Is branding just a memory game?

Now, branding is a little similar.

It's a bit of a stretch, but it's a little similar, except your customers aren't trying to match two pictures of a banana, let's say, or two kings.

They're, they're constantly storing little pieces of information about brands and hopefully connecting some of them together, so you can see where I'm going with this.

Now, they might see golden arches and think McDonald's.

They hear a particular piece of music and think of an airplane, or an airline should I say.

Uh, they might spot a certain color combination and remember a product that they saw at the supermarket.

They might even drive past your for sale signage every morning on the way to work, and they might even remember the unusual packaging that they held six months ago, or recognize the mascot that keeps appearing in their social feed.

Now, every one of these interactions has the potential to become another card placed somewhere in their memory, but the objective isn't simply for someone to recognize your logo, color, or mascot.

Eventually, you want them to make a much more important match.

So think of it as them thinking, "I need something," that develops into your brand coming to mind, and then, "Your offer is what I need." This is what the consumer is thinking, "Your offer is what I need, because your brand has come to mind when I needed something." Because being known is nice, which is brand awareness, but being thought of when someone actually needs what you have to sell is considerably better, and you do need both.

But being known isn't enough.

You know, brands spend an enormous amount of time and effort and money trying to get attention.

That's one part of it.

They want the social post that gets shared, the advertising campaign everyone talks about, the activation that gets people through the door, the clever bit of creating that stops someone's thumb for three seconds longer than usual in their social media feed.

A- and there's nothing necessarily wrong with any of that, a- and brand awareness definitely is needed, but that's not the be all and end all.

That's not the finishing line, as there's a big difference between getting someone's attention today and being remembered and thought of by them months or even years later, especially when needed.

Now, someone might remember an ad without remembering who it was for.

They might laugh at your social post and never think about you again.

They might even recognize your name when they see it without ever thinking of your brand when they actually l- are looking to buy something in your category.

In marketing and branding jargon, what we're really trying to build is called mental availability.

Now, mental availability is essentially the likelihood of a brand coming to mind in a buying situation.

I've mentioned this many times on the podcast before.

But to a normal, non-batshit crazy person that doesn't obsess over brands, you might just call it being thought of at the right time, and that's an important distinction, because brand awareness ends at someone either knowing or knowing you or not knowing you.

You know, they might recognize you.

They might remember your logo.