Branding is not Advertising. There’s a difference between the two…

Tuesday: Return Driven Strategy FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON: Branding and Advertising. Oftentimes, businesses confuse these terms together. However, Professor Joel Litman and Dr. Mark L. Frigo said in the book, “Driven” that these two are NOT the same. Keep reading to know why advertising is a TOOL to brand, but shouldn’t be confused with the branding process itself. CEO, MBO Partners Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

Branding is not Advertising. There’s a difference between the two… Al and Laura Ries, authors of the book, “The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding,” said that many firms are over-dependent on advertising when they seek to build a brand. Sure, advertising is a tool to keep one’s brand healthy but truth be told, great brands are built not through advertising but through public relations. What the Ries father-and-daughter tandem stated in their book is consistent with my friend and colleague, Professor Joel Litman and Dr. Mark L. Frigo’s Return Driven Strategy. Let’s take a look at one company as an example for this topic… In the early 2000s, when recruiting company Monster.com was ramping up its operations, it purchased the most expensive advertising spots during the Super Bowl. Because of that, the company received high levels of press by being the number one spender. Monster’s public relations even far outweighed its Super Bowl ad spots! Here, we can see that the value of the company’s spending was in the PR more than in the ads. See? There is no doubt that advertising helps create brand awareness and recognition. However, when you aren’t sure about the purpose and use of advertising, you might confuse this with the real goal of branding, which is to convince your customers that their needs can be fulfilled by your offerings. Brand awareness or recognition is nothing if consumers don’t take your call-to-action or buy from you. Without sales, your branding efforts cannot be considered worthwhile. So, how can you create successful branding? Branding encompasses anything that impacts your offering and the needs in the minds of your customers. Advertising is one way of doing this, but there are still other forms of communications to brand, such as: Public relations Face-to-face sales meetings or door-to-door Coupons and promotions Point-of-sale communications Point of usage communications Billing and invoicing The value of a brand cannot be separated from the cash flows of the offering with which it is associated. In fact, even if a firm is to acquire the licensing of a particular name, without an offering to attach the name to and a need that the offering fulfills, the brand is still worthless. Remember: Branding for brand’s sake, without consideration for the other tenets in the Return Driven Strategy, is just a waste of time, energy, and resources. On the other hand, when you brand correctly, you help your customers facilitate an efficient decision-making process, which society as a whole can benefit from. Hope you found this week’s insights interesting and helpful. Follow us on LinkedIn.     Stay tuned for next Tuesday’s Return Driven Strategy! Learn more about the importance of partnering and how building good connections is essential for a successful career on next week’s Return Driven Strategy!