Branding versus Marketing - What's the Difference?
Marketing and branding are key foundation elements of a successful business, but have you wondered what the difference between them actually is?
In this blog, we will unpack that question, briefly defining both terms to help you understand where branding and marketing should fit in your brand’s strategy and why they are both so essential to achieve success.
What is ‘Branding’?
Brand = what you say about your company + what others already think and make of it from your advertising.
Let’s add the ‘ing’ action again. Brand+ing. There is some work to be done here, as in converting those messages and ideas into who the Brand really is. Identity, characteristics, personality — told through visual, written and spoken marketing assets.
Branding Is Powerful!
Whether you prefer hiring a branding agency or doing it yourself, the power of branding cannot be neglected. Perhaps the best way of describing the process of branding is by humanising it and bringing it to life. So, If your brand was a person, what sort of story would it tell? What sort of values would it have? What do they believe in?
What is ‘Marketing’?
Marketing, at its core, refers to the advertising of products and services for the purpose of making a sale or a profit.
The ‘ing’ in ‘marketing’ implies an action. There is a ‘market’ and there is also a need to get a product or service out there and sell it. Most businesses are faced with the challenge of standing out in an oversaturated market. The competition is real. Some companies turn to finding a marketing agency to help them, whereas others invest in growing their internal marketing team, or both. There is no right or wrong answer, but it is important to invest in marketing to run a sustainable business.
So what’s the difference between Marketing and Branding ?
Marketing is the ‘how’ and Branding is the ‘why’.
Marketing will bring people to your door. Branding will make them come in and stay.
In built environment terms - if your brand is a wall, marketing is the bricks and branding is the mortar between them. Clients don’t want to be handed a brick. Actually, the chances of them coming back to buy the same brick (or any other services one may offer) are low in the long-run. Branding is the glue (or mortar in this case) that draws the audience to the brand and helps them to learn more about the company’s core personality - who they really are and what they stand for.
In today’s fast-paced, digital world, where most people look for short-term plans, the successful brands are the companies who have built and invested in their marketing and branding strategies and have combined long-term and short-term goals.
If one could take time to implement one thing in their marketing strategy today, it would be finding ways to grow their brand’s image. It is like sowing and watering seeds to assure a steady harvest in the near future, and doing that on well-maintained, healthy soil. Nurture and grow your brand with strategic marketing!
Need help telling your story?
Get in touch - we’d love to offer you tailored branding and marketing support to grow and elevate your brand through the power of storytelling.
Concept Culture has a wide experience of creating, developing, and delivering branding, content, marketing, and web design services to a variety of clients, including architects, commercial property agents, planners, estate agents, developers, and retailers.