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The earliest stage of a consumer’s purchase journey, when they first encounter a brand and become aware that it exists.

Awareness can be measured by quantitative consumer research.

A distinction is normally made between “unprompted awareness”, where consumers are asked questions like “which ice cream brands are you aware of?”, and “prompted awareness”, where consumers are asked questions like “have you heard of Walls Ice Cream?”.

Awareness is usually influenced:

• by the size of a brand (you’re more likely to become aware of brands that lots of people are buying)

• by how public its consumption is (you’re more likely to become passively aware of a brand of soft drink than a brand of haemorrhoid cream)

• by how culturally relevant it is (you’re more likely to become aware of a brand that’s the topic of conversation and that’s zeitgeisty)

• and by how much it spends on advertising (you’re more likely to become aware of a brand if you see a billboard or a TV ad with its name and logo on it)