Top-of-mind awareness (TOMA) is a marketing and advertising concept that indicates the top ranking of a brand or product in the thoughts of customers when they think about a certain product category or sector. In other words, it is the ease with which a brand or product springs to mind when a buyer considers a certain need or want.

TOMA is an important aim for companies since it frequently results in a competitive advantage. When a brand gets top-of-mind awareness, it is the first one that people consider when they have a similar need. This can lead to enhanced customer loyalty and an increased possibility of customers selecting that specific brand when making a purchase decision.

When your brand gets to be the first one in someone’s mind when thinking about a certain thing, they a certainly more likely going to be your customers. Top of Mind Awareness is the ultimate goal for a brand as it gives them an advantage in highly competitive market areas. It can be seen as a cycle where people think of you first, so they are more likely to buy your products, which will make them more likely to think about your product next time as well. The first brand mentioned doesn’t always mean it is the best one. Top of Mind Awareness can also be gained from a negative experience. Bad publicity is still publicity. It is better that something receives bad publicity than no publicity at all.

The importance of top-of-mind awareness

Being visible is important to be top of mind. For instance, the golden arches of the McDonald´s logo are recognizable from a distance, and they stand out from the rest of the scenery. These logos can be seen on a daily basis and are located in visible places for you to see them with ease. This is their way to occupy a place in your brain for later when you have the desire for a quick meal making them more likely your choice when the desire comes.

There has been a transformation of simplifying logos in recent times. Nowadays logos are simplified for various reasons. The overwhelming amount of content has shortened our attention span which has made the design of logos change. Complex and cluttered designs on logos would add to the already exhausted attention span by requiring time and focus which people don’t have. Cluttered online content gives people no time to concentrate thoroughly on a detailed logo.

Logos are applied in many places nowadays, which makes their simplicity important to look clean and crisp when put onto various products. These being for example the side of the company’s van, or the jacket company workers use. Experienced firms are smoothing out the complex details of their logos and brand images in order to obtain a digital facelift to seem new and current. Simplification gives the company a fresh update while keeping the brand’s reputation. Simplicity inspires confidence. A powerful and straightforward logo indicates confidence that your business understands what is going on and allows your brand’s reputation to speak for itself. A logo should be seen as a signature, rather than the story behind a brand. The goal of a logo is to trigger a memory of the product and not to illustrate what the product looks like. The world’s biggest brands have all changed their logos into a more simplified version. The most famous brands don’t need to have complex logos for people to recognize the brand. The Nike Swoosh is recognizable to the vast majority of people without having any text in it. The same happens with Pepsi which has evolved from having text to now just having a circle with the characteristic colors of the brand. With the shift towards a digital lifestyle where screen real estate is small and web pages cluttered a simplified and timeless logo is an investment for the future of a brand.

People are drawn to buy from brands they trust. Something familiar. Brand awareness helps people create bonds with brands to make them more likely to be the ones they buy from. Most consumers feel it is important they recognize a brand before they make a purchase. If there is a thought about a company in a customer’s head it most probably is because their marketing efforts have been good, and the previous experiences with the brand have been pleasant. This creates a circular purchase funnel that keeps customers loyal to your brand.

Things that increase top-of-mind awareness

Brand awareness leads to top-of-mind awareness. A clear brand strategy and marketing strategy will improve brand awareness among customers. If people don’t know your brand exists, how can it be in their minds? This is why getting your brand out on the market to gain brand awareness is the first step to getting customers. There are only a few cases in which a purchase would be made without previous knowledge or research of a brand. These cases would be impulse buys or purchases with a lower importance. However, by raising brand recognition, you will minimize your dependency on consumers discovering you by coincidence.

Understanding what your customers are thinking requires doing market research. This will help understand what already existing customers think and what the competition is doing differently that makes them successful. This valuable information will give points to improve and see what already works. In addition, market research must be conducted on a regular basis so that you can remain adaptable and up to speed with the current situation. Customer experience also plays a big role in achieving top-of-mid status. When customers are satisfied with the service they receive, they are more likely to consider the brand in the future.

In conclusion, what I get from this is that a bunch of things make a company top of mind. And when a company gets the status of being top of mind it has achieved an advantage over the competition. As competition is growing in certain market areas getting a brand to stand out from the crowd is getting increasingly more difficult. That’s why the companies that get to be on people’s minds when facing a purchase decision usually get the clients. Top-of-mind awareness is what in my opinion makes a good company become a great one.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eIDBV4Mpek

https://masteryourwebsite.com/top-of-mind-marketing-d40f2b47996f

https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/brand/top-of-mind-awareness/

https://bluetext.com/blog/logo-simplification/