Brand Awareness: Moving from Unknown to Known For
- Bronson Ma
- Jul 16
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 17
by Bronson Ma Brand building requires intentional progress. It doesn’t happen overnight — and it certainly doesn’t happen by accident.
Once you’ve identified your product-market fit and defined your ideal customer profile (ICP) as part of your Go-to-Market strategy, the next critical step is to establish brand visibility and awareness.
In the beginning, you’re likely a new player in your space. That means your brand is unfamiliar, untested, and largely unnoticed by your potential buyers.Your first job is to change that—deliberately.
To build a brand that earns trust and drives demand, you need a clear vision of where you want to go and how you want to be perceived. This happens by progressing through key stages of brand recognition:
The 3 Stages of Brand Awareness:
➡ Unknown Your buyers don’t know your brand exists.There’s no awareness, no association, no presence in their decision-making process.
➡ Know of Your brand has surfaced—through content, outreach, a referral, or visibility in the market.But it hasn’t yet made a meaningful impression or built trust.
➡ Known for This is the goal. Your brand is not only recognized, but associated with a specific value, benefit, or solution.You’ve staked a position in your buyer’s mind.
Before launching marketing campaigns, ad spend, or content strategies, ask yourself:
What do we want to be known for — and by whom?
This is your positioning, and it must be:
Rooted in real customer pain points
Focused on how you solve those problems
Aligned with the outcomes and value your solution delivers
Because being known is not enough. You must ensure you're being known for the right things — things that matter to your buyers, drive relevance, and build preference.
With over 30 years of experience, Bronson helps organizations — from startups to enterprises — build clear, concise, and compelling brand identities. He often works closely with executive and marketing teams to bring brands to life as their creative brand partner. https://bronsonma.com
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