The Difference Between Marketing and Branding?

Branding and marketing are two extremely important promotional functions that often get confused. While they each play distinct roles in creating product/company identity, they also work symbiotically, rendering one ineffective without the other’s proper implementation. This article from Morgan Chaney identities key differences between the two, and how to make them work compatibly for your venture.

Branding is Internal. Marketing is External.

Marketing is the outward message that seeks to draw sales. The underlying meaning is that the product or service is superior to competitors’ because it’s cooler (celebrity endorsements support this), easier to use, or better at fixing a problem.

Branding, on the other hand, is a means of communicating who the company really is, what its values are, and the attributes that make it special. Branding does not seek to gain sales; rather, it’s about expressing its characteristics and its reason for existing. In doing so, people identify with the company or service on a personal level that makes them recommend it to friends.

Creating Loyalty

While marketing contributes to a brand, the brand itself is larger and more powerful than any marketing tactic. Once a marketing campaign is over, it is the brand image that stays with people. It’s what buyers connect to emotionally, and what keeps them coming back between marketing efforts. The marketing may convince a buyer to purchase a particular product, but it is the effective branding– the fulfilled product experience– that keeps them coming back. The opposite, however, is also true: every marketing promotion has the power to deter brand loyalty. In this sense, marketing and branding must uphold one another, working harmoniously to both attract and maintain customers.