Branding vs Marketing
I’m often asked what is the difference between Branding and Marketing?
Branding drives recognition and loyalty
Branding is the process of creating a positive image of your company in your customer’s mind. It’s a set of actions you will implement to actively shape and give life to your brand. These actions consist of making sure that your desired brand identity matches your brand. It allows you to establish and maintain an emotional connection with your target audience that leads to strong brand loyalty.
Brands are a collection of gut feelings, the way we relate to them is purely emotional, and key aspects of brand-building include relevance, experience, perceived quality, and liking. What people think about your company, what they feel when they see your logo, or what comes to their mind when they hear its name lies at the heart of branding.
Branding has just as much of an impact on your customers as it does on your team. It influences both the employer brand and corporate brand. It is crucial for employees to support and believe in the identity and vision of the company they represent. A Brand is the internal and external perception of a company or its products. Understanding the impact that branding has on company culture will allow avoiding unfavorable brand experiences for the external world as well.
Branding, therefore, concerns your corporate culture, but also your brand identity. Once the latter is precisely defined, the company has a better idea of its Who, What, How and Why. This is when developing a marketing strategy comes in.
Marketing drives sales
Marketing on the other hand consists of the tools that promote your brand in order for it to get widely known. To do so, marketing uses technical, strategic, and communication tools that vary according to the market and the audience. It is responsible for translating your branding message into concrete tactics. These tactics will attract and retain your customers by exploring and identifying their needs, motivations, and desires.
It’s all about the methods and resources used to reach your audience and convert them into long-lasting customers.
Marketing is essential to drive sales but to send a consistent and reliable message to your customers, marketing needs a strong brand to build on.
Branding and Marketing: stronger together!
Both are complimentary, marketing serves to promote your products or services while branding shapes your company’s identity. Having a well-defined and consistent branding makes you stand out from the crowd, whereas a marketing campaign is responsible for reaching the right people and meeting targeted needs at the right place and the right time.
Marketing strategies come and go — but branding is forever. The aim of branding is rather long-term as it is much more conducive to sustainable growth, positive feelings, and customers' strong brand attachment, all of which have a positive influence on meeting your business objectives.
Remember this — Branding comes first, marketing comes second.
