Why some companies can get away with just a little bit of marketing while others have to pay bucket loads of cash on ads and PR?
If you were to show a silver logo with a half-bitten piece of fruit to almost anyone in the world, most of them would know that it's Apple.
This is the power of brand recognition.
We can't show you how to become the next Apple, but we can do the next best thing.
Today, we'll explain what brand recognition is, how it differs from brand awareness, and give you actionable advice on building, measuring and leveraging brand recognition.
Power up your brand recognition strategy by pitching to the right media and measuring key metrics.
What is brand recognition?
Brand recognition refers to the ability of consumers to identify a brand based on visual or auditory elements, such as logos, jingles, slogans, packaging, brand colors, and similar things, without needing to hear the brand's name.
The definition of brand recognition means that the wider public can differentiate you from your competitors based on nothing but cues.
Examples of brand recognition
You don't have to look far and wide for examples of brand recognition. You probably know most of the companies below:
#1 Logos and symbols
- Apple – The bitten apple icon.
- Nike – The swoosh symbol.
- McDonald’s – The golden arches.
- Twitter (X) – The bird logo (previously).
- Starbucks – The green mermaid/siren emblem.
#2 Color schemes
- Coca-Cola – Bright red with white script.
- Tiffany & Co. – Distinctive robin’s egg blue (Tiffany Blue®).
- Cadbury – Purple and gold packaging.
- Facebook – Blue and white interface.
- UPS – Brown trucks and uniforms.
#3 Slogans and taglines
- McDonald’s – “I’m Lovin’ It”
- Nike – “Just Do It”
- L'Oréal – “Because You’re Worth It”
- KFC – “Finger Lickin’ Good”
- De Beers – “A Diamond is Forever”

#4 Sounds and jingles
- Intel – The iconic five-note chime.
- Netflix – The “tudum” sound when the app launches.
- NBC – The three-note chime.
- Windows – The startup sound for Windows PCs.
- MGM – The roaring lion in movie intros.
These brand recognition examples have one thing in common: you immediately know what brand it is based on some of the cues above.
These brands didn't become well-known, respected, and loved overnight. The recognition results from painstaking market research, public relations campaigns, and building brand equity through years and decades
Brand recognition vs. brand awareness
The terms seem pretty similar, but there are distinct differences between them.
Brand recognition is how easily existing and potential customers can recognize your brand based on visual, auditory, and other cues without necessarily knowing much about your company.
For example, logos, jingles, slogans, and similar artifacts.
Brand awareness is how familiar your target audience is with your brand and how well they understand what you do and stand for. It encompasses your brand's values, products, and overall reputation.
For example, you see a pair of sneakers with a swoosh logo. If you recognize it instantly as Nike, that's brand recognition. If you know that the Nike brand stands for high performance, athleticism, and the latest sports technology, that's brand awareness.

Brand recognition and brand awareness go hand in hand.
Recognition helps your target audience identify the brand, while awareness allows them to understand it. Both are crucial for a well-rounded, successful PR strategy.
Why is brand recognition important?
Having high brand recognition can benefit any business. You'll have an easier time influencing buyer decisions, you'll spend less time and money on your marketing efforts, and you'll build brand loyalty more easily.
Here are some of the key benefits of strong brand recognition:
#1 It builds trust and credibility
When customers can recognize your brand, this builds trust and signals that you're reliable, with high-quality products and services. When customers remember you, there is less perceived risk from purchasing from you.
💡 For example, if you're in your corner store and bombarded with soda ads, you're naturally going to gravitate towards Coke or Pepsi. Even if the new sodas are similar in quality and price, Coke and Pepsi have been around for so long that going with these choices doesn't pose any risk. These brands are leaders in their industry.
#2 It enhances customer loyalty
Successful brand recognition means that, customers consistently associate you with positive experiences in the long run. This gives customers a sense of connection and emotional attachment, which fosters repeat business.
💡 For example, Apple has a retention rate of 92% for iPhone users, making for almost religious-like loyalty. In other words, nine out of ten iPhone users will purchase an iPhone again.
#3 It gives a competitive edge in the market
In competitive markets, customers are more inclined to choose a brand they trust over a completely new one. Since you've been creating brand awareness and building a brand for a while, your marketing costs are also lower. In general, you'll struggle less to get attention from your key audiences.
And this spans beyond products. You'll also form new partnerships more easily, break into new markets, and have an easier time negotiating with suppliers and retailers.
#4 It supports your PR campaigns
When customers are already familiar with your brand, you can plan and deliver PR campaigns in easy mode. They will be more receptive to advertisements, campaigns, and new product launches if they know who you are and what you stand for.
When you have a base to build on, each new PR campaign is going to produce results more quickly and easily. Your messages resonate more deeply as customers can connect new campaigns to your brand's identity and values.
How to boost brand recognition
Now that you know its major benefits, let's get into some practical ways to improve your brand recognition that won't necessarily blow your budget.
Consistent branding
When customers have repeated exposure to the same branding in terms of visuals, tone, and messaging, it makes them remember you instantly. Here are some ways to achieve that:
👉 Use the same logo, color palette, fonts and design elements across your campaigns and different platforms.
For example, you'll instantly recognize Coca-Cola by its red color.
👉 Develop a Tone and Voice that aligns with your values and those of your target audience.
For example, it can be playful (Ryanair), formal (Barclays Bank), or anything else that works for your business. Keep the tone consistent across your social media, ad copy, website, print media content, and wherever else you're present.
Here's how Ryanair keeps consistent with their iconic Tone and Voice:


