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High brand awareness is often considered a brand’s ultimate safety net or performance gauge. But as Katelyn Ferrara (vice president of client development at quantilope) and Leah Swalling (director of brand management at Kettle & Fire) pointed out at Ad Age’s Business of Brands summit, being known doesn't guarantee you'll be chosen.
Photo: AdAge.com
As highlighted in Ad Age Studio 30’s summit recap, it’s Mental Availability that helps brands shift from being known to being bought.
A few key takeaways from Katelyn and Leah’s summit conversation:
- Physical + Mental Availability work together. Having widespread physical distribution (i.e., being available on the shelves or easily accessible online) means little if your brand doesn't come to mind during the specific occasions that prompt a purchase (Mental Availability).
- Use tracking as a playbook, not a scorecard. Kettle & Fire saw year-over-year lifts in awareness through traditional tracking, but were left with little direction on where to invest. Partnering with quantilope to track Mental Availability revealed true competitive whitespace and opportunities to drive household penetration.
- Category Entry Points extend far beyond marketing. Identifying priority Category Entry Points gave Kettle & Fire an actionable framework that now shapes everything from agency creative and influencer briefs to product innovation.
- The whiteboard test: Marketers need to stop asking, "Are we known?" and start asking, "What are we known for—and where are competitors winning the moments we miss?"
Curious to learn more about how Mental Availability can turn insights into a growth strategy?
