With so many options for consumers, regardless of industry, the decision-making behind purchases is intricately linked to brand perception. A whopping 84% of shoppers admit they’d rather buy from brands that align with their values.
In turn, brands relentlessly pursue positive associations, recognizing the challenge of altering initial attitudes. With that in mind, let’s see how understanding brand perception shapes consumer views and contributes to the strategic advancement of brand power and equity.
Table of Contents
What Is Brand Perception?
Brand perception refers to what a potential consumer thinks and how they feel about a brand’s product or service, i.e., what the customer perceives a brand represents rather than its declared identity. Based on a customer's initial opinion, a brand can form a deeper emotional connection and reap the rewards of positive brand perception.
Things that influence brand perception can be reviews, customer support interactions, and most importantly, the values and causes a brand holds and supports. Brands cultivating favorable perceptions usually have a loyal customer base that relates to the same causes a brand may champion.
In short, organizations that harness this insight cultivate brand equity and a positive reputation. In turn, that attracts more devoted customers, ultimately impacting the overall financial performance.
Positioning your brand to be appealing to the target market is crucial for growth. While it may seem elusive, measuring and improving brand perception is within your control, as you’ll see in a bit.
Why Is Brand Perception Important?
How frequently do you give a product or a service a second chance after a flawed first impression? This enduring effect highlights the significance of your company's brand perception, setting the stage for future customer relationships.
Once an individual forms a perception of your brand, altering it requires substantial effort. Many companies diligently articulate their values, mission, and vision, emphasizing an inside-out approach. However, it's crucial to gauge and track brand perception, providing insights into the effectiveness of these efforts.
Brand perception wields a pervasive influence, impacting customer loyalty, retention, sales, lifetime value, and even acquisition costs. So, alongside crafting extensive branding campaigns, pause and assess your brand perception for optimal results.
Understanding customer sentiments about your brand personality empowers you to tailor campaigns and marketing communications aligned with the desired perspective.
How To Measure Brand Perception?
Data plays a pivotal role in comprehending how your brand is perceived by all stakeholders. 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:
Brand Perception Surveys
Conduct surveys addressing emotional, cognitive, and action-oriented aspects. Questions may delve into brand associations, emotions, and customer experiences.
Social Listening
Utilize tools like Meltwater or Google alerts to track online mentions. Monitor social media comments, reviews, hashtags, forums, and news mentions. Immediate attention to negative mentions is crucial.
Brand Audit
Perform a brand audit to assess how your brand perception compares to competitors. Analyze target audiences, conduct a competitive analysis, evaluate communication strategies, explore the brand elements, and delve into brand positioning.
Customer Data
Gather data at each stage of the buyer's journey, encompassing research, product evaluation, competitor comparison, onboarding, purchase decision-making, and post-purchase interactions such as customer support interactions.
Once you accumulate sufficient data, assess if consumer sentiment aligns with your brand identity. If congruent, maintain your course. If not, use the insights to enhance consumer brand perception effectively.
Brand Perception Examples
Many brands strategically harness brand perception to captivate and resonate with audiences. Let's delve into a few noteworthy examples.
Snickers
With an extensive array of candy bars to choose from, why should customers choose Snickers? The brand's 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. Their strategy intelligently conveys how the right snack choice can transform you into the best version of yourself, shaping the perception of Snickers as fulfilling, healthy, and synonymous with enjoyment.
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 one 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, which helped Dove echo that beauty is subjective.
Dove's approach deviates from typical advertising by affirming that its customers are perfect with or without the product, fostering a strong connection with millions.
Zoom
Amidst the pandemic, Zoom emerged as a household name for remote work. 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 world."
Adapting to evolving customer perceptions, Zoom moved beyond the association with pleasant video conferences to offer a broader, more meaningful experience.
Volvo
Renowned for producing family-friendly, safe cars, Volvo faced a challenge of being perceived as somewhat "boring." In the 2000s, the Swedish brand successfully rebranded itself as a "Scandi-chic" car 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.
Orangetheory
You might have noticed these orange-themed workout studios during your daily commute or participated in an online class amid the pandemic. While fitness trends ebb and flow, Orangetheory established an ever-lasting, community-centric brand perception that has been helping 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 Crossfit yet elevating intensity compared to national gym group classes like those at Planet Fitness and LA Fitness.
Patagonia
The renowned outdoor gear brand gained acclaim for its inventive clothing and commitment to responsible manufacturing. Yet, a shift in consumer perception prompted Patagonia to reaffirm its identity centered around sustainability. In the early 2010s, the moniker "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 fast fashion, the company initiated various sustainability-focused endeavors, such as the Worn Wear line featuring recycled clothing.
Key Takeaways
Understanding the public perception of your brand 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.
Brand Perception FAQs
What Is Brand Perception?
Brand perception captures a consumer's emotions, experiences, and thoughts about a product or service, reflecting what individuals believe a brand represents, rather than its stated identity. Despite existing as a mental association, it significantly contributes to forming emotional connections with consumers.
Why Is Brand Perception Important?
Brand perception holds substantial sway, affecting customer loyalty, retention, sales, lifetime value, and even acquisition costs. Instead of hastily embarking on intricate campaigns, a strategic focus on evaluating and improving brand perception proves essential for achieving optimal outcomes in customer relationships and overall business success.
How To Measure Brand Perception?
Various methods, such as brand perception surveys, social listening, brand audits, and collecting customer data, are employed to measure brand perception comprehensively. These metrics, gathered from diverse sources, provide valuable insights into consumer sentiments, aiding strategic decision-making for business advancement.
