Every year, a mind-blowing $4.7 trillion is spent on marketing. Yet, according to Ipsos, an estimated 85% of this budget is wasted on brand assets that aren’t truly distinctive—$3.995 trillion! That’s a huge amount of money wasted on marketing that doesn’t clearly link back to the brand.
But let’s start at the beginning. Branding typically has three goals:
- Represent your company
- Create an emotional connection with your audience
- Make your brand easily recognisable and stand out
This article focuses only on the third point—brand recognition. The easier people can identify and recall your brand, the more likely they will buy from it.
But what makes a brand recognisable? Since branding often hinges on emotions rather than facts, answering this question seems tricky.
Luckily, we can find answers in existing research on the topic—and the key lies in distinctive brand assets.
What Does ‘Recognisable’ Mean?
A recognisable brand is easy to identify—it stands out, feels familiar, and its brand name is effortlessly recalled, even when not explicitly mentioned.
This makes it easier for people to think of and find the brand in a buying situation. It also makes marketing more effective because ads unmistakably point to the right brand.
But before a brand can become recognisable, it needs to be known. So, new or lesser-known brands should focus on building brand awareness and associating their name with their offer, first.
Research on Brand Recognition
This article draws insights from three research sources exploring brand recognition and distinctiveness:
1. Building Distinctive Brand Assets by Jenni Romaniuk
Jenni Romaniuk is a researcher at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute. In her book, Building Distinctive Brand Assets, she explores how brand assets like logos, colours, and jingles perform un triggering brand name recall.
She evaluates these assets based on two factors:
- Fame: How widely recognised they are.
- Uniqueness: How strongly they’re associated with the brand.
2. Be Distinctive Everywhere Report by JKR + Ipsos
Branding agency JKR and research firm Ipsos set out to analyse over 5000 assets from 500+ brands, surveying 26,000+ people across 25 countries to determine which brand assets perform best.
The report then categorises brand assets into three tiers (looking at implicit brand linkage and uniqueness):
- Bronze: Assets with weak associations that are unlikely to signify the brand when used in isolation.
- Silver: Above-average assets that need further amplification and consistent usage.
- Gold: Highly distinctive assets that bring the brand to mind and can be used in isolation. Notably, only 15% of all brand assets tested scored gold.
You can sign up to read the report here.
3. Buyology by Martin Lindstrom
In Buyology, Martin Lindstrom shares his findings from a three-year neuromarketing study where he used fMRI technology to explore subconscious brand triggers.
Brand Assets as the Building Blocks of Brand Recognition
Now, let’s examine the results: How effective are the different brand assets in terms of recognition? Let’s take a closer look at the various types to find out.
1. Colour
You may have heard that colour can boost brand recognition by up to 80%. This claim is attributed to the Seoul International Colour Expo, but without context, I find it questionable. In fact, colour alone is usually not enough to clearly identify a brand.
In the study by JKR and Ipsos, only 4% of the colours tested achieved Gold status—meaning they could trigger brand recall on their own. Jenni Romaniuk also found that colour ranks the lowest among all brand assets in terms of fame and uniqueness.
That’s not surprising. Many brands use similar colour pallets, and only their application and context make them stand out. For example, could you tell the brand that uses red and yellow? McDonald’s, Kodak and Marmite all do.
This is hardly surprising. Many brands use similar colours, and it’s the context that makes them distinctive. Red and yellow, for example? This combination not only fits McDonald’s but also Kodak and Marmite. Even Coca-Cola’s red would hardly be recognisable without its script font and the white ribbon.
Still, colour is a useful branding tool. Romaniuk points out that it’s the only visual stimulus we can perceive even when unfocused—a clear advantage in a cluttered environment.
According to her research, there are three ways to use colour in branding:
Single colour
A unique colour, such as Cadbury’s purple or Tiffany’s blue, can work well—but only if it’s not already established in the industry, either as a category colour, for sub-categories or for other brands.
Colour combinations
Some brands rely on colour pairings, like Google’s four colours always appearing together. Interestingly, combinations are neither easier nor harder to turn into distinctive brand assets than single colours.
Colour and design combinations
Combining colour with other design elements can strengthen brand recognition. What’s important is that these elements have to be used together consistently.
A good example is Red Bull: its cans are always recognisable by their slanted blue and silver rectangles.
Key takeaway: Colour works best when combined with other brand assets, such as shapes or fonts.
2. Logos
The Be Distinctive Everywhere report found that 19% of logos achieved gold status—making them some of the most recognisable brand assets.
Romaniuk adds that people process logos holistically, reading shape, colour, and font together.
To make your logo truly effective, consider these points:
- Logos are most powerful when they stand out from others in their industry.
- Literal logos (like the WhatsApp icon) are easy to understand, while abstract logos (like the Nike swoosh) offer more uniqueness and legal protection. However, they require more time to develop strong recognition.
