To say that 2016 wasn’t the best of years for tech giant Samsung is probably putting it mildly. After several Galaxy Note 7 smartphones were reported to have overheated, caught fire or exploded—with The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and The Department of Transportation (DoT) banning Samsung’s Note 7 smartphones from all U.S. domestic flights due to safety concerns—Samsung was forced to issue a global recall of the phones in September. Replacement phones were subsequently recalled due to further problems and production ended.
Then, just a month after one of the biggest embarrassments the brand had ever faced, Samsung’s woes continued with washing machines; some units of Samsung’s top loading washing machines had been exploding (a la Note 7) and injuring users.
Samsung Brand Perception Plummets
Meanwhile, two key brand perception metrics from polling company YouGov BrandIndex revealed perception of Samsung’s entire brand had toppled. Samsung’s recommend score—a measure from 100 to -100 of whether people are likely to recommend the brand to friends or tell them to avoid it—dropped in the U.S. from 46 in June to 29 in October.
The brand’s purchase consideration—in which survey participants are asked to pick the brands they will consider when they are next in the market to buy a specific product—fell to 31% from 42% in the same period.
Customers’ Perception is Your Brand’s Reality
Brand perception metrics answer the question, “What do customers think and feel about my brand?” Measuring and quantifying customers’ and prospects’ perceptions lets you understand where your brand stands in the market relative to your competitors, and enables you to determine whether customers are likely to purchase your product or service, recommend you to others, or turn to the competition.
Brand perception encompasses the sales process, product or service quality, value, and customer service. If your customers perceive you positively, they are much more likely to continue engaging with your brand. And the more positively they perceive you, the more likely they are to be evangelists for your brand. Conversely, if your customers have a negative perception of your product or brand, they are more liable to choose your competitors or even warn other potential customers away.
Brand Perception Impacts Your Bottom Line
Companies often assume they know how their customers feel about them. But customers make judgment calls about your brand across multiple touchpoints along the purchase journey—when they read an online review, make a purchase, talk to employees, read a news story, or hear about a friend’s experience. All of these interactions, combined with your messaging, form a customer’s brand perception. With reliable measurement, you can get an honest look at the factors driving and damaging brand loyalty.
Survey Your Customers
A quality brand perception survey can tell you why your customers are, or are not, choosing you. It can also tell you what your customers are likely saying about you on social media and in face-to-face conversations. You can effect enormous change by combining brand perception surveys with other tools and processes (online reviews, social media posts, etc.).
Sogolytics’s Customer Surveys are the perfect tool to measure and manage brand perception. There are a variety of customizable survey types that capture feedback at critical moments of the customer journey, including:
- Customer Satisfaction Survey—Measures customer health and sentiment by asking customers targeted questions, typically after a specific customer experience—e.g. a purchase, customer support interaction, or store visit.
- Net Promoter Score (NPS)—Measures customer loyalty with one simple question: “How likely are you to recommend us?” The NPS survey is typically sent at specific stages of the customer lifecycle, and is an excellent way to identify brand advocates or brand detractors.
- Product Evaluation—Measures satisfaction throughout the product or service lifecycle, giving marketing and product development teams unique insights on their offerings to inform competitive positioning efforts.
Brand perception is shaped by the experiences customers have with your brand. It is often a mystery to companies, but it doesn’t have to be. If you want to know how your customers feel about your brand, simply ask them.
Let Sogolytics guide you through designing and deploying the perfect customer survey. Learn More.
