What is "top-of-mind awareness"

n. (alternative spelling of top of mind awareness English)

In marketing, top-of-mind awareness (TOMA) is a brand or specific product coming first in customers' minds when thinking of a particular industry.

Companies attempt to build brand awareness through media exposure on channels such as internet, radio, newspapers, television, magazines, and social media.

In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 50% responded that they found the "top of mind" metric very useful.

Top of mind awareness is a way to measure how well brands rank in the minds of consumers.

Top-of-mind awareness is defined in Marketing Metrics: "The first brand that comes to mind when a customer is asked an unprompted question about a category. The percentage of customers for whom a given brand is top of mind can be measured."

TOMA has also been defined as "the percent of respondents who, without prompting, name a specific brand or product first when asked to list all the advertisements they recall seeing in a general product category over the past 30 days."