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Most popular confusion among the basic terminologies related to business is the difference between branding and marketing.
Many people interchange these two terms without knowing how different they are.
However, the scope of the difference between branding and marketing cannot be subtly defined. If you gather a meeting of experts to ask about the same thing, it's natural that all of them will have different opinions.
One opinion will convince you to consider the terms as being interrelated, while another opinion will also compel you to think about their similarities.
But the crux is that they are sequentially related but intentionally distinguished.
How?
Read the blog till the end to get all the answers.
The term branding refers to the performance done to prove the existence of the company.
Branding is traditionally meant to be used merely to create an impression on future or willing customers. But today, the extraordinary and awestruck efforts a company puts in, allow customers to expect potential to-dos from the company.
Branding steps into the company in its initial phase and remains until the end.
Starting from logo creation to making the customer turn into a customer through robust emotional connection, so that the competitors cannot create a prolonged effect on their business.
To understand it evidentially, take a look at the social media handle of the popular brand Nike. It is one of the brands that are more emotionally conscious than any other aggressive or promotional marketing strategy.
Just look at the ads; rather than making any leading public figure their ambassador,
they have brought in a sportsperson, a common man, or a woman facing body shame just to create an emotional connection. This is what is called branding!
“To showcase the intention or reason of their existence. They showed their will to bring change.”
Following are some major components of branding that should be followed essentially.
Abidas? Adibas? Okay, I got it! ADIDAS.
“You can say your brand presence is powerful once people are willingly trying to replicate it.”
Branding is a very intelligent activity that needs a creative mind to visualize the emotional compatibility of the audience. It should also reflect the purpose of the brand's existence.
Hence, a brand name should be capable enough to awaken the relationship between consumers and the company.
A brand is not built on luck, thousands of good ideas are rejected to get that one idea that is the best of all.
Creating a logo is one of the basic steps in branding. A logo should be simple and impactful.
“A great design is made when all the unnecessary elements are removed.”
You get one more chance to prove the purpose your brand is serving in the market.
Just like Burger King says “Have it your way,”, let the audience feel the tempting flavours the brand has.
Hence, the tagline should be strong enough to justify the brand.
Brand management is an essential element to cope with public expectations and maintain the efficiency of public impressions.
Brand management includes elements like identity, brand value, experience, and intention.
Nothing much is needed to explain this point. The packaging and labelling tell a lot about the quality and potential of the brand.
You feel different once you have a paper bag from a popular brand. That's how packaging works psychologically on us.
A company does not become a brand naturally; a lot of creative effort is put into making it one.
To stand strong in the market, you should know where you are going and where you have to go after 6 months. That's integrity!
Once we are confident about the concept of branding, it's time to transparently distinguish the difference between branding and marketing.
The term marketing is no longer new to us.
Marketing is nothing complex; it is the strategies, plans, or tools that are applied with the sole purpose of promoting the product or service available in the market.
Sounds hard?
That's what marketing is!
To create a condition that can effortlessly convince the audience to be consumers, and through which all of this is implemented, is called marketing.
“May your Monday be,
As small as lemon seeds in Poha.”
We are not saying this, but Zomato is.
Zomato is one of the most successful marketers before becoming a hit brand, as it knows how to seamlessly chase attention towards itself.
With just the creative and tempting notifications we get, they are minting a greater amount of money and trust in the market.
Another successful psychology game was the advertisement "Zomato or Zomato," which stuck with people. It's not an utterly creative advertisement, but it worked because it showed how Zomato is taking care of its audience. It is not stuck with extraordinary promises but rather creates an understanding.
Research is an evergreen trend.
Before and during your business, you are what research tells you.
If it says greys, that means you have to mould your blacks. When you say “customer is the king of the market”, that's not a quote; that's a promise. To match every foot of your audience, you have to do research.
Pricing is what makes it a priority for most of the audience to buy it.
Pricing should be done with a balance between two factors: cost compensation and reasonableness. A brand should make sure the quality is dominant over the price.
Doesn't our buyer deserve the same happiness as an employee gets with a Diwali bonus?
They do!
At a time when every company’s pricing is compelled to be increased due to inflation. You can gather a lot of consumers with exciting discount offers and add-ons.
Above all, the final thing that creates the most lasting impression is, obviously, the product.
Once you deliver a quality product to the consumer at the right time and place, the price will be justified anyway.
Hence, how you market a product is a post responsibility, but how you make it available remains the first.
So, after understanding the pillar concepts of branding and marketing, we are ready to understand the key differences between them.
Branding is essential for the company to have a robust identity in the market.
Branding creates base expectations from the brand regarding quality, quantity, and user experience, but marketing contributes differently here.
Marketing is done to make sure that a product or service gets attention in the market.
Marketing is done to inform consumers of the product's existence and to match the expected sales with temporary impacts like discounts, cash prizes, etc.
But branding is a promising activity for creating a brand that will keep people's attention forever.
Ever been to a fair? Have you seen a guy aggressively selling a pressure cooker?
Is that a traditional example?
Then, have you ever come across social media reels of creators promoting some other brand’s product? That’s marketing.
Branding does not want to compel the audience and strike in front of them every moment, but they surely want to create an impact on the audience that will implicitly let them choose their brand and make sure they keep choosing them.
Marketing is flexible and capable of moulding itself following customer behaviour because it is meant to be.
Whereas branding is a claim to the promises and accomplishments of the brand. The intentions of branding remain the same, but they keep improving with the constant growth in technology and expansion of experimental boundaries.
Marketing and branding are both much bigger than being called concepts.
These two create a shield against the existential crisis that a company may face. But that does not make them similar, or even almost similar. Both of these terminologies are very different from each other.
Where branding is supposed to create the output of making a robust brand impression in the market, marketing is also supposed to operate the sales and make people aware of the product.
However, at some point, both may give the same output. But the difference in process, intention, and abilities cannot be ignored.
