Brand awareness and brand equity

It is important to remind ourselves that awareness alone does not lead to brand equity. There are many short-lived awareness success stories (Fruitopia, Pets.com, Avia, Zima and American Ski Company, to name a few) that have illustrated that it is indeed possible to achieve a high level of awareness for a product or service, while in turn establishing only a low level of brand equity and thus killing the brand.

Clearly, before investing substantial financial resources to build a brand’s awareness, careful consideration of the influence exerted by the other brand assets (quality, identity, preference and loyalty) is critical. A carefully orchestrated asset-driven branding program can assure that today’s awareness helps to build tomorrow’s equity.