The difference between branding and marketing

One cannot exist without the other, but what is the difference between branding and marketing? Online Student explains it in a blog.

When you read the word Ferrari, you undoubtedly associate it with speed, sportiness, masculinity, and Italian design. They are inseparable from each other. Ferrari has built a strong brand that evokes a similar feeling in most people. Branding is the creation of a brand. The feeling that your brand evokes is a result of branding.

What is branding?

Branding is knowing who you are and what you stand for internally and projecting that outwardly. A brand wants to radiate certain values and thus attract people. A good brand attracts people, technically referred to as a pull strategy. Branding is important for a company because it helps to build a loyal following. With a strong brand, you want to identify yourself, you want to be a part of it. It is essential for the positioning of your company, the sale of your service/product, and attracting personnel.

What is marketing?

If you want to attract people with branding, with marketing, you actively try to push people towards your product/service. Unlike branding, marketing uses a push strategy. Marketing is about promoting your brand with the aim of stimulating the sale of your product or service. It is about reaching your target audience and introducing them to your product.

Marketing aligns with your brand

Marketing serves your brand and makes it sensory (visual and tangible) what you stand for. Marketing is about conveying the message of your brand. Through print or online campaigns, for example, or through a social media post, marketing communicates what the unique characteristics of your service/product are. Or what solution you offer to an existing problem. Marketing also focuses on finding the right target audience.

Branding gives marketing content

Branding gives your marketing content by providing guidelines for how to present something externally. Marketing without branding is hollow, because who you are and what you stand for determines how you position your product/service in the market. Where marketing finds and activates people to make a purchase, with branding, you want to bind people to your brand because you keep your promise and have certain values that people want to identify with.

How you best position your brand and which marketing tools you use requires specific knowledge. Online Student has that knowledge and is happy to help. In a non-committal conversation, we can tell you what we can do for you. Feel free to contact us!