What is (7) brand awareness/brand recognition? When a consumer refers to a product or service as a household name, for example: Pepsi, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Target, or Kleenex, the consumer is speaking of its brand recognition (or brand awareness). The consumer recognizes and associates the golden arches with McDonald’s, or the swoosh design with Nike, and they are conditioned to refer to a tissue as “a Kleenex.”