Brand recall denotes how many customers can remember your brand name when prompted or aided, say with a mention of a product, service, or any other concept associated with it, or when unaided, such as when asked “name your favorite shampoo brands.” As such, brand recall is one of the ways that brand recognition can be measured. Whether or not customers can recall a brand name depends on many factors. These may include exposure to ads, social media or brand campaigns, efficacy of customer contact or support, or whether the customer has had a recent interaction with the brand.
Brand recall vs brand awareness
If a brand has high recall levels, this indicates a good level of brand awareness among consumers. The ability to instantly recall a brand name means that the brand has achieved a high level of mindshare in the target audience, and may indicate a preference towards the brand among the customer base. Brand awareness and brand recall are heavily entwined; if one is high then the other will be high too. However, brand awareness will need to come before brand recall. In the early stages of a startup or business growth, brand awareness should be the key goal, generating broad exposure, awareness of the existence of the brand, and recognition of its products and presence in the market. With successful brand awareness, companies can focus their energies on measuring brand recall and then improving it as needed.