Brand Categories
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.
Branding began as a functional marketing tool. Italians are considered among thefirst to use brands in the form of watermarks on paper in the 1200s. People in the Middle Ages were illiterate. Medieval guilds -- candle makers, goldsmiths,cobblers; carpenters, painters and masons; bakers and fishmongers -- created symbols to be etched or stamped into their work, products or crates which represented and certified the quality of a guild's work.
Brand categories are generic classifications of products or services. Similar and competing products (or services) all fall into the same brand category. For example, all the different perfumes fall into the brand category of perfume because they all satisfy the same consumer need.
Brand awareness refers to the customer's ability to recall and recognize the brand under different conditions, using memory associations to link to the brand name, logo, jingles, and so forth. It consists of both brand recognition and brand recall. It helps the customers understand to which product or service category the particular brand belongs and what products and services are sold under the brand name. It also ensures that customers know which of their needs are satisfied by the brand through its products (Keller). Brand awareness is of critical importance, since customers will not consider your brand if they are not aware of it .
Brand logo
Brand awareness refers to thecustomer's ability to recall and recognize the brand under different conditions,using memory associations to link to the brand name, logo, jingles, and so forth.
There are various levels of brand awareness that require different levels and combinations of brand recognition and recall. Top-of-Mind is the goal of most companies. Top-of-Mind Awareness occurs when your brand is what pops into a consumer's mind when asked to name brands in a product category. For example, when someone is asked to name a type of facial tissue, the common answer is Kleenex, which is a top-of-mind brand. Aided Awareness occurs when a consumer is shown or reads a list of brands, and expresses familiarity with your brand only after they hear or see it as a type of memory aid. Strategic Awareness occurs when your brand is not only top-of-mind to consumers, but also has distinctive qualities that stick out to consumers as making it better than the other brands in your market. The distinctions that set your product apart from the competition are also known as the Unique Selling Points or USP.