MARKETING Vs BRANDING
Defining Branding
Branding is defined as “the act of giving a company a particular design or symbol in order to advertise its products and services.” It is the perpetual process of identifying, creating, and managing the cumulative assets and actions that shape the perception of a brand in stakeholders’ minds. Branding is absolutely critical to a business because of the overall impact it makes on your company. It can change how people perceive your brand, can drive new business, and increase brand value – but it can also do the opposite if done wrongly or not at all.
A process where a business makes itself known to the public and differentiates itself from competitors is called branding. It typically includes a phrase, design, or idea that makes it easily identifiable to the public.
Defining Marketing
The process of getting potential clients or customers interested in your products and services is called Marketing. The keyword in this definition is “process“. It involves researching, promoting, selling, and distributing your products or services. It is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
Marketing is basically supposed to do three things: Capture attention. Educate prospects. Convert. Marketing as a discipline involves all the actions a company undertakes to draw in customers and maintain relationships with them. Networking with past clients or potential is part of the work too and may include writing thank you emails, playing golf with prospective clients, returning calls and emails quickly, and meeting with clients for coffee or a meal.
Product, price, place, and promotion are the Four Ps of marketing. The Four Ps collectively make up the essential mix a company needs to market a product or service.
Difference between Marketing and Branding
In a nutshell, branding is who you are, and marketing is how you build awareness. Marketing is the message you try to convey whereas your brand is your identity.
It has rightly been put into this by Howard Schultz – “Authentic brands don’t emerge from marketing cubicles or advertising agencies. They emanate from everything the company does.”
Branding comes before marketing. Simply having possession of logos, package designs and a slogan doesn’t mean you have a brand. What you actually own is a set of marketing ingredients and messages.
In terms of ownership, you are the owner of your marketing, but customers are the owner of your brand.
This is easier to understand and control as compared to branding. Branding however, is not as simple and easy as it seems.
There are some aspects such as marketing and customer service that have a role to play in your brand but you can’t create your brand value without using such vital aspects.
“Branding is a strategy whereas marketing is a tactic.” This may provide an addition 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 is what 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.
Branding is defined as what people are saying about your business. The term used to describe anything that connects your audience with your offering (product/service) is marketing.
Branding creates a perception of your offerings in the marketplace.
Marketing is an extension of your brand. Think of it as the way that you present your brand in order to get a certain perception. Marketing discovers and stimulates buyers. Branding makes devoted customers, supporters and even evangelists out of them.
Think of it like this, marketing is like sending out an invitation to a party you are hosting. The invitation is important. It’s got to look good and it has to entice the reader to come. If people show up to your party then your invitation is considered a success. Branding is the experience people have when they get to the party.
The invitation must match the experience. Your marketing must match your brand and bring it all together.
Conclusion
Although branding and marketing are 2 different pieces of building your business, they go hand in hand. You can’t market your business well without building your brand. And you can’t build your brand unless you market it. They are interdependent strategic activities that feed, inform, and drive each other.
Branding is what drives marketing because branding is strategic and marketing is tactical. The most successful marketing campaigns are built from strong brand foundations because the marketing is fuelled by a clearly defined target audience and message.
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Palak Lalwani