Brand perception refers to what consumers think and how they feel about a brand and its products or services. Brands can use this information to deploy strategies that form a deeper emotional connection and reap the rewards of positive brand perception.
In this guide, we discuss how an effective brand perception strategy can shape consumer views and contribute to brand power and equity. We also outline prominent examples of how positive brand perception can impact the bottom line.
What Is Brand Perception?
Brand perception encompasses opinions, emotions, and associations that people have about a brand based on firsthand experience or general awareness via marketing. It has been intricately linked to the decision-making process behind purchases. In fact, 84% of shoppers say they prefer to buy from brands that align with their values.
Reviews, customer support interactions, and, most importantly, the brand’s values, mission, and vision shape perception. Brands with favorable perceptions have loyal customers who repeatedly purchase and advocate for them.
Harnessing audience perception can build a positive reputation and increase brand power and equity. This attracts more devoted customers, increases revenue, and positively impacts overall financial performance.
Positioning your brand to appeal to your target market is crucial for long-term growth and success. Fortunately, measuring and improving brand perception is within your control.
Why Is Brand Perception Important?
As a customer, how frequently do you give a product or a service another try after being disappointed the first time? The enduring effect of just one negative experience highlights the significance of your company's brand perception, setting the stage for future customer interactions.
Once an individual forms a perception of your brand, altering it requires substantial effort. Many companies do so by diligently articulating their values, mission, and vision, emphasizing an inside-out approach. It's crucial to gauge and track brand perception to gain insights into the effectiveness of these strategies.
Brand perception impacts customer loyalty, retention, sales, lifetime value, and even acquisition costs. So, alongside crafting extensive branding strategies, pause and assess your brand perception for optimal results. Understanding customer sentiments about your brand personality empowers you to tailor campaigns and marketing communications to your desired perspective.
4 Main Ways To Measure Brand Perception
Gauging brand perception is built on collecting metrics from diverse sources, such as reviews, functionality, advertising, social engagement, and more.
Here are four specific methods to measure brand perception:
1. Brand Perception Surveys
Conduct surveys addressing emotional, cognitive, and action-oriented brand elements. Questions may delve into brand associations, emotions, and customer experiences.
2. Social Listening
Utilize tools like Meltwater or Google alerts to track brand mentions. Monitor social media posts, reviews, brand hashtags, customer forums, and news stories to see how your brand and your offerings are being perceived online.
Responding professionally and empathetically to negative mentions is crucial for continued positive brand perception. Express your regrets about their experience and ensure that you will resolve the issue.
3. Brand Audit
Perform a comprehensive brand audit to assess how your brand perception compares to competitors. Analyze target audiences, conduct competitive analysis, evaluate communication strategies, explore different brand elements, and delve into brand positioning.
4. Customer Data
Collect data at each stage of the buyer's journey: research, product evaluation, competitor comparison, onboarding, purchase decision-making, and post-purchase interactions. Assess if consumer sentiment aligns with your brand identity. If congruent, maintain your course. If not, use these insights to enhance consumer brand perception and improve your overall image.
7 Strategies To Improve Your Brand Perception
Here are the best branding strategies to improve your brand perception:
- Deliver high-quality products: Make sure all brand offerings align with your marketing. Products and services should meet customer expectations and solve their problems.
- Engage with your audience: Build strong relationships with your customers via social media, email marketing, and other channels. Positive interactions will contribute to overall brand perception.
- Provide top-notch customer service: 82% of customers will repurchase from a brand when they experience positive service interactions. 97% are likely to share positive word-of-mouth. It is impossible to understate the value of good customer service at every point of interaction with prospective and current customers.
- Solicit customer feedback: Send out surveys and prompt customers for reviews and comments about your brand offerings. Replying constructively to positive and negative feedback will help improve customer relationships and overall brand perception.
- Participate in community events: Support causes and sponsor local initiatives that align with your brand values. These events are excellent opportunities to contribute positively to your community.
- Maintain consistent branding: Recognizable design elements like color palettes, typography, and logos across all channels and customer touchpoints reinforce brand recognition and overall perception. Positive associations will remain front of mind when audiences can immediately recognize your branding.
