Driving Brand Awareness: More Important and More Difficult

Nielsen released its 2022 Global Annual Marketing Report and the takeaway is that driving brand awareness has become more important and difficult in today’s world.

Global marketers overwhelmingly say that building brand awareness is their top objective. However, volatility since 2020 has created several hurdles for brands to stay top-of-mind with their customers. According to the report, brands are facing these three major challenges to cultivating brand equity:

  1. Fewer people are driving to stores and shopping inside them, which reduces brand support because people aren‘t seeing logos on shelves or on storefronts as much.

  2. The online “shelf“ is infinite, which makes it increasingly difficult for single brands to stand out.

  3. Disrupted supply chains from electronics to auto to lumber have affected brand and product availability, forcing customers to try alternatives. The circumstances and resulting behavior cause a lost source of brand equity.  

While linear TV has been the go-to for reaching a mass audience, and remains a powerful approach, Nielsen also recommends to “lean into the mass reach capabilities of digital channels.” 

While traditional TV is one of the most effective channels for driving long-term brand recognition and sales, next-generation channels – such as online video and connected TV – are engaging increasingly wide audiences. Including these methods can help round out well-balanced and holistic marketing strategies in this fragmented media environment.

Read the full report to learn more and get detailed recommendations.