Brand recognition
The share of people who can identify a brand when they see or hear it, for example picking out its logo, pack or name from a list. It is measured as prompted (aided) awareness and is easier to achieve than unprompted recall, where people have to come up with the brand themselves. High recognition with low recall usually means the brand is known but not thought of when buying, which is a mental availability problem.
Where it's used
Used in brand tracking surveys and pre/post campaign studies, often next to unaided recall. Good for checking whether distinctive assets are doing their job, but it says little about whether people will choose the brand.
How to calculate it
Brand recognition = people who recognise the brand ÷ people asked
Worked example
Illustrative numbersA craft beer brand surveys 600 beer drinkers in its region. 312 pick its label out of a lineup of ten. Asked to name beer brands without a prompt, 184 mention it.
Recognition (aided)
312 recognised ÷ 600 asked = 52%
Recall (unaided)
184 recalled ÷ 600 asked = 30.7%
Known but not thought of
52% - 30.7% = 21.3%
What it tells you
One in five drinkers knows the label but does not think of it unprompted. More awareness ads will not fix that; linking the brand to buying situations will.
