By Katrina Rodriguez, Customer Success Manager, Suzy

I asked my mom to FaceTime me. The problem? I haven’t owned an iPhone in years. In fact, the last time I had one, FaceTime didn’t even exist.

And yet, when my brain reached for a way to video chat, it didn’t search for “video call options” or “apps that work on Samsung.” It went straight to FaceTime. That’s brand awareness in its purest form – or more accurately, mental availability. It’s not just that we know a brand exists; it’s that it comes to mind instantly when we’re in the moment of need.

For marketers, that’s the holy grail – especially in a world where attention is fleeting and options are endless. It’s not enough for consumers to recognize your name; they need to think of you first, without thinking too hard.

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Awareness vs. availability – Why the difference matters

Brand awareness is often treated like a checkbox: run a big campaign, track unaided and aided recall, and move on. But awareness alone doesn’t guarantee mental availability—and that’s what truly drives behavior.

Think about how overloaded consumers are today. Every industry is flooded with copycats and new entrants, especially in the SaaS and AI space. What was a unique differentiator six months ago can feel like wallpaper now. The brands that stay top-of-mind are the ones that continuously test, iterate, and reinforce their relevance.

Mental availability is about earning your place in someone’s mental shortlist. When a buyer’s brain only has room for a few brand names, you want yours to be one of them.

I was reminded of this during a recent work trip where my colleague and I decided not to rent a car. Every time we needed to get somewhere, we said we’d “Uber.” Of course, there are several rideshare options – including other big names – but in the moment, Uber was the verb (and the brand) that came to mind. That’s the power of mental availability: when one brand becomes synonymous with an entire action.

For marketers, that’s the ultimate signal of success. It means your brand doesn’t just exist – it lives in the minds of your consumers.

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The new reality – Overcrowded markets and shorter attention spans

We’re living in an era of abundance, not scarcity – and that abundance creates chaos. Every industry, from supplements to software, is crowded with near-identical options. AI has accelerated this trend, making it easier than ever for new competitors to enter the market and for differentiation to disappear overnight.

I saw this firsthand at an industry conference last summer. Earlier in the year, conversational AI research tools were the next big thing. By the time July rolled around, every booth seemed to have “AI-moderated” plastered across its signage. What felt groundbreaking in February had become expected by midsummer.

That’s the new marketing reality: differentiation decays fast. The only way to stay visible is to be persistent – to remind people why you exist, what makes you different, and why you’re worth remembering. Brand awareness today is a moving target, not a milestone.

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Building mental availability across industries

Every category plays by different rules when it comes to staying top-of-mind. But across all industries, the goal is the same: to be recalled instinctively when a relevant moment arises.

• CPG & Retail: Success comes from repetition and recognition. Familiar packaging, color cues, and taglines make brands like Tide or Coca-Cola easy to identify and remember. These brands build memory structures through consistent exposure and distinctive assets.
  
  
• F&B: Taste and nostalgia drive connection. Think about how consumers describe their “go-to” coffee or favorite fast-food chain – it’s often rooted in emotional comfort as much as flavor.
  
  
• Finance: In a category built on trust, awareness and credibility go hand in hand. When consumers face big decisions, they recall brands that have signaled reliability again and again.
  
  
• Tech: With products constantly evolving, tech brands must balance innovation with familiarity. Too many UI or branding shifts risk breaking recognition. Mental availability comes from repeated exposure to consistent experiences.
  
  
• Media & Entertainment: Attention is currency. Here, awareness grows through cultural relevance and recurring engagement – think of how Netflix keeps viewers hooked through ongoing conversations around new releases.

Across these sectors, one theme stands out: consistency builds recall. Platforms like Suzy help brands across industries test which assets and messages actually stick, ensuring they reinforce the right mental cues before spending big on campaigns.

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How generations build brand recall differently

Mental availability doesn’t look the same for everyone—it’s shaped by generational values, habits, and digital behaviors.

• Gen Z: Awareness is cultural. They connect with brands that reflect their identity and show up authentically in fast-moving spaces like TikTok. They reward creativity and relevance over repetition.
  
  
• Millennials: This group values convenience and experience. They’re loyal to brands that simplify their lives and show consistency across platforms.
  
  
• Gen X & Boomers: Familiarity builds comfort. They tend to remember brands with long-standing reputations or those they’ve used repeatedly over time.

For marketers, this means tailoring awareness strategies to how each audience builds recall. Suzy’s real-time insights platform helps brands understand those differences, testing how perception shifts across generations and what truly drives recognition in each segment.

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Testing as a lifeline – Measuring what sticks

Maintaining mental availability doesn’t happen by accident. It requires data, iteration, and curiosity. Some brands are realizing that the first step to improving awareness isn’t shouting louder – it’s listening better.

One brand I’ve worked with began by simply trying to understand what consumers thought of them before embarking on a brand refresh. Another started tracking awareness over time to see how its marketing efforts and product launches were influencing recall and perception. In both cases, the insights they uncovered didn’t just inform messaging – they reshaped strategy.

That’s the power of continuous awareness testing. Platforms like Suzy make it possible to capture that feedback in real time, giving brands the ability to pivot messaging, validate creative, and measure impact without waiting for quarterly reports. Awareness isn’t static – it’s a living metric that evolves as fast as the market does.

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Proof it works – When brands commit to awareness

The brands that treat awareness as an ongoing investment tend to see tangible returns. One company I’ve worked with began with just one awareness tracker. It performed so well that they expanded to multiple trackers across their categories, launched a dedicated insights team, and built awareness tracking into the core of how they measure success.

Their results weren’t just higher recall – they saw measurable sales growth and stronger consumer loyalty. Because when you understand how people think about your brand, you can influence how they choose your brand.

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‍Practical Tips to Build Mental Availability

As highlighted in a WARC Best Practice Report – summarized by ScreenVoice – long-term success comes from building consistency and distinctiveness over time, not just running one-off campaigns. Here are a few practical takeaways backed by research:

• Build memory structures over time: Awareness efforts work cumulatively; repeat exposure helps your brand become an instinctive choice when a need arises.
• Be consistent: Reinforcing the same visual and verbal cues – colors, tone, slogans – creates familiarity and trust.
• Stand out through distinctiveness, not just differentiation: A product may be similar to others, but a recognizable style or experience can make your brand easier to recall.
• Measure often and evolve: Track not only recall but how your brand shows up emotionally and visually across touchpoints.

Platforms like Suzy make this easier than ever by enabling teams to test messaging, validate creative assets, and measure awareness shifts in real time. You can see whether your distinct cues are resonating and course-correct faster than traditional research cycles.

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Awareness as an Always-On Strategy

In the end, brand awareness isn’t about who shouts the loudest – it’s about who stays remembered. The brands that win are the ones that consistently invest in understanding, measuring, and nurturing their place in consumers’ minds.

Whether you’re tracking for the first time or optimizing for the hundredth, staying top-of-mind is about showing up – again and again – when it matters most.

And just like my instinct to FaceTime my mom – even when I didn’t have the right phone – brands that embed themselves in daily life become second nature. They don’t just appear in search results; they appear in our thoughts. That’s the real science of staying top-of-mind.

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