Brand Salience

Also known as: Mental Availability, Category Entry Points, Brand Presence

Ease with which a brand comes to a consumer's mind in purchase or usage situations, beyond simple awareness.

Brand Salience goes beyond traditional awareness: it measures not just whether the consumer knows a brand, but how easily, quickly, and in how many purchase and usage situations the brand comes to mind. The concept was developed by Byron Sharp in 'How Brands Grow'.

A salient brand is one that is present in the consumer's memory at relevant purchase moments (Category Entry Points or CEPs). Building salience requires creating broad memory structures associated with multiple usage situations, not just product attributes.

The difference between Top of Mind and Salience is that TOM measures the first mention, while Salience measures the accessibility of the brand across multiple purchase contexts and occasions.