“Give them quality. That’s the best kind of advertising.”
-Milton Hershey, Founder of Hershey Chocolate Company
The word “branding” has been used, abused, and diluted. Its meaning and substance have been eroded into an amorphous, catch-all. Like the words “actually,” “authentic,” or “curated,” “branding” often seems to be nothing more than an ingredient in a word salad, tossed in by those who are working too hard to sound like they are all-knowing.
“Branding” is currently used to describe everything from logo design and color choices to the mission, vision, and value promise that a company makes to its customers. Most notoriously, though, “branding” is being used as a synonym for “marketing.” It’s not. Marketing and branding are different disciplines that often work together.
Using the most straightforward definition possible:
Marketing is transactional. Branding is relational.
One is all about selling. The other is about creating a bond and building loyalty.
At The M Network, we subscribe to the philosophy that says good branding is the foundation of more effective, more efficient marketing. PERIOD.
We sat down with The M Network’s Thom Mozloom to expand on this idea. Thom is a tireless preacher of building a solid emotional connection with an audience as a lifeline for advertising.
What is the greatest challenge you face in helping friends of The M Network discern the difference between marketing and branding?
“Understanding the difference between marketing and branding is the easy part. However, convincing organizations to spend money on a long-term strategy with the promise of a future ROI (Return On Investment) as opposed to a right now approach with a right now ROI is the tricky part!
The way we do this is by demonstrating that building a solid brand now will result in less TIME, EFFORT, and MONEY needed to persuade audiences to a CTA (Call To Action) in the future.”
Branding and Marketing are distinct yet work together in many regards. So what are the similarities, if any?
“Marketing and branding are complementary communication strategies both of whose goals are to attract target audiences to a product, service, organization, or person.
Marketing is a right now strategy that focuses on the transaction. Branding is a long-term strategy that focuses on building and maintaining relationships.”
How does The M Network strike a balance between introducing a brand to market and building loyalty?
“Marketing without branding is significantly more difficult. But, on the other hand, branding without marketing is generally pointless!
As a firm that follows a “brand-first” philosophy, we believe that organizations should constantly build and nurture their relationship with their target audiences. This way, when it comes time to ask them to do something, it is a significantly easier ask.”
Is it more valuable to have a well-connected brand with a dependable following or a highly marketed brand throughout a crisis?
“Organizations with a robust and loyal following are in a significantly better position to weather a crisis than organizations that have a lot of customers but no relationship with them.
In times of crisis, the emotionally connected base is more likely to support and forgive you. In contrast, those with whom you only have a transactional relationship generally either move on or pile on.”
At our core, our mission is to help corporations and organizations alike to identify and understand their target audiences, generate messages that will help form an emotional connection with them, and then deliver those messages through the most effective channels available. In other words, we can do anything; we choose to do good.
