Branding vs. Marketing — do they have the same meaning?

Unlike in science, law, or engineering, where there is a standard definition for technical terms making it easier for them to be “on the same page” in understanding each other, marketers don’t really have that going for them.

People often mix up what branding and marketing is because both of them go hand in hand when growing a company. Both terms have been thrown around to mean so many different things, that there isn’t really an agreed upon universal meaning. Go around and ask several marketers on how they define both branding and marketing, and you will still most probably end up having a handful of loosely related explanations.

We’ve taken the time to oversimplify the difference between branding and marketing because understanding these two terms is the first step in making them work to your advantage.

Branding is being. Marketing is doing.

Branding is like telling the world “This is me. This is what I do. This is who I am. This is why I do it. Most importantly, this is what I believe in. If you think and feel the same way I do, and if you like me, then you can buy me, support me, and share me with others who might resonate with me as well.”

Branding is making your identity loud and clear. Visual elements of the brand such as the logo, colors, slogan, packaging are some of the many elements that contribute to the overall identity of the brand. These elements make it easy for people to understand what your brand is, and what it is not.

Branding acts as a filter. Because branding establishes your company’s beliefs and ideals, the right audience will be drawn towards it. Similar to how it’s always easier to make new friends when both individuals have something in common, your audience will be able to associate their desires and beliefs with what your brand believes in as well. In short, branding makes it possible for your customers to have a “me too!” moment when they meet your brand.

Branding is the pull. Marketing is the push.

Branding expresses the company’s truth in a subtle and implicit way, and when the right people see this, they’ll resonate with it and be drawn to it. Marketing, on the other hand, explicitly tells the world what you sell, its benefits, why customers should buy it, and how much better it is over the competition.

Marketing leans more on the active promotion of a product or a service. It involves all the actions taken and strategies applied to get the brand in front of its potential customers. Marketing makes people aware that the brand exists, and what it has to offer by pushing out a message in order to get results.

Branding is macro. Marketing is micro.

Brands launch marketing activities to reach specific goals they have in mind. Goals could go from creating brand awareness, positioning the brand’s image, promoting a new product feature, getting website traffic, to amplifying sales of an existing product that is currently available on the market. Occasionally, brands may encounter problems that results into PR disasters, and may need to run a marketing campaign to gradually fix their reputation.

Branding precedes marketing. Meaning, marketing may drive in periodic sales, but in terms of enduring reputation, branding is the key driver.

Podcast: Brand Origins

Thanks for reading! By the way, we have a podcast: Brand Origins. We talk about Brand Disaster stories as well as the origin stories of brands. Find us on any podcast app.

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