- Modern logos should be adaptable. Brands like Mastercard with its interlocking circles or Amazon with its smile have designed their logos to be flexible and work across different brand touchpoints and contexts.
3. Shapes
Now let’s move on to shapes. Jenni Romaniuk differentiates between logos, symbols, and packaging shapes. Since we’ve already covered logos, let’s focus on the other two.
Symbols
A great example of a distinctive symbol is the Nike swoosh. It’s instantly recognisable, even on its own, because it’s been used consistently for decades.
Similar to colours, symbols can have pre-existing meanings that can overshadow the brand. For example, a cross is often associated with religion or health.
Symbols, however, don’t always have to be two-dimensional. The shape of a product itself can also become a symbol—like the Mini Cooper, whose shape is clearly distinct from other cars.
However, since consumers often come into contact with products only after purchase, it can be more challenging to establish these shapes as distinctive brand assets.
Interestingly, research by Martin Lindstrom has shown that viewing products like iPods, Harleys, and Ferraris triggers similar brain activity as religious images. This demonstrates how powerful these shapes are in evoking brand associations—and just how powerful brands themselves can be.
The report by JKR and Ipsos looks at the topic from a broader perspective. It defines products as a combination of form, packaging, photography, and user experience. According to this, products are the most powerful type of brand asset—31% of products achieve gold status.
This leads us to the final point …
Pack Shapes
Packaging shapes, like the triangular box of Toblerone, can make a brand unmistakable, too.
Sometimes, even a distinctive packaging feature, like the curved bottle neck of Duck cleaning products, is enough. What’s particularly great about this example is that the duck motif runs through the entire brand communication, creating strong recognisability.
However, you should keep in mind that packaging also needs to work on e-commerce platforms, where products are often displayed as small, two-dimensional thumbnails on a white background. Small details may be lost in this context.
Key takeaway: Shapes can achieve high recognition by being distinctly different within their category.
4. Faces
As humans, we’re hardwired to recognise faces. It’s no surprise, then, that faces can become highly recognisable brand assets.
Celebrities
Familiar faces grab our attention. But celebrities come with a few challenges:
Famous faces grab our attention. However, using celebrities comes with challenges:
- They already have existing associations that can make it harder to establish a clear connection with the brand. The so-called “Vampire Effect” occurs when people remember the celebrity but not the brand.
- If a celebrity promotes multiple brands, these brands may end up competing with each other in the consumer’s mind.
Despite these challenges, there are successful examples—such as the long-standing partnership between Nespresso and George Clooney.
Spokespeople
Long-term spokespeople—those who aren’t pre-established personalities—are often a better choice than celebrities, as they can become more closely associated with the brand. However, you should consider that their age and so relevance to the brand may change over time.
With the rise of social media, also more and more founders are representing their brands. This can help build a personal connection, as their personality becomes part of the brand. However, it also carries risks, as the brand’s reputation is directly linked to the actions of this person—just look at Tesla.
Characters or Mascots
Romaniuk’s research shows that mascots scored the highest in terms of fame and uniqueness compared to other brand assets.
The Be Distinctive Everywhere report backs this up with 16% of all mascots achieving gold status.
A major advantage of mascots is that brands fully own and control them. Figures like Mailchimp’s Freddy or Duolingo’s Duo help convey a brand’s personality—even on small app icons.
However, mascots need a distinctive design, especially facial features, to stand out.
They are especially useful in industries where they are not common. For example, Dolmio’s Mama and Papa stand out among pasta sauces, as most packaging only shows illustrations of ingredients.
Stef from Let’s Talk Branding created a cool video about mascots.
Key takeaway: If it suits your brand, consider creating a mascot. However, if mascots are already common in your industry, a brand spokesperson might be the better choice.
5. Images
Although Romaniuk and Ipsos did not study images, Lindstrom’s experiment produced interesting results.
He showed smokers two types of images:
- Explicit images like cigarette logos and packaging
- Subliminal images like cowboys, Ferraris, and sunsets, all linked to previous cigarette ads without directly showing the product or brand.
Surprisingly, participants’ cravings increased when they saw the subliminal images.
Even more unexpectedly, the deterrent anti-smoking images on cigarette packaging also heightened smokers’ cravings. This shows how images can trigger emotional responses, even if they are negatively charged.
Key takeaway: Images that tap into past memories or a brand’s style may evoke stronger emotions than clearly branded materials.
6. Fonts
Romaniuk notes that fonts, like colours, are not perceived in isolation but rather in context. They generally have low cut-through but high uniqueness, meaning they become closely linked to the brand.
A great example is the Snickers font. Even when “Snickers” was replaced with words like “hungry,” the brand remained recognisable. But I would argue that it’s not just the font in this case either—it’s also the distinctive blue on the classic white and brown bars, paired with the red frame.
The Ipsos report additionally found that custom typography, like used by Coca-Cola or Disney, can further boost a brand’s recognisability.
