Branding Vs. Marketing

In my experience as a graphic designer I have dealt with a lot of small businesses. The one thing that I have seen as a constant between most of them was the fact that they did not understand the difference between Branding and Marketing. Even though this is sad, it’s true.

Branding is the creation of an image, a persona. It is the embodiment of a company. It is what will make your company recognizable.  It is the creation of your logo, your color scheme, right down to the font of your company name. Marketing on the other hand is the distribution of your brand. The how you make your company recognizable.  It is the promotion of your company. Branding shows what your company looks like and Marketing shows what your company does.

Not know or understanding the difference between the two can cause havoc for a small business. It will result in them thinking that Branding and Marketing are one in the same. For this reason so many small businesses don’t grow as fast or as far as they want to go. For some business owners this is okay, they’re not looking to be a fortune 500 company. For others on the other hand, the ones that want to grow into a fortune 500 company, it is very crucial to know the difference between Banding and Marketing. It is crucial for them to understand that the two go hand and hand. In order to have a company to market out you have to have a Brand. If you want your brand to be recognizable you have to Market it out.

There are some small businesses that do know and understand the difference between Branding and Marketing, but believe that it’s to early in the companies’ life to worry about that. Some of these companies tend to do either or. They either brand themselves or they market themselves. In this case those that market themselves tend to make revenue in order to stay in business. Although you can make money marketing yourself or your company, without a brand you are just marketing a generic version of your product.

Marketing is only half of the coin Branding is the other half. Some small business owners think that it’s enough to just have a logo. They think that with just a logo they can market themselves and then they would be recognizable.  In reality just a logo is not enough. If you are not consistent with your image you would only be slapping your name on a generic version of your product. Consistence is key. You have to be consistent with your image. Your logo, your color scheme, your message it all has to stay the same. For example if your logo is green you don’t want to market your company using red, white, and blue banner ads. Consumers will go for what is recognizable. So if your selling a great product and you have an image to go along with it you are setting your self up to become a fortune 500 company.

If you want to see a more scientific approach to this topic check out http://www.tronviggroup.com/the-difference-between-marketing-and-branding/