“Hang on a minute,” you say, “branding is part of marketing, so how can it possibly come before it?” Spot on! Technically, the question doesn’t make sense, but we wanted to grab your attention, point out a common marketing oversight and, in doing so, help you maximise the effectiveness of your marketing.

How do we differentiate marketing and branding?

Marketing is the activities involved in promoting or selling goods or services, and so branding is simply a bigger-picture marketing strategy.

As well as having immediate influence over buying decisions, branding maximises long-term return on investment by creating higher business or product value.

How? By generating what the industry refers to as brand value – a brand that has real financial worth – which is why branding is crucial to brand and business success.

Why do businesses focus on short-term marketing?

Unfortunately, many businesses only take the short-term approach of focusing on immediate sales results through marketing. Usually, they just don’t know there is an alternative because no one has told them, so they miss the opportunity to create significantly higher brand equity over the long term, as well as gaining the short-term results they need though branding.

Sales spikes don’t equate to business growth or health, and they are rarely sustainable, particularly for SMEs.

And that’s exactly why we recommend that branding is considered before investing in other marketing or promoting activities.

The interesting thing is that it doesn’t have to cost more to create significantly higher business value or improved longer-term sales. It does, however, take branding knowhow.

Talk to our brand team

If you’re looking for a bigger-picture marketing strategy, get in contact with us today. Our brand team can help you create a brand strategy that will increase your brand and business’ equity.

Kate Wright

Brand Strategist & Account Manager