What is brand marketing and why it matters to businesses?
Imagine a world where products and services only communicate their value to you via text.
No imagery 🖼️ No sound 🔊 No other forms of interaction 🤝
How would you differentiate a cup of plain black coffee from Starbucks and Coffee Bean?
How would you differentiate between a pair of running shoes from Nike and Adidas?
How would you make your decision?
If you have some sort of abstract justification that you can’t explain, this is branding at work. It creates differential value for the company and its customers.
That said, it’s not uncommon for people to confuse branding and marketing. Granted, there are overlapping aspects. But that doesn’t mean that they are the same thing.
Before I delve deeper into the topic, let’s get some definitions out of the way.
What is branding?
The idea of branding originated around 2000 BC. Then, hot iron was used to make a permanent mark on cattle to brand it and indicate to whom the animal belonged. It was simply a visual marker to identify something.
As more competing brands emerged to grab a larger share of the same market, it become more difficult to differentiate one brand from another. Products and services were becoming too similar. Soon, companies started introducing mascots, slogans, and patents to differentiate themselves.
However, branding today is not so much about the visual and aesthetic elements of the brand. At its very core branding is the continuous process of managing and shaping the brand’s image in the minds of its consumers. And marketing isn’t the only business function involved.
HR branding efforts have helped Hubspot become recognised as a great employer.
Through strong HR initiatives, companies like Hubspot have created a brand identity of being one of the best places to work. By constantly improving on the efficiency and quality of service of logistics teams, you improve customer satisfaction and create a trustworthy brand image in the eyes of your customers.
What is marketing?
Marketing is a process in which businesses use various marketing tools and channels to achieve several goals:
Promote and sell a business’s products and services
Establish long term positive relationships with a company’s customers, and
Communicate a brand’s image effectively
What is the difference between marketing and branding?
Okay, so this whole branding versus brand marketing debate has been going on for a while now. And understandably so. I mean, the two terms are just too similar. So then, how exactly does branding differ from marketing? 🤔
One can think of branding to be the subject, while brand marketing is the function. A means to an end, if you will.
As with how HR and operations teams can help improve and communicate a brand’s image, so too can marketing. In essence, brand marketing is the process in which marketing activities are used to communicate a brand’s image to the world.
A good marketer understands the implications of the marketing mix and how to integrate them in order to “speak as one”. This is why people often say that branding as a whole needs to be consistent, not just over time, but across departments in the company. Customers have the ability to assess the totality of these elements and judge if there is a holistic balance between them. This is also known as the Gestalt Effect.
What is a brand marketing strategy?
A brand marketing strategy is a long term strategy in which marketing efforts are used to shape the perception of the brand in the minds of the target audience. It is a continuous process that evolves over time according to changing social norms and even regulations.
What is the importance of brand marketing?
So why is having a good brand marketing strategy important? 🤔
To answer that question, let’s take a look at David Aaker’s Brand Equity Model.
David Aaker’s Brand Equity Model.
The main reason for the necessity of a great branding strategy is the creation of brand equity. Customer-based Brand Equity is defined as the differential effect that brand knowledge has on consumer response to the marketing of that brand.
This is essentially the power of a brand lies in what resides in the hearts and minds of its customers. According to David Aaker’s Brand Equity Model, there are several benefits that brand equity brings to a company and its customers.
1) It keeps a brand at the top of mind
Let’s revisit the questions I asked at the start of this article.
With so many brands producing similar or even identical products and services, how does one truly differentiate one from another?
Sometimes, there isn’t a proper reason even.
A good brand marketing strategy helps the target audience store and process information about the brand more easily. This helps keep a brand at the top of mind of its target customers in a sea of competitors if the brand’s values and identity resonate with them.
2) It enhances brand loyalty
Brand equity enhances the perceived quality of a company’s products and services. And in turn, the satisfaction when they make their purchase.
As seen in the brand equity model above, a great brand marketing strategy helps shape the perception of the brand in the hearts and minds of the consumer. It creates a feel-good effect when customers make a purchase as they are already confident that the brand can deliver quality products and services.
3) It attracts happy employees, which makes for happy customers
A good brand marketing strategy can influence not just your target audience, but potential employees as well.
An example of a company that does this so well is The Pokémon Company International.
The Pokémon Company International uses a great brand marketing strategy to attract good talent.
They leveraged their brand position as arguably the best in childhood entertainment, as well as good old nostalgia, to get employees who had grown up playing their games excited and look forward to work. And as we all know, happy workers make happy employees.
Classic brand marketing examples
For any product or service, every brand needs to bear in mind the tangible and intangible brand benefits and brand identity.
Tangible elements are things we can see, while intangibles are things we perceive or feel. Let’s take a look at some of the best brand marketing examples.
1) Coca Cola
Coca Cola’s brand diamond shows you the tangible and intangible aspects of its branding.
Looking at Coca Cola’s brand diamond, we can clearly see how they try to position their product as something that evokes happiness. Or in the words of Marie Kondo, “sparks joy” 🤩
Open happiness was a global branding campaign that started in the early 2000s. The message behind is that is simple. Every time you opened a bottle of Coca Cola, you open a bottle of happiness and are sharing that with the world.
If the term “open happiness” rings a bell, it means that they’ve been immensely successful in their branding campaign.
2) Dollar Shave Club
Dollar Shave Club’s brand marketing efforts revolved about positioning it as a brand that focuses on convenience and affordability.
Dollar Shave Club’s branding efforts established their brand as one that focuses on convenience and affordability. These, are its intangible branding elements. It’s the everyday grooming kit for the average bloke.
On the other hand, the tangible branding elements consist more of simplistic and dull aesthetics to suit the simple and everyday brand image they were trying to go for.
3) Tesla
Tesla’s mission statement is clear as day.
If there’s one brand that’s great at delivering its promises (or at least show that they’re trying their best), it’s Tesla.
Their mission statement is aligned with everything that they do. They’re building electric cars to move away from finite fossil fuel. Let’s not forget Elon Musk’s other endeavour, SpaceX. They’re piloting space travel in order to prolong the existence of the human race.
Branding efforts don’t get more consistent than that.
4) Harley Davidson
Harley Davidson’s brand messaging appeals to the free-spirited, rebellious, and masculine man.
If there’s one thing Harley Davidson’s brand marketing strategy does really well, it’s the way it appeals to it’s target audience.
Visual elements like its slogans and product designs are dead giveaways when it comes to guessing who they’re targeting - the rebellious and freedom-loving masculine man.
Rounding things up
And there you have it!
While branding and brand marketing often get mixed up, they aren’t exactly the same thing. Brand marketing is a means to an end. To help businesses achieve their branding goal of establishing a particular image in the minds of their target audience.
I hope you’ve taken away something from this piece. Check out more articles from the Markon blog or download our free marketing magazine today!
