Key Difference: Brand recognition is a marketing research test conducted by a company to understand ‘How many people recognize the company’s brand in a particular product segment?’ Brand recall is a marketing research test conducted by a company to understand ‘How many people recall the company’s product brand name, when placed among various other companies’ products?’

Illustration 1: Brand Recognition test of Nivea for its deodorant fresh product category

Brand recognition is a marketing research test conducted by a company to understand ‘How many people recognize the company’s brand in a particular product segment?’

• Product: Deodorant
• Brand name: Nivea Deodorant Fresh

Survey Question (Please view the image and answer the following question):

• Can you recognize this deodorant brand? (Recognition in this context only means: Have you used it? Have you heard of it? Or have you seen it anywhere?) Please answer Yes/No

What is the test about? This test is about Nivea brand recognition that is conducted to understand - how many people actually remember the name Nivea, as compared to other deodorants? The respondents are prompted with pictures of different company deodorants.  

If more respondents select the picture of Nivea deodorant then it can be said that the Nivea brand is well-recognized.

Why is this test conducted? The company’s objective in conducting the brand recognition test is only to understand whether the consumer has heard, seen, or even used their product. This test is conducted by new entrants after introducing their product for the first time in the market. The test helps the company to analyze the effect of their advertisement campaign.

What if the test result is negative / unfavorable? In a scenario where: Not many people are able to recognize the Nivea brand of deodorant; then the company that manufactures Nivea deodorant may change its advertisement strategy. For example, it may do more number of hoarding advertisements as compared to the number of newspaper advertisements.

Illustration 2: Brand Recall test of Nivea for its Extra whitening cream product category

Brand recall is a marketing research test conducted by a company to understand ‘How many people recall the company’s product brand name, as compared to other companies’ product brand names?’

• Product: Extra whitening cream   
• Brand: Nivea Extra whitening cell repair protect

Survey Questions (Please view the whitening cream product image and answer the following question):

1. Please try to identify the following advertisement?
2. If you do identify, please try to name the product and brand name?

As mentioned in the above illustrations: Brand recall for Nivea extra whitening cream will be done to answer two questions – Do customers really like the Nivea whitening cream? And do customers remember the brand name ‘Nivea Extra Whitening Cream’?  

What is the test about? In this test, respondents are prompted with the advertisement, logo color, or any significant image of the product brand but the name of the brand is hidden on purpose.

Why is Brand recall test conducted? Brand recall is a test that enables the manufacturer to understand firstly: Is the customer using the producers brand (Nivea)? And secondly, it also tells the manufacturer: Is the customer able to remember the brand name (Nivea)?

What if the test result is negative / unfavorable? In such a scenario, the Nivea whitening cream manufacturer may take the following actions:

Product development:  Changes in the product ingredients / manufacturing technology to compete with other manufacturers, Marketing Management: Changes in the product packaging color or design, or an altogether new Marketing Campaign!

Image Courtesy: beautyfornormalwomen.com, youtube.com