Top-of-mind awareness

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Top-of-mind awareness (TOMA) is an important concept in consumer behaviour, marketing research and marketing communications. Top-of-mind awareness is one measure of how well brands rank in the minds of consumers.

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Definitions of top-of-mind awareness

In marketing, "top-of-mind awareness" refers to a brand or specific product being first in customers' minds when thinking of a particular industry or category. [1]

Top-of-mind awareness is defined in Marketing Metrics: "The first brand that comes to mind when a customer is asked an unprompted question about a category. The percentage of customers for whom a given brand is top of mind can be measured." [2]

TOMA has also been defined as "the percent of respondents who, without prompting, name a specific brand or product first when asked to list all the advertisements they recall seeing in a general product category over the past 30 days." [3]

At the market level, top-of-mind awareness is more often defined as the "most remembered" or "most recalled" brand names. [4]

Top-of-mind awareness: uses and applications

Top-of-mind awareness is a special form of brand awareness. Top-of-mind awareness is generally measured by asking consumers open-ended questions about the brand that first comes to mind in a particular category, like a fast-food restaurant (McDonald’s). Market researchers are then able to take this data and turn it into a percentage to figure out who is leading the way in top-of-mind awareness. [5] Companies attempt to build and increase brand awareness [6] using such digital marketing strategies as search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing (SMM), content marketing, and more. [7]

In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 50% responded that they found the "top-of-mind" metric very useful. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marketing</span> Study and process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to customers

Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emphasize in advertising; operation of advertising campaigns; attendance at trade shows and public events; design of products and packaging attractive to buyers; defining the terms of sale, such as price, discounts, warranty, and return policy; product placement in media or with people believed to influence the buying habits of others; agreements with retailers, wholesale distributors, or resellers; and attempts to create awareness of, loyalty to, and positive feelings about a brand. Marketing is typically done by the seller, typically a retailer or manufacturer. Sometimes tasks are contracted to a dedicated marketing firm or advertising agency. More rarely, a trade association or government agency advertises on behalf of an entire industry or locality, often a specific type of food, food from a specific area, or a city or region as a tourism destination.

Positioning refers to the place that a brand occupies in the minds of the customers and how it is distinguished from the products of the competitors and different from the concept of brand awareness. In order to position products or brands, companies may emphasize the distinguishing features of their brand or they may try to create a suitable image through the marketing mix. Once a brand has achieved a strong position, it can become difficult to reposition it.

Brand equity, in marketing, is the worth of a brand in and of itself – i.e., the social value of a well-known brand name. The owner of a well-known brand name can generate more revenue simply from brand recognition, as consumers perceive the products of well-known brands as better than those of lesser-known brands.

Market penetration refers to the successful selling of a good or service in a specific market. It is measured by the amount of sales volume of an existing good or service compared to the total target market for that product or service. Market penetration is the key for a business growth strategy stemming from the Ansoff Matrix (Richardson, M., & Evans, C.. H. Igor Ansoff first devised and published the Ansoff Matrix in the Harvard Business Review in 1957, within an article titled "Strategies for Diversification". The grid/matrix is utilized across businesses to help evaluate and determine the next stages the company must take in order to grow and the risks associated with the chosen strategy. With numerous options available, this matrix helps narrow down the best fit for an organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consumer behaviour</span> Study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with consuming

Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. Consumer behaviour consists of how the consumer's emotions, attitudes, and preferences affect buying behaviour. Consumer behaviour emerged in the 1940–1950s as a distinct sub-discipline of marketing, but has become an interdisciplinary social science that blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology, anthropology, ethnography, ethnology, marketing, and economics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advertising management</span> Part of the advertising industry

Advertising management is a planned managerial process designed to oversee and control the various advertising activities involved in a program to communicate with a firm's target market and which is ultimately designed to influence the consumer's purchase decisions. Advertising is just one element in a company's promotional mix and as such, must be integrated with the overall marketing communications program. Advertising is, however, the most expensive of all the promotional elements and therefore must be managed with care and accountability. Advertising management process also helps in defining the outline of the media campaign and in deciding which type of advertising would be used before the launch of a product.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advertising campaign</span> Series of advertisements centered around a particular theme or character

An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and concepts into one large media base. Advertising campaigns utilize diverse media channels over a particular time frame and target identified audiences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brand loyalty</span> Marketing term for a consumers emotional attachment to a given brand

In marketing, brand loyalty describes a consumer's positive feelings towards a brand, and their dedication to purchasing the brand's products and/or services repeatedly, regardless of deficiencies, a competitor's actions, or changes in the environment. It can also be demonstrated with other behaviors such as positive word-of-mouth advocacy. Corporate brand loyalty is where an individual buys products from the same manufacturer repeatedly and without wavering, rather than from other suppliers. Loyalty implies dedication and should not be confused with habit with its less-than-emotional engagement and commitment. Businesses whose financial and ethical values rest in large part on their brand loyalty are said to use the loyalty business model.

