All About the Branding vs Marketing
Branding and Marketing management are that marketing stimulates envisioned value, whereas branding strengthens it. If you begin with a substandard service, your marketing will assist you in making a sale, but your branding will enhance the notion that your service is substandard. In this article, we will see the difference between branding and marketing.
Branding vs Marketing
The main difference between Branding and Marketing is the same as between the moon and the sun. Marketing is the fixed pattern of methods and tools needed to promote a business.
Branding vs Marketing may include one or all of SEO, PPC, social media, mobile, local search, or even traditional tools and practices. On the other hand, branding is a vast term that inculcates all the messages that permeate and govern all business processes.
The sun is the solitary source of all light, warmth, and life. It makes other living beings grow. It is the reason for the existence of all life on Earth. This is what your brand is.
Moon is a pretty rock that revolves around the planet and reflects the sun’s light. This is branding and marketing management. Get your marketing right, significantly improving your chances of acquiring more customers than competitors.
Failing to do so would land you in trouble, and eventually, you’ll be thrown out of the market.
The article on Branding and Marketing is structured as below:-
- Branding vs Marketing Infographics
- Key Differences between branding and marketing
- Branding is a Promise Delivered!
- Then what about Marketing?
- A Few Fallacies About Branding
- Conclusion – Branding vs Marketing
Branding vs Marketing Infographics
Below are infographics on Branding vs Marketing and list some key differences between the two.
Key Differences Between Branding and Marketing
In layman’s terms, there are 6 broad points to make us understand the difference between branding and marketing: –
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Marketing is the message you try to convey. Your brand is your identity.
Howard Schultz rightly said: “Authentic brands don’t emerge from marketing cubicles or advertising agencies. They emanate from everything the company does.”
Your brand is the reason for your existence. It is the authentic, unique, and singular value you can offer customers.
It includes your company’s culture and is conversed with the customers each time they get involved with your brand. On the other hand, branding and marketing management is just the message conveyed to them.
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Branding comes before marketing.
Merely having possession of logos, package designs, and a slogan doesn’t mean you have a brand. What you own is a set of marketing ingredients and messages.
Peter Getman of MicroArts says, “Whether they forget or purposely neglect it, many blows off step one of the branding processes.” So, now you must have started to ponder – “What is the step one”? Here’s what it is.
It is determining and defining your brand’s worth in the industry. Once you’ve looked after this process, you can choose to develop your branding and marketing strategy and, lastly, construct your marketing campaign.
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You are the owner of your marketing, but consumers are the owner of your brand.
This is easier to understand and control as compared to branding. Branding is, however, not as simple and easy as it seems.
Some aspects, such as marketing and customer service, have a role in your brand, but you can’t create your brand value without using such vital aspects.
According to Peter Getman –“Your brand is not your idea. Surprisingly, many executives believe they can control how their brand is perceived by the masses of consumers. They cannot. “
It is very important to understand their key differences and never get confused.
One of them is that while marketing is storytelling, branding involves more listening than talking. Consumers can better tell you what your brand is and how it should be as they know better than you.
The best brands in the world use their comprehension of the differences between branding vs. marketing to create such market campaigns that work in unison with their branding and marketing strategy.
Such brands always listen to their customers and allow their expectations and values to define their brand’s standing. Later, they construct market campaigns to convey those values through simple and unique methods.
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“Branding is a strategy. Marketing is a tactic.”
This may add to a brand, but the brand is larger than any marketing activity. The brand is what is left behind after marketing has swept the place.
The brand sticks to your conscience after you come across it through any marketing or non-marketing campaign. It may not necessarily mean that you’ve tried or bought the product (or service) at that moment.
This does play a part in influencing the customer to buy your product, but it is the brand that determines the true loyalty of customers. A brand comprises many components, and the lived experience is one of the major ones.
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“Marketing discovers and stimulates buyers. Branding makes devoted customers, supporters and even evangelists out of them.”
The same common principle applies to all types of firms and organizations. There is a saying that “All organizations must sell.” How they sell is a different issue, and every staff member of the brand either contributes to it or causes harm.
Your every thought, every policy, every action, and every ad has an impact on the brand loyalty of whomsoever is visible to it. There is an effect on sales caused by such actions.
Talking of the financial aspect, marketing is a cost center. Having said that, ill-researched and implemented marketing activities can make it look like a cost center. Still, a well-constructed marketing campaign works like an investment that pays for itself in sales and brand fortification.
Now, let’s know whether branding is a cost center or not. Yes, it is a cost center. But in return, you get loyalty.
Isn’t it a cheap cost center? Return in terms of hardworking and self-motivated employees and super-loyal customers who act as advocates and ambassadors for the company.
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“Branding is as important to the success of a firm or a non-profit as having financial lucidity, having awareness for the future along with quality personnel.”
