given a choice between two brands will choose yours over someone else's. The key is to know why and continue to differentiate your business from the competition. True story received an email, someone who remembered me from my former consulting business a few years ago, tracked me down; because he said and I quote, you are the only consultant I could think of. Yes my head swelled. I'm back to earth now. But this is what you want you need to be 'top of mind' to your customer.

Brand loyalty

This is where customers will choose your brand time and time again, even if they experience the occasional poor service or if another product comes along that seems to be better suited to their needs. Do you have a favourite store? How many have bought a suit at Company X because of the great service, or coffee at Timothy's because of their fair trade coffee? The list goes on.

Do you have a brand? And more importantly do your customers know what it is? The first step is to understand the importance of brand, the next step is create your brand to stand out in your customers mind and/or rejuvenate your brand to stand out. All the best, maybe one day your brand will be a household name.

Learn more about this author, Tracey Allen.
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