Branding ≠ Marketing ≠ Advertising

Understand why your business needs all three!

Branding, marketing, and advertising are three commonly confused terms, that are sometimes used interchangeably. This handy guide should give you a fair understanding of their differences, and the role that each one plays.

What is branding?

Any feature that uniquely identifies and distinguishes your products and services, such as your brand name, design, and symbol.

What does effective branding achieve

Delivers the message clearly
Validates your credibility
Motivates potential buyers
Establishes emotional connect
Builds long-term loyalty

What is marketing?

A set of practices focused on identifying, anticipating and meeting customer needs effectively.

What are the factors to consider while arriving at a strategy?

Orientation: guiding principles of the business

Mix: customer, cost, convenience, and communication

Environment: factors that impact decision-making

Market: characteristics of the target customers

What is advertising?

A paid service to place your messaging or branding in specific locations viewed by your target audience.

What are the objectives of advertising?

Educate and convince customers about your products/ services

Create a need for the product/ service and attract new customers

Promote new products/ services, showcase new applications

Retain customers, influence perception, and build loyalty

What are the common types used today?

Branding	Marketing	Advertising
Product Corporate Service Personal Geographic Cultural Retail	Digital Social Media Global Relationship Brand Management Product Management	Traditional Online Mobile Outdoor Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Retail

Branding

Product
Corporate
Service
Personal
Geographic
Cultural
Retail

Marketing

Digital
Social Media
Global
Relationship
Brand Management
Product Management

Advertising

Traditional
Online
Mobile
Outdoor
Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Retail

Which should you focus on?

Global companies usually integrate advertising strategies into their marketing plan

Small and medium businesses are following suit with the affordability of digital advertising

Startups and new enterprises should arrive at a branding and marketing plan first, before spending a lot on advertising

Having a marketing plan in place ensures future marketing and advertising activities achieve better results