How is Branding different from Advertising?

Many folks have different answers to this and this is not to say they’re wrong but just to provide my POV.

First of all, let’s set terms:

Brand – An idea of what company is defined by everything a company does, how it interacts with the world and how the world perceives it.

Branding – Usually refers to the application of the brand position and attributes to experiences, marketing, products, etc.

Brand Position – Usually comprised of at least the Brand Promise, Brand Attributes, and Brand Story:

• Brand Promise – What we the consumer to think when they think about our company. This is not literal, more of an idea. At Netflix, while we were content aggregators, ours was “movie enjoyment made easy.” It is likely that no customer would ever say those words about Netflix. Rather, this is what we want them to think about us.
• Brand Attributes – Think tone and voice. Something like – “quirky – fun but in an intelligent, engaging way.” They influence everything from copywriting to color choices. There should be more than three as you are creating a tonal palate. And all have to be able to support the brand promise.
• Brand Story – A brief account of how/why the company was founded that is engaging and acts as a shortcut to the brand promise.

The way a company shapes its brand is by having that brand position in place. Companies can’t control everything but if they have a solid brand position, they not only generate messaging, experiences, etc. that are on-brand from the get-go, but they are also able to quickly respond to outside forces (competition, industry, etc.) that are working to shape the brand for them.

I’ve seems some folks include Vision and Mission in Brand terminology. I don’t agree as I see those as business terms:

• Vision – A statement about what the world looks like if we are successful.
• Mission – What we are doing to make that Vision a reality

The key to creating the Brand Promise is to do consumer research and learn from your customer and potential customers what role you are playing in their lives. Not just functionally but somewhat emotionally. Remember the Netflix Brand Promise of “movie enjoyment made easy”? Notice how it doesn’t mention the functional (renting) but the benefit (movie enjoyment)? That was deliberate.

Once we had that we could figure out all the ways to support that:

• Marketing – messaging was created around that concept all the ways we pay it off
• Product – constant improvements to the recommendation algorithms
• Operations – constantly expanding the in-house distribution network so most customers could get a DVD in about one business day via the USPS.
• Customer Service – move from “call-to-cancel” to two clicks on the website

And so on. All of it served “movie enjoyment made easy.” And all of it went into shaping the brand.

Branding is a way to establish an idea, increase the integrity and to create a perception around a person or a product. Now, there are a lot of methods to create a brand presence – content, social media marketing SEO etc.

Advertising’s role in branding is enlarging the reach and communicating the message to a larger audience. Advertising is more like a channel for promotion while branding happens to be the reason for promotion.

Branding distinguishes a product from another. It is what the customers want. It represents a product or service which cannot be replaced. It delivers practicality and social status. Branding subsumes the personality of a business. It is the culture or message you deliver to your customers through the product or service.

Advertising on the other hand, promotes what the customers need. It promotes a product or a service which can easily be replaced or improved over time – commonly due to price. Advertising promises specific functionality and benefits related to the product.

While advertising or marketing is primarily used to popularize a brand or a product or a service, branding happens to be more ethereal. Branding remains even after a certain advertising or marketing campaign has ended. It is something that sticks with the customer after he/she has purchased or has been involved with that particular brand. It builds lifelong relations with customers as well as companies, thereby building brand loyalty.