The thing brands get most excited about is "spontaneous" or "unprompted" awareness. E.g., I ask you a question such as "Thinking about womenswear retailers, whi

The thing brands get most excited about is "spontaneous" or "unprompted" awareness. E.g., I ask you a question such as "Thinking about womenswear retailers, which names come to mind?" Brands want to appear on that list of names, and the closer to the top ("top of mind") the better. Of course, for most brands the aspiration to be top of mind is ludicrous since there can be only one. For UK womenswear that one is Next and, barring the company suddenly going under (possible but not likely), it ain't changing any time soon. Prompted awareness, when you're presented with a list of brands and asked a question to elicit your awareness of them, is much less valuable because if you see anything often enough on the high street you're going to remember it when prompted.