Branding vs. Marketing?

A lot of people often think branding and marketing are one and the same, so I want to take a moment to talk about the difference between the two.

One way to look at it is that branding is who you are while marketing is letting people know who you are. Another way to look at it is that branding is strategic while marketing is tactical.

But both of these miss the true depth of branding. That can best be summarized by a popular meme you may have seen going around.

In this way, branding is your reputation on the market, while marketing is your promise.

If your reputation doesn’t live up to your promise, you have a branding problem, i.e. a fundamental problem.

On the other hand, if your reputation is better than your promise, you have a marketing problem, i.e. a communication problem.

Think about it, which situation would you rather be in? Having to convince people of your value, or having them come to you because they already know your value?

And which problem would you rather face? Having to repair your reputation or having to change your communication?

Changing your communication is a hell of a lot easier than changing your reputation. That’s why branding is so essential to business success.

And, by the way, if your product or service doesn’t live up to either your promise or your reputation, then you have a business problem that no amount of branding can fix.