Using brand tracking correctly

A thorough lesson

A broader understanding of brand awareness was impressed upon me in college when a professor jokingly threatened to drop his underpants in front of all the students. A student had just presented a case study on a new car launch plan. He confidently proclaimed that his plan would "increase brand awareness tremendously.""The awareness of WHAT?" my professor, a graying advertising veteran with 40 years of management experience in international companies, now mocked. "You haven't told us exactly what is to be known. Notoriety is not the goal. The goal is, the benefit of your product. If I stand in front of you and drop my underpants, I'm sure I'll become better known - but what do I get out of it? "Too many companies strive for brand awareness for the sake of awareness. Yes, they even spend vast amounts of money to measure this metric - without taking a closer look at what consumers actually know about the brand. So what is gained with pure brand awareness?

All aspects of brand awareness 

Of course, it is important to measure active and passive awareness. But these numbers are just the starting point. If you don't get a handle on how many customers know the benefits of your brand, you've lost the race before it's begun.Here are three ways your brand tracker surveys can give you results that are more actionable:

 Brand benefits

After determining the overall passive and active awareness of your brand, ask questions about its benefits. Ask participants (without reminders, please) what benefits your brand and those of your two biggest competitors have. Use text analysis tools to quickly and efficiently interpret free-form text. Next, show respondents a list of brand benefits that includes your brand. Then ask them which benefit they associate with which brand. Over time, the answers to these questions will provide you with comprehensive feedback on your advertising messages and promotions.

 Relevance of the brand benefit

To define the brand benefit, your company probably did a lot of pondering, discussion and - hopefully - research. This should not be changed for years, perhaps even decades. Still, it makes sense to keep your finger on the pulse of the market and take stock from time to time. Make sure the way you frame this benefit is still appropriate. Ask survey respondents to rate how relevant they find this benefit. Explain the benefit in several ways to test which one resonates best. Ask respondents to explain why this benefit seems important or unimportant to them.

 Credibility of the brand promise

Even the most fantastic brand promise is no use if no one believes you can deliver on it. With a brand tracker, you can determine the degree to which your customers believe you. Show respondents a list that includes you along with your competitors. Ask them to rank the brands that are most and least likely to deliver on their promise, respectively. And don't forget to ask them why.Brand tracking can help you continuously improve your advertising messages. However, you can only do this if you dig a little deeper and don't limit yourself to typical questions like "Which of the following brands are you familiar with?".Only with a detailed diagnosis can you also develop a detailed treatment plan. By determining whether your customers are aware of your brand's benefits and find them relevant or credible, you can use brand tracking to bring about concrete improvements and create real added value.Wolfgang Sölch is an experienced sales and IT specialist at enterprise level. He is currently responsible for the strategic orientation and growth of Qualtrics in Central Europe. Sölch, who holds a degree in computer science, can look back on more than 15 years of experience in the IT industry: Before joining Qualtrics, Sölch was Vice President Sales EMEA for BrandMaker, Sales Manager Data Solutions for Microsoft and Sales Director Strategic Accounts for VMware.