Branding is a vital substance for a prosperous action. Initially, it may seem a cost center like any effective employees, business innovators, or financial experts are, but what’s costly is to escape it or have a substandard one.
Wherever Marketing Ends, Branding Arises!
Branding is Delivering Promise!
Robert Bean of Northstar Partners has given a wonderful definition of a brand. He says that brand is a “promise delivered.”
This is a meaningful definition as it emphasizes that every brand owner makes certain promises to their customers. To be successful in real terms, they must deliver on those promises every occasion.
Those who think that brand is merely a name, color, or badge are far from reality. A brand is everything and anything within a company.
The purpose of a brand is to know your target audience, their wishes, and desires of the company and make them understand why you are better for them than your competitors.
Some small firms know their goals and objectives, and as long as they remain small with relatively the same employees, they need not repeat this exercise.
However, with most other firms, things do change a little. Changes can be in the form of a sales drop or a threat by a competitor. So, how to react in such a situation?
If you have already defined your brand, things could and probably would turn in your favor. You would be able to overcome issues such as employee hiring, what to sell, how to communicate with the customers, and even design the layout of your office.
The real key to devising an effective and long-lasting branding and marketing strategy is to involve employees as much as possible. You must also hire a brand expert to help you and guide you through the entire phase.
This need not be a very expensive or time-consuming process, but once done could make your brand flourish and prosper for years to come.
Then what about Marketing?
The Chartered Institute of Marketing has defined Marketing as “The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.”
Marketing, thus, is a central part of any brand. It is an effective medium to communicate the promises that you wish to convey.
Your marketing should be based on your brand’s identity, values, positioning, and voice pitch, which have all been pre-discussed and communicated amongst the employees.
In quintessence, this is the activity of getting your promise or a message across to the customers, whilst branding is the act of keeping up with those promises by way of delivery to customers and employees.
What is Marketing? What is Branding? How do you differentiate between branding and marketing?
Although there is a gamut of beliefs on this topic, in my own view, marketing is the active promotion of a product or a service. It is a push method.
In our case, it is pushing out a view in order to achieve the desired sales result. It is the aggressive persuasion to your customers and by any means possible that your product (or service) is the best choice they can opt for.
This may sound over-simplistic, but that’s what it is. However, branding is different.
Branding should both trigger and precede any marketing activity. Branding is not a push tactic. It’s a pull tactic. Branding involves communicating to the customers about your brand’s attributes, values, and characteristics.
Yes, the brand actively supports the marketing efforts by guiding a consumer to buy your product, but it doesn’t explicitly say “buy me”. Instead, it says, “This is me. This is the reason for my existence. If you like me, you can buy be and recommend to your friends.”
A Few Fallacies About Branding
Deeming branding vs marketing as one is the most common fallacy regarding branding that we come across. Several marketers and businesses that look after branding activities also make the following fallacies:
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Fallacy #1: Branding is promotion/ marketing/advertising /or anything related to that.
As stated earlier, this is a misapprehension since branding is a much deeper philosophy than marketing. Marketing, promotion, and other advertising actions only convey your message and brand personality.
Your character, your expression, and your message encompass your brand. Branding is the practice of instituting such characters.
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Fallacy #2: When your brand is questioned, you are the final expert.
This is a common fallacy, found particularly among newbies in business. Undoubtedly, you have started the brand and launched all formal activities related to its operation, including the employees. However, still, it does not make you the supreme in-charge of the brand authority.
It is, in fact, your customers who finally describe your brand. Remember, the customer is king! It’s their opinion about your brand which sticks with other people whom they inspire.
That is why it’s said that “choose your brand values very carefully.” If you select poor values, your brand’s image goes very negative all around, or worse, your brand may flop if the repeat customers don’t show up.
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Fallacy #3: Branding does possess a formula for success.
Let’s make it clean and clear. There isn’t any formula or shortcut for success, even in online marketing. And remember, no two branding and marketing companies can be exactly similar. Every branding and marketing company has unique needs and characteristics, even if they operate in the same domain.
So, accept that no fixed formula exists for success in branding. It will constantly remain a personalized experience.
However, the bright side is that you can easily calculate the brand’s relative success. For this, you must measure the interests and preferences of your target customers.
Conclusion – Branding vs Marketing
As a bottom line, remember that branding only gives your customers an understanding of whether to choose your brand.
A crucial point to remember is that branding isn’t a one-time practice that you need to do only at the beginning. It’s an ongoing process that permeates your methods, philosophy, and, most importantly, your progression as an organization.
It also requires a great deal of commitment and loyalty which should echo in your efforts. Finally, every business wants to acquire as many customers as possible and earn a decent profit. And this is the measure of the success of your brand as well.
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