Brand Research Goals

Understanding your brand is an important part of building your business. But for small companies new to the research arena, brand research can be a strange new world. Companies perform brand research for a variety of reasons.

New companies try to find out how to leverage their brand into the marketplace. Other brands try to learn how to expand their brand. Still either companies use it to figure out where to lead the company.

There are numerous reasons that companies may perform brand research, and these companies are all trying to learn more about the market – and their company's role in it. When companies perform brand research, they're often looking for answers to the following types of information. Brand Association Most companies try to understand what emotions or thoughts the consumer has with your brand.

These include trust, value, positive/negative associations, and more. Brand association is important – especially with established companies.

But it's even useful for new companies, because you can see how things like company name, logo, and more, create the listed emotions. Brand Strengths/Weaknesses A similar, and related aspect of brand research is discovering the current strengths and weaknesses of your brand. This information can help you learn what areas you can exploit and/or minimize in order to increase purchases.

It's a great way to "stop the bleeding" if a weakness is hurting your revenue, or if there is a strength that clearly resonates with the market, it's a good idea to know. Brand Choice You can use your brand research to understand why people choose your brand over the competition (or don't choose your brand, as the case may be). You can see what differences you have in markets and understand if your brand strengths are due to your own marketing, or if they're due to competitor error.

Brand Messaging and Product Choice It's also possible to learn about whether or not the future choices your company makes and/or the future products you decide to release under that brand fit with how your brand is currently viewed by the public. A message or product that doesn't match how you've marketed the brand are less likely to succeed or may alter the brand image. Brand research is an important part of improving your business's place in the market and remaining a positive force in the industry.

The above list represents the most common reasons that companies just like yours perform brand research.