As a faculty in marketing deptt in a management college I see a lot of students. Noticeably, most of them err in distinguishing between marketing and branding during case studies and brain storming sessions. Not just students, even some senior pros from reputed interactive advertising agencies and branding firms make this mistake often. Yes they are different!

While marketing a product is like bottling a can of soda, just put in a little fizz and pizzazz, ergo you got yourself a working campaign (whether it would work or not is different story), branding on the other hand is like making a single malt scotch.

Just like scotch requires years of aging and careful handling with just the right environment and ingredients to produce a masterpiece which will be consumed reverently and remembered fondly, branding too needs precise positioning, conceptualization, visualization and promotion to build up a significant brand equity for the product and high recall for the campaign.

To elaborate - marketing requires quick and single-minded communication as communication is expensive and consumer’s attention span is short. This would make a skilled marketer to seek to convey a message that has the ability to trigger a quick response.

Right across the road moves branding, which is slow and multi-faceted. That's because communicating about what a brand entails can be likened to communicating a person's character, it cannot be done proactively; you have to build it, with your actions.

For example, you do not trust somebody overnight just because he/she says “trust me!” No my dear, you will trust that person only when he/she displays trustworthiness and integrity in real life situations. This takes time. Communicating the character of a brand takes time for the same reason.

And, contrary to the rather simple and one point focus of propagating the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of the marketed product or service through the marketing message, branding is complex by design: a rich brand is a gestalt consisting of multiple messages each telling a different characteristic not of the product but of the entity behind that product, the company.

One corporate branding message would be telling about the company’s corporate identity, another would be elaborating on ethics standard of the company, yet another might be telling about the company’s policy about its employees, and so on…

This plurality of messages, which is a liability to the marketer, is an asset to the brand. A good branding firm will intelligently employ all of these corporate branding messages to tell you effectively what you might expect from the company. visit: Dalab.com.au

Great post - As many of us on the web have only web based businesses. Can you discuss or give us some ideas about how we can best present our offerings to promote trust in our site visitors. Given that we have only one shot at our users - it is important to make the best first impression.

Hi,
A brand becomes successful when it consistently reflects the same set of values over long time and when, as a result, the consumer begins to associate those values with the brand and its owner.

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Excellent post. In our marketing committee meetings some people discuss branding without really dissecting what it means, particularly in a service business. I'll give this to them.

Good point, well made Jennie. I notice that the waters can be muddied even further by graphic designers who offer 'branding' without the qualifying word, 'visual'. Small business owners are often confused by this, especially businesses that only come into contact with the complex world of branding through a graphic designer, who may not have the appropriate skills or time needed to explore and develop a client's brand.