What attributes do we want our brand to be identified with? How do we want to position ourselves in the market? How do we want current and potential customers to perceive us? To address all these issues, once again, market research is essential. Asking society and focusing on issues in the specific industry will allow us to understand not only how the brand is perceived, but also what customers really demand and seek.
Sometimes a company believes it possesses certain values and attributes that it projects to the outside world, but after conducting the corresponding market analysis, it becomes clear that consumers do not perceive it that way. In these cases, communication and marketing in all its forms are fundamental in enabling the market to associate our brand with identifying values that no other brand possesses. Obviously, brand image is not built on this alone: the quality of the product/service, the customer experience, good after-sales service and the strength of the competitors themselves will also influence external perceptions.
Perhaps one of the clearest examples of brand positioning based on specific attributes can be found in the automotive industry. Without naming any particular company, if we think about the attributes of safety, driving pleasure or luxury behind the wheel, we are likely to immediately identify a brand that springs to mind for each of these.
Top of Mind therefore refers to the brand or product that comes to the forefront of the consumer’s mind when thinking about a specific sector or a specific attribute within it. Becoming a leader in brand recognition gives a significant advantage over the competition, as it can greatly influence consumers’ purchasing decisions, establishing itself as the benchmark brand/product against which other possible options on the market are compared and considered.
However, the fact that a consumer may have a particular brand at the Top of Mind does not necessarily mean that it is their favourite, which is the case with Top of Heart, a term coined in recent years that is much more closely linked to the growth of emotional marketing and the need for brands to connect with consumers in a more intense way. The main difference is that, while in Top of Mind the user has a brand positioned among their top choices in their head, those positioned in Top of Heart are not only in a privileged position in the consumer’s mind, but have also earned a special place in their heart.
Being Top of Mind can help consumers choose our brand because of its notoriety or because they remember it; being Top of Heart will normally contribute to consumers’ long-term loyalty through the emotional bond we have been able to create.
Conclusions
In short, both concepts are very important for good brand health and both can (and should) be worked on by brands. In any case, and as might be expected, the ideal would be to have both: awareness and connection.
