The substantial difference between Brand, Branding and Marketing.

It is not easy to see through the mist if we do not take enough time to see around us.  This road metaphor can be perfectly applied to a situation that lives through terminology but if doubts are not cleared up regarding the concept, it will be difficult for us to fully explore the potential of each discipline.  In the following article and very briefly I will summarize the main and most noticeable differences between action (Brand) and reaction (branding).

This, of course, is not a description carved in stone.  It is a synthesis based on experience that seeks to reaffirm some key aspects that have become more clear over time.  While "Brand" is not new, its terminology and application for modern purposes are.

First, let's repress the singularity.  Brand and Branding are not alien, much less unknown disciplines absent from each other these together with marketing, brand identity, and visual coding are a collective that works in unison to achieve the same goal.  Give real support to your business.  Give me a real dimension.

What is a Brand?

This question is quite generic and, on my website I have addressed the topic extensively and from different angles, but to keep the fruit of the matter up, I will summarize it as follows.  The best way to describe it (from my professional experience) is that a brand is that visceral meaning with a sentimental and particular charge that people attribute to a product or service proposal from a specific company. As you can see, this is all to some extent a matter of total perspective.  And in this field, the client has the last word.  But, not everything is far from our hands.  This perception will be reinforced for better or worse by the work we do behind it.  How solid is our promise that is glimpsed through that catalog of products or services?

Now, going back to one of my childhood action heroes, as Indiana Jones would say, not all of them are found in books.  By this, I mean that the theory has its evolutionary path.  but on the street, in the square, in the market, and daily, the approach that people have to the brand and even the professionals around it is sometimes somewhat wrong.  Too often (more than I would like to accept) the Brand is confused with a range of visual codes, and the Logo is confused with the concept.  To the slogans with the vision.  But let's not be petty either, much of this is information that Marketing, the oldest discipline, dragged into modern times, but we can't blame them.  This discernment has been adjusted with constant work and with the research of many colleagues over time, to the point that today, the most important asset of a brand is the emotional charge and for many professionals, this level of approximation is still intimidating.

A logo is just one item in a long list of visual elements that make up the skeleton of a brand identity, and its importance is well-earned and justified.  _A well-executed logo can give a brand a recognizable face, providing retention and familiarity as well as acting as one of the main windows for the user or client to appreciate the internal values ​​of the brand, but again.  A brand cannot exist without a clear, mature, and well-constructed background, and that is achieved with strategy.

What is Branding?

Well, everything in this world is in motion, and in the field of Brands, this statement could not be better coined.  An inert brand is a dead brand or at least has a clear sentence of early death.  Every person with some business success will tell you that the day-to-day mantra is innovation and that also applies to the "doing" of a brand, that is where Branding comes in.  This is a process that seeks to strategically shape a brand and that works on how it will be perceived.  Every time you launch a website, you post a sale at the corner store, and you offer a print yearbook to your customers.  All of this, with no size limit, is branding.  It is the art of expressing what your brand represents from its personality to its purpose of being.

Branding Vs Marketing

This may be muddy ground for many, but with some patience, we can elucidate some differences in this confusing battle between what is Branding and what is Marketing or how we can differentiate between them.  The best way to approach this versus is to trace the differences from the goals of each area.  Branding, as we discussed in the previous block, seeks to execute dynamic actions to reinforce the message from within, while marketing is focused on the external field.  Marketing seeks to align tools and processes to create an introductory interest in the brand, while branding is what maintains that interest over time.  All marketing will shine with greater emphasis if its mission is to be the initial promoter of a specific product or brand, but conscientiously executed branding will set the necessary pillars to generate a long-term relationship with the client.  Loyalty is a virtue that in this field works as the desired result of constant collective work.