- Build an emotional connection: Communicate openly and honestly with your audience. Transparency and authenticity have become critical branding buzzwords in the digital age — they help build loyalty and foster deeper relationships with customers.
6 Most Prominent Brand Perception Examples
Many brands have strategically harnessed brand perception to captivate and resonate with audiences. Let's delve into a few noteworthy examples:
1. Snickers
Snickers' playful, tongue-in-cheek advertising style perfectly resonates with its youthful audience. Embracing the millennial term "hangry," Snickers cleverly taps into the universal experience of irritability when hungry. The strategy creatively conveys how the right snack choice can transform you into the best version of yourself, shaping the perception of Snickers as fulfilling and synonymous with enjoyment.
2. Dove
Launched in 2013, Dove's campaign employed FBI-trained artists to create a series of portraits of women based on their self-descriptions and another based on how others perceived them. The results revealed a striking contrast between the self-perceived and stranger-perceived sketches, with the latter representing the women in a more positive light. This demonstrated clearly that beauty is subjective.
Dove's approach deviates from typical advertising by decentering its product and focusing on the customer instead. The ad affirms they are perfect as they are and fosters a strong connection with millions.
3. Zoom
During the pandemic, Zoom emerged as the leading platform for remote workplace communication. However, as "Zoom fatigue" set in, the company needed to reshape its brand image from "seamless video conferencing" to "an experience that connects you with the rest of the world."
Adapting to evolving customer perceptions and behavior, Zoom shifted beyond the primary association as a professional platform to offer broader, more meaningful experiences and connections with family and friends.
4. Volvo
Renowned for producing safe and family-friendly vehicles, Volvo faced the challenge of being perceived as a "boring" option. In the 2000s, the Swedish brand successfully rebranded itself as a "Scandi-chic" manufacturer, blending safety, sophistication, and style into a single package.
This strategic shift made Volvo more appealing to car enthusiasts from various backgrounds, elevating its status to a premium brand.
5. Orangetheory
You might have noticed these orange-themed workout studios during your daily commute or participated in one of their online classes during the pandemic. While fitness trends ebb and flow, Orangetheory established evergreen, community-centric branding strategies that have been benefiting the company since 2010. Their classes are presented as a perfect fit for those seeking connection and friendly competition, offering a more relaxed atmosphere than their competitors.
6. Patagonia
The renowned outdoor gear brand gained acclaim for its high-quality clothing and commitment to responsible manufacturing. Yet, a shift in consumer perception prompted Patagonia to reaffirm its identity around sustainability. In the early 2010s, "Patagucci" emerged as a satirical term, poking fun at the brand's high prices and its popularity among high-income individuals.
To steer consumers away from associating Patagonia with prohibitively expensive brands, the company initiated various sustainability-focused endeavors, such as the Worn Wear initiative that encouraged trade-ins.
Brand Perception: Key Takeaways
Brand perception affects customer loyalty, retention, sales, lifetime value, and even acquisition costs. A strategic focus on evaluating and improving brand perception is essential for achieving optimal outcomes in customer relationships and overall business success.
Understanding public perception is a crucial aspect of building a thriving business. It provides essential insights for shaping your brand identity, crafting impactful marketing campaigns, and adapting to shifts in consumer perception. Armed with the knowledge of measuring brand perception, you can strategically make decisions to propel your company forward.
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Brand Perception FAQs
1. What are the effects of positive brand perception?
Positive brand perception can lead to greater customer trust, loyalty, and retention. You can also gain a significant competitive advantage and more revenue due to word-of-mouth marketing. Positive brand associations can also attract top talent and increase employee retention.
2. What factors influence brand perception?
These key factors influence brand associations and overall perception:
- Product quality
- Customer service
- Customer reviews
- Visual branding
- Brand voice and messaging
3. How can you change negative brand perception?
First, understand the root cause through market analysis and customer feedback. Address issues immediately and outline steps that will resolve them. Center your brand messaging on your commitment to improvement and meeting customer expectations moving forward. Consistently responding to and adapting to negative feedback can lead to a more positive perception over time.
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