Uche Ojula
Every successful brand has a story in which lies a purpose driven brand equity development activities. There is always a quiet force behind every enduring brand. It’s not always loud, it rarely shouts, and it doesn’t need to chase attention. But it propels market force, earns trust, commands attention, and builds legacies. That force is brand equity.
Brand equity building has become the cardinal focus of every business agenda for strategic brand development. It is no longer the marketing department’s side project. It has become an indispensable marketing asset, one that must be intentionally built, precisely measured, and consistently managed for brand success.
When brand equity is strong, customers remain loyal through price changes, competitors struggle to copy your advantage, and the marketplace associates your name with quality, trust, and relevance. When brand equity is weak or ignored, the best product or most aggressive pricing can’t buy long-term loyalty. Let us understand it this way, brand equity is your reputation with commercial impact. It’s not just about how many people know your name, it’s about what they believe when they hear it.
Marketing may change minds, but brand equity changes decisions.” This is very correct. Brand equity is deeper in connecting and influencing behaviour.In a market landscape where consumers are bombarded with options, especially in saturated market, attention span shrinks, and digital algorithms dictates what we see. A strong brand is the only thing that can cut through the noise. And that brand’s strength lives in the equity you have built over time, not in the budget you spent in the last quarter in one- off campaign.
Building brand equity isn’t being too loud. It’s not about gimmicks, viral campaigns, or trend- followers. It’s about doing the work steadily, consistently, and with conviction. Brands with high equity know who they are and what they stand for. They don’t waver with trends, and they don’t dilute their identity for short-term gain. They focus on delivering value, crafting authentic narratives, and showing up the same way across every customer touchpoints.
Most importantly, brand equity is not static. It’s either you are building it or eroding it. Every tweet, every customer review, every delayed service or product experience adds to or subtracts from it. That’s why the most valuable brands in the world treat brand equity like capital. They don’t spend it carelessly. They invest it intentionally.
In Measuring brand equity, it may not be as straightforward as tracking sales or digital impressions, but the brand leaders know it must be tracked. Tools like Net Promoter Score(NPS), brand recall studies, share of voice, customer lifetime value, and sentiment analysis offer key insights on this. Its simply about gauging customer sentiment and predicting future behaviours. But beyond the numbers, it’s in the customer stories, the brand associations, and the perception that shapes decisions even when the product isn’t perfect.
As Jeff Bezos once said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.” But even more critically, it’s why they choose you when you are not the cheapest, and why they return when you are not the newest. That’s brand equity in action.
Managing this asset takes courage and discipline. It means resisting the temptation to dilute your message to please everyone. It means protecting the brand when it’s under pressure, and investing in long-term equity building activities even when the short-term results don’t come quickly. It means aligning internal culture with external promise, because the brand is not just what you say, it’s what you do, and what your people deliver.
In our volatile economy today, our market is under pressure. Strong brands don’t just survive, they thrive with alot of efforts. They command influence, loyalty in markets, and goodwill in times of crisis. In fact, brand equity is increasingly being recognized as a tangible business asset, one that drives not only marketing effectiveness but also valuation.and investor confidence.
So, if you are running a business, ask yourself: What is our brand equity really worth? And are we building it with the same intention, precision, and leadership we give to our finances or operations?
Finally, in a world where products are copied, services commoditized, and marketing messages forgotten, only brand equity endures. It’s the heartbeat of your brand, the trust you have earned, and the legacy you are shaping.
And make no mistake; those who understand this truth today will own the market tomorrow.Investment in brand equity is not a waste but an asset.
.The Role of Brand Salience in Consumer Memory and Purchase Decision
“People don’t choose between brands, they choose between memories,” wrote Douglas Van Praet, a respected voice in behavioral marketing.
This simple truth captures the essence of brand salience, how easily a brand springs to mind when a customer is about to make a purchase decision. There are several brands in the market, all cluttered and shouting for attention. The brands that succeed are those that are remembered first and remembered well. Ever wondered why you are stuck with a particular brand name which refuses to give way in your memory space? The moment you think of noodles, Indomie echos in your mind. Other brands in that noodles category would have to do more than just advertising to fight that position Indomie occupies in consumer’s memory.
Brand salience goes beyond awareness. It is not just about whether consumers know a brand exists, it is about whether they recall it at the precise moment they need to make a purchase.
When people walk into a supermarket or open market or scroll through a website, they rarely pause to study every option. They simply reach out for what feels familiar, trusted, and available in their memory. And that is the quiet power of salience: it shapes decisions without forcing them.
This isn’t about being loud, advertising wise, it’s about being consistent and meaningful to create a memory that captures your audience. Nigerian detergent brand Sunlight, for example, has created a steady impression over time through vibrant packaging, simple messaging, and culturally relevant marketing. Their commercials often portray relatable scenes from Nigerian homes, tying the brand to everyday life. That consistency has made Sunlight to quietly earn a front-row space in the minds of consumers, without dominating on billboards.
Think of Fearless, the Nigerian energy drink that emerged in a market once dominated by imported giants. Rather than compete head-on with foreign brands, Fearless positioned itself with bold packaging, local sponsorships, and music partnerships. Their branding wasn’t only loud, it was daring, memorable, and rooted in Nigerian youth lifestyle. Now, when many young people think of energy drinks, they think fearless. Fearless is top on their minds. That’s brand salience at work, developed, not inherited.
Salience is built through repeated, emotionally resonant brand exposure. It is shaped by how often people see, hear, and engage with a brand across moments of their daily life.
Kevin Lane Keller, one of the leading scholars in marketing strategy, explained that brand salience is “a function of the quantity and quality of brand associations in memory.” That means frequency matters in order to achieve higher recall rate in terms of memorability. It’s not just about repeating the message, it’s about making that message stick.
Consider how Rite Foods, known for its sausages and Bigi drinks, approached this. They didn’t rely solely on traditional advertising. Instead, they invested in entertainment, sponsoring music shows, comedy platforms, and events that connect directly with Nigerian youths. That was their own strategy. They created mental availability by becoming part of the consumer’s lifestyle, not just part of the market. That’s the deeper strategy.When a brand becomes part of a consumer’s lifestyle, it becomes unforgettable.
Brand salience also influences the speed and ease of decision making. In a high-busy environment like Lagos and some part of the country where traffic jam is the case, consumer wants a snack quickly, and unlikely to weigh every alternative. Instead, they grab what they recognize. That’s why even lesser known brands, if strategically positioned at the right place, can compete with legacy names.
But it’s also important to note what happens when salience is missing. Some brands launch with beautiful logos, clever slogans, and even excellent products, but fail to embed themselves in the consumer’s memory. They fade, not because they lacked quality, but because they lacked presence. Invisibility in memory is one of the most dangerous weaknesses a brand can suffer from and often, it’s irreversible.
For Nigerian businesses, especially those in highly competitive sectors like FMCG, fintech, and food and beverages, the challenge is not only to reach people;it is to remain in their heads when it counts. This means telling stories, using everyday language, aligning with daily lifestyle and showing up consistently at consumer touchpoints.
At the end of the day, brand salience is about earning a spot in the consumer’s instinct. It’s not a one-time act; it’s a long-term investment. If your brand can live in memory, it can thrive in the market place. And in the ever-demanding world of Nigerian consumers, that mental availability might just be your most valuable asset.
Be the brand that they think first when purchase is to be made. Brand salience is powerful and has alot of influence on consumer.
We improve by learning.
Uche Ojula , Media and Marketing Consultant wrote in from Lagos
