Brand vs Branding: Unlocking the Mystery Behind Marketing's Most Misunderstood Terms
What’s the difference between a brand and branding? One word versus two, or do they mean two different things? The simple answer to this question is no, they’re not the same, but there’s more to it than that.
To fully understand what branding is and what a brand is, you have to break down each of these terms separately and see how they differ from one another. Before anything else, it is crucial to understand what a brand is.
What is a Brand
A brand is how others perceive your business. It’s what they think of when they see your logo or hear your name, and it’s how you differentiate yourself from competitors. Your brand is not just a marketing ploy—it’s everything that makes up who you are as a company. From your mission statement to your social media presence, every single element of your business needs to be cohesive for consumers to connect with it. As such, defining your brand is crucial. A brand starts with a vision: What do you want people to say about you? How do you want them to view you? And what will set you apart from all other businesses on offer?
What is Branding
Branding is any action you take to establish your identity in the public eye. This could include placing your company’s logo on packaging, creating a mascot for use in ads, and trademarking a product’s name. Marketing activities are a subset of branding activities that engage customers by promoting the value of your product or service. When you get right down to it, business activities consist of everything that is not market-related. That is the realm of marketing specialists. for example, both marketing and business building are integral to any successful business, because they focus on such important parts of running a business. A brand doesn’t necessarily only refer to one of these entities. When somebody says it, they may be talking about either side of the spectrum. When somebody mentions branding, it’s most often about marketing alone.
Why Understanding The Differences Matters
Most people are unaware of the distinction between a brand and branding. Doing so will help you create the right strategy. You could define a brand as the personality of a company or business, and branding as the image strategy that provides your potential customer with a positive impression. You will want to pick a good brand name for your products or services, as well as an effective marketing/advertising strategy.