We're not saying you have to go all the way and do the same, but… maybe it will inspire you to step outside your comfort zone? 😉
👉 Create a style guide
To keep everyone aligned on what you should appear like in the media, develop a style guide regarding logo usage, typography, brand colors, and similar.
This helps you internally and makes it easy to hire contractors for creative work.
Engaging storytelling
One of the easiest ways to get widespread brand recognition is to tell a story. Most customers hate being sold to and they would much rather hear a story than another sales pitch. But how do you do that if you don't feel like you have a story to tell?
👉 Share stories of your origin
How did your brand come to life and what sparked the idea to start it? For example, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream was founded by two friends with nothing but $5 and an idea to start a business. They attended a course on ice cream making and the rest is history.
👉 Leverage user-generated content (UGC)
Ask your customers to share content about you and then re-share it with your audience. GoPro is an excellent example of a brand that uses content made by their customers with GoPro on their YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and other channels.
👉 Create great press releases
If you have a story to tell, use tools like Prowly to create amazing, highly personalized press releases and send them to the right journalists.
A great example comes from IKEA all the way back in 2011. They made a press release inviting 100 participants to have a sleepover at IKEA after noticing a Facebook group called “I wanna have a sleepover in IKEA.”
💡 Get inspired by more techniques and real life examples from these articles:
➖ 5 Elements of Storytelling: A LEGO Campaign Example & Extra Tips
➖ 9 Digital Storytelling Examples You Should Know If You Work in PR
Leveraging social media and influencer collaborations
Social media makes it easy for brands to engage with millions of people at once. And even in "formal" B2B industries, having an online presence on social media is a must.
These are some great ways to increase brand visibility through socials.
- Post consistently: for example, creating one Facebook post per day is a good rule of thumb, while you'll need to create a few posts each day on Twitter (X).
- Form influencer partnerships: find content creators that align with your values, mission and vision and have a common target audience. For example, the Nike influencer partnership with Christiano Ronaldo gained massive exposure for the already popular brand.
- Use interactive content such as polls, Q&A sessions, live videos, and similar content to actively engage with your target audience instead of just blasting messages at them.
Hosting memorable events and campaigns
Experiential marketing may seem overly expensive and tedious, but it creates long-lasting impressions that attendees take home and store in their memories long term.
Depending on what you do, here are some ways you can create brand recognition with events and campaigns:
- Pop-up shops or launch events: allow you to create immersive experiences for your customers and see your brand values in the flesh.
- Contests and giveaways: by encouraging your target audience to participate, you can boost your brand recognition without spending significant time or money.
- Virtual events: webinars, virtual summits, online launches, and others are some of the best ways to engage with your audience online.
Consistent messaging
When you have unified messaging across all channels, it enforces clarity and prevents mixed signals.
These are the best way to accomplish that.
- Press releases: announce new products, partnerships, or achievements through frequent press releases. With tools such as Prowly, you can easily craft press releases that reflect your tone of voice and values.
- Media outreach: develop strong relationships with journalists and content creators so that your brand gets frequently mentioned in high-tier publications.
- Thought leadership: frequently post op-ed, thought leadership content, blogs, and interviews to establish authority in the market and reinforce your brand messaging.
How to increase brand recognition
If you're wondering how to create brand recognition and improve your existing efforts, below is a list of advanced tactics that don't need a lot of work or preparation:
1️⃣ Use targeted media outreach
Instead of spraying and praying that something sticks, use tools such as Prowly's PR CRM to target only the most relevant journalists with your press releases.
2️⃣ Monitor your competitors' strategies
With social media listening and monitoring, you can stay updated on your competitors' online activities, which helps you prepare your own and take advantage of their crises and slip-ups.
3️⃣ Engage with your audiences regularly through PR channels
Regularly create and send personalized press releases to a carefully curated list of outlets and journalists.
4️⃣ Invest in innovative PR tools and software
With the right tools, you can explore AI-powered features, a high level of personalization, vast databases of media contacts and much more.
5️⃣ Focus on niche media outlets
Instead of promoting your accounting software to your local newspaper, try to reach websites and news outlets that cater to accountants, HR specialists and similar professionals.
How to measure brand recognition
Even though it may sound abstract, you can use many methods to track your brand recognition. And by measuring your brand recognition efforts, you'll find out how you can get better compared to the competition and your past results:
- Through surveys and by listening to customer feedback. Specialized surveys such as CSAT and NPS let you gauge what your audience thinks of you so you can get quick qualitative feedback.
- By monitoring social media mentions and brand tags. Media monitoring tools show you how many people mention you, where, and in what sentiment. You can use them for your competitors' brand terms, too.
- By looking at Google search trends and branded keyword traffic. Simply look up your brand term search performance over time to spot trends and gain insights about changes.
- In measuring PR campaign reach and impressions. With the right PR software, you can see how many journalists are reading, opening, and publishing press releases about you.
Conclusion
Building and measuring brand recognition can feel overwhelming.
However, if you do the basics really well and set a strong foundation for future brand marketing efforts. Investing in brand recognition helps you build trust and credibility, improve customer loyalty, gain a competitive edge, and improve your PR efforts.
Speaking of which, building brand recognition is much easier when you have the right tool for the job. With Prowly, you can create great press releases, build relationships with journalists, and measure your brand recognition efforts with social media listening and monitoring features.