The Tribune

So, you have a business and are ready to push your branding and marketing efforts out online, yet you hardly understand the difference between both. You are not alone, because there are many marketing employees who are still challenged with both platforms.

Just last week I met a colleague who had “aced” marketing, but confessed that he now owns a small business and still does not have a clue as to the differences between branding and marketing.

He admitted that it was just too mind boggling, so he relies on plain old common sense. I did not know whether to laugh softly or boisterously, but that bit of information left me astonished and directed me to this topic in a bid to clarify the differences in a ‘real-world’ kind of way.

BRANDING:

Every business has a brand, whether they realise it or not. Your brand is not what you do or sell; it is what you believe. It simply communicates a promise to your intended audience and creates a distinct and memorable image in the mind of your customers.

Genuine brands do not usually emerge from marketing cubicles or advertising agencies; they emanate from everything the company does. The only question is: Are you in control of it? Surprisingly, many executives believe they can control how their brand is perceived by consumers. Unfortunately, only your clients can say what your brand is because they alone know. You own your marketing, but your clients own your brand.

If you have a logo, package design or a slogan, you may think you have a brand. What you really have are a set of marketing materials and a few messages. A brand is NOT just a logo, an ad campaign, spokesperson or slogan.

Understand that a brand is a product of millions of experiences a company creates with employees, vendors, reporters, communities and customers, and the emotional feelings these groups develop as a result of their ‘experiences’. That is why only your clients can tell you what your brand is. “He who feels it… knows it.”

Your brand is the ‘sum’ of all the characteristics that make your offering unique. These include reputation, customer service, a promise, price, feeling, attitude, lgo and product line. Your brand is what remains after the marketing has swept through the room. It is what sticks in the mind, and determines whether a purchase was made or not.

Branding is not a ‘push’ but a ‘pull’ tactic, due to the fact that it is a message received from others. For example, a brand does not explicitly say: ‘Buy me’.Instead, it says: ‘This is who I am. This is why I exist, if you like me you can buy me and recommend me to your friends.’

Therefore, your 2015 brand messaging has to be air-tight and circumscribed. And if you know your company requires a new brand positioning, it is time to put a strategy in operation by using the brightest spots.

Find out how you are defined in your customer’s mind? What emotional benefits do they derive from your products or services? I guarantee that if your brand idea is unique, meaningful and consistent, it will break free from your outdated process and make a lasting home run.

MARKETING:

‘Marketing’ seems to mean different things to different people. However, there has to be a purpose that drives this vehicle. If not, it will only be perceived as simply advertising, ‘sales with brochures’ or just selling a product or service.

Over the course of my profession, I have always identified innovation as the lifeblood of any business. I am convinced that if a business is not focused on a strategy that generates growth, it may be only processing administrative work.

Marketing in the ‘real world’ is simply everything that communicates anything about a business to a customer. It is everything you do to place your product or service in the hands of potential customers. For example, it includes diverse disciplines such as sales, public relations, pricing, packaging and distribution.

Marketing is a ‘push’ tactic because it is pushing out a message to influence a customer’s immediate decision to purchase. Bear in mind that people do not just ‘buy’ a product. For example, overweight people do not eat at a Health Centre just because the food is mouthwatering.

Overweight people buy the ‘concept’ of what the food promised to do for them, such as offering a new, healthy and thin body. Therefore, the most innovative ideas, the greatest products or a superior service succeed only when you market within the context of customer perceptions.

For this reason, make every effort to understand the fundamentals of both branding and marketing, as doing so will help you speak more knowledgeably about your business, and help you avoid looking uninformed or inexperienced.

With this in mind, remember that marketing is ‘your message’. And your brand is simply ‘who you are’. Until we meet again, fill your life with memories rather than regrets. Enjoy life and stay on top of your game!

NB: Columnist welcomes feedback at deedee21bastian@gmail.com

ABOUT COLUMNIST: Deidre Marie Bastian is a professionally trained graphic designer/ marketing coordinator with qualifications of M.Sc., B.Sc., A.Sc. She has trained at institutions such as: Miami Lakes Technical Centre, Success Training College, College of the Bahamas, Nova Southeastern University, Learning Tree International, Langevine International and Synergy Bahamas