Branding vs Marketing…
Can we finally agree?
The Branding vs Marketing debate will probably never reach a conclusion that is acceptable to all. Over the years, it’s clear to me that branding and marketing are two sides of the same coin. You need both. And one should not, (not cannot), should not exist without the other.
What then is the difference between branding and marketing? And will this knowledge help brand managers and marketing folks?
If you believe branding and marketing are one and the same, stop reading here.
If you believe they are different, I applaud you, for common sense and intellectual curiosity have prevailed.
Let’s break down branding and marketing. What is a brand?
Let your mind wander back a few centuries. Your ship has just docked after a long voyage at sea. You walk down the mud road to the market to buy some nuts. The market is nothing more than a few dilapidated stalls where merchants sell their goods. You see two stalls selling nuts. The quality and price are comparable between both stalls. One merchant however is bad-tempered. Maybe he had a fight with his wife, maybe his donkey refused to move, or maybe it’s just one of those days. The other merchant however is all smiles. As he hands you a bag, you pay him and return his wide smile.
Back on board your ship, you enter the Captain’s cabin, run your hand over the safely stored black sail, and settle down at your table. That’s when you notice a mark on the bag. It’s the outline of a face with a wide smile. Your mind goes back to the smiling merchant. In that instant, a brand has formed in your mind.
“A brand is the gut feeling a person has about a product, service, or company” - Marty Neumeier
When you looked down and saw the smiling face marked on that bag, your mind connected a bunch of dots. The fair price, the pleasant experience, and most of all, the smiling face of the merchant. When your crew asks you where to buy nuts, you will tell them to find the merchant whose bags have a smiling face. When enough people feel the same way about a specific product, service, or company, a brand is created.
This poses a challenge for marketers and brand strategists. Because your brand is never what you say it is. It is what they say it is. They being your audience, your customers. You cannot control your brand. You can only influence it.
In today’s world, you may argue that ‘gut feeling’ is too vague a notion. Think of it then as your company’s reputation. If we can agree that a positive reputation in the minds of customers is a good thing, shouldn’t influencing that reputation be a key focus area?
Most small and mid-sized companies today don’t take the time to clearly define their brand. How do they want to be seen in the market? How are they building trust and creating loyalty? Usually, these things just happen as companies go on with their day-to-day operations.
In overly simplified terms, branding creates a transparent layer around the company. You could call it a persona. It is transparent because your customers are not idiots. They can easily sense a disparity between the company’s stated values, and their experience. This transparent layer when designed properly becomes something that customers can relate to, and start to trust. It then becomes the ammunition that the marketing experts can use to shout the message to the world.
The long and short of it is this - Branding is developing the emotions and values that make up a product, service, or company. Marketing promotes and reinforces it in the minds of customers, thereby establishing a brand.
It’s not just a smiling face. It’s what that smiling face represents to you.
The next question to logically follow is…what is the role of a Chief Marketing Officer, and what is the role of the Chief Branding Officer?
That my friends, is a discussion for another day.