Key takeaway: Fonts are easier to associate with a brand when combined with other brand elements like logos, colours, or shapes.
7. Taglines
In the Ipsos report, only 6% of taglines achieved gold status.
Because they are word-based, they compete with the established meanings these words hold in our memories. They also compete with the brand name itself. That’s why too much meaning in a tagline can hinder asset building.
Factors that increase the distinctiveness of a tagline include:
- Audio enhancement (e.g. McDonald’s “ba-da-ba-ba-ba-ba” jingle)
- Inclusion of the brand name (strengthens recall and association and could be removed later if established)
Inclusion of unusual or rare words - Posing a question
Surprisingly, rhyme and length have little effect on distinctiveness.
Key takeaway: If you’re a new brand, including your brand name in your tagline can strengthen both. While establishing a tagline can be challenging, they are useful because they work in written and audio formats.
8. Story
According to Romaniuk, brands can build a story using three building blocks:
Styles
Styles are recurring themes that run through the entire brand communication. They help make a brand recognisable—without explicitly mentioning its name. For a style to work as a differentiator, it needs to remain relevant and versatile in the long-term.
Styles could be:
- Recurring themes, such as the Red Bull wing motif
- A consistent setting, such as the laboratory style of insurance company Progressive
- Linguistic cues, like in Mastercard’s “Priceless” campaign
Moments
Moments are actions or visuals tied to a specific point in time. Actions are particularly effective as they can be used flexibly in different contexts. Examples include:
- Twisting an Oreo
- Adding a lime to a Corona beer
Components
Components are specific objects that are closely linked to a brand. Examples include:
- Apple’s white headphones
- the typical grey Whiskas cat
Martin Lindstrom found that brands with rituals feel “stickier” because they create a sense of comfort and familiarity—like making a Subway sandwich or waiting for a Guinness. You could say that he is also talking about moments in a broader sense.
Key takeaway: To turn a story into a recognisable brand asset, use recurring themes or actions and keep them consistent over decades.
9. Sound
Now that we have covered visual and verbal assets, let’s focus on other senses, starting with sound.
For evolutionary reasons, we humans are particularly sensitive to sound. But although sound can influence our emotions and attract our attention, it does not automatically trigger brand recall.
Romaniuk groups sound into:
- Non-vocal sounds: Sounds like Intel’s iconic jingle often struggle to create a strong brand association. While distinctive, these sounds often lack the depth to forge a meaningful connection with the brand.
- Vocal sounds: Sounds that are produced with the human voice or contain human-like sounds are often more effective when establishing a connection to the brand. And an unusual voice enhances memorability.
- Style components: Rhythms, as in Mastercard’s ‘Priceless’ campaign, create recognisable patterns. Our brain reacts particularly strongly to patterns, which makes these sounds easier to remember.
Brands also use music—and again, there are three types:
- Jingles are memorable because their melody sticks in the mind. Especially when the brand name is integrated, a jingle can create a strong connection to the brand.
- Popular songs can also be effective. However, there is a risk that the song will overshadow the brand. It could also lose relevance over time or be perceived as outdated.
- Background music, such as instrumental pieces, works on a subconscious level. It’s mostly not explicitly linked to a brand, but creates a mood that can subtly reinforce the brand identity.
Martin Lindstrom’s study also showed that three out of four brands performed better when people perceived the sound and logo of the brand at the same time—meaning they remembered it better and were more likely to favour the brand. Nokia was the only brand that performed worse, probably because the ringtone is so intrusive.
Key takeaway: To use sound successfully, brands should focus on characteristic vocal sounds, recognisable rhythms or jingles in which the name is mentioned.
10. Other Sensory Cues
Smells—such as the characteristic scents of W Hotels or Play-Doh—can also evoke strong memories. However, they are usually only perceived after purchase, which diminishes their effectiveness as a distinctive brand asset. The same applies to taste and touch.
In this context, you might find my article on sensory branding interesting.
Final Thoughts
Back to our question: What makes a brand recognisable? The most important thing is repetition. You need a set of brand assets that are used consistently across all touchpoints. Whether it’s the logo, the colour palette or brand font—the more often people come into contact with these elements, the better they will remember them.
Romaniuk suggests that a long-term goal should be creating a ‘menu’ of 4-5 distinctive assets—one of each: sound, face, story, colour, shape, and words. As this takes time and effort, it’s best to start with a single asset and strengthen it systematically.
Now, it’s time to turn to your brand. Do your brand assets work in your favour and make your brand recognisable? If not, what can you do to strengthen them? You might want to do a brand audit to find out.
You don’t have any brand assets yet or you want to optimise your existing ones? I would be happy to help you develop a brand identity that authentically reflects your company—so you can start building long-term brand recognition. Reach out!
Title image cottonbro studio
Disclaimer: The links to the books include affiliate links.