Customer satisfaction is a term frequently used in marketing. It is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as "the number of customers, or percentage of total customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings) exceeds specified satisfaction goals." Customers play an important role and are essential in keeping a product or service relevant; it is, therefore, in the best interest of the business to ensure customer satisfaction and build customer loyalty.

Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Market share</span> Relative market adoption

Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those units would have a 10 percent share in that market.

The category development index (CDI) measures the sales performance of a category of goods or services in a specific group, compared with its average performance among all consumers. By definition, CDI measures the sales strength of a particular product category within a specific market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital marketing</span> Marketing of products or services using digital technologies or digital tools

Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. Its development during the 1990s and 2000s changed the way brands and businesses use technology for marketing. As digital platforms became increasingly incorporated into marketing plans and everyday life, and as people increasingly use digital devices instead of visiting physical shops, digital marketing campaigns have become prevalent, employing combinations of search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), content marketing, influencer marketing, content automation, campaign marketing, data-driven marketing, e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, social media optimization, e-mail direct marketing, display advertising, e–books, and optical disks and games have become commonplace. Digital marketing extends to non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as television, mobile phones, callback, and on-hold mobile ring tones. The extension to non-Internet channels differentiates digital marketing from online advertising.

All-commodity volume or ACV represents the total annual sales volume of retailers that can be aggregated from individual store-level up to larger geographical sets. This measure is a ratio, and so is typically measured as a percentage.

Customer engagement is an interaction between an external consumer/customer and an organization through various online or offline channels. For example, Hollebeek, Srivastava and Chen's S-D logic-informed definition of customer engagement is "a customer’s motivationally driven, volitional investment of operant resources, and operand resources into brand interactions," which applies to online and offline engagement.

Brand awareness is the extent to which customers are able to recall or recognize a brand under different conditions. Brand awareness is one of two dimensions from brand knowledge, an associative network memory model. Brand awareness is a key consideration in consumer behavior, advertising management, and brand management. The consumer's ability to recognize or recall a brand is central to purchasing decision-making. Purchasing cannot proceed unless a consumer is first aware of a product category and a brand within that category. Awareness does not necessarily mean that the consumer must be able to recall a specific brand name, but they must be able to recall enough distinguishing features for purchasing to proceed. Creating brand awareness is the main step in advertising a new product or bringing back the older brand in light.

'Shopper marketing' is "a discipline that focuses on the customer experience and the customer journey."It focuses on the consumer's path to purchasing a product, from first being aware of the product, to consideration and through to the purchase of it. It separates itself from retail marketing which focuses on engaging the customer in-store only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brand</span> Identification for a good or service

A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and store value as brand equity for the object identified, to the benefit of the brand's customers, its owners and shareholders. Brand names are sometimes distinguished from generic or store brands.

In Marketing, Product category volume (PCV) is the weighted measure of distribution based on store sales within the product category. PCV is a refinement of all commodity volume (ACV). It examines the share of the relevant product category sold by stores in which a given product has gained distribution.

Numeric distribution is based on the number of outlets that carry a product. It is defined as the percentage of stores that stock a given brand or SKU, within the universe of stores in the relevant market.

References

  1. 7 Publicity Myths That Can Hurt Your Business by Pam Lontos, published in Exchange Magazine, retrieved on March 26, 2012
  2. 1 2 Farris, Paul W.; Neil T. Bendle; Phillip E. Pfeifer; David J. Reibstein (2010). Marketing Metrics: The Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN   0137058292. The Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) endorses the definitions, purposes, and constructs of classes of measures that appear in Marketing Metrics as part of its ongoing Common Language in Marketing Project.
  3. AllWords.com, retrieved on March 26, 2012
  4. See, for instance, Koniewski, M., Brand Awareness and Brand Loyalty, PMR Research Paper, Feb, 2012, www.research-pmr.com
  5. "Top of Mind Awareness: Definition & Theory". study.com. Retrieved 2020-12-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. "Tools to Increase Brand Awareness". flippingbook.com. Retrieved 2020-12-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. Panel®, Expert. "Council Post: 15 Smart Ways To Expand Brand Awareness To New Audiences". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-04.

Further reading

Larson, Charles U. (1989). Persuasion. Reception and Responsibility. Fifth Edition. Wadsworth Publishing Company. ISBN   0-534-10134-8.