what's the difference between "Branding" and "Marketing"

There are several ways to answer this question. Thinking about the "Four Ps" of marketing (Product, Price, Place and Promotion), my general answer is that branding belongs largely within the Promotion bucket, though its relative strength can very much influence price. All four buckets are collectively known as marketing. In other words, branding is one of the many important components of marketing.


1.Branding is what you stand for.
2.Marketing is how you entice consumers to purchase.

While a strong "brand" equity can entice consumers, marketing is typically strategic and tactical in nature, where branding is truly about strategic positioning in the hearts and minds. Its the DNA of the product.

1. Branding is what you stand for.
2. Marketing is how you entice consumers to purchase.

While a strong "brand" equity can entice consumers, marketing is typically strategic and tactical in nature, where branding is truly about strategic positioning in the hearts and minds. Its the DNA of the product.

1. Marketing is the umbrella under which branding takes place, especially if intentional branding, re-branding is part of the strategy. Branding is almost always aspirational - it's what you want your brand to be known for and associated with, which can be hard values like saving money, or soft values like gives you peace of mind. If branding is central to the strategy, major resources may be allocated. If not, the channel to market or other forces may be allowed to brand the product, or allow another brand to confer status on the brand. Commodities have brands, but the master or corporate brand provides the branding.

2. Marketing focuses on communicating the key message with its USP (Unique Selling Proposition). It’s got to be quick for better efficiency and efficacy. It could be about any or all 4P’s (product, place, pricing, promotion).

1. Brand is what a company stands for or aspires to be in the minds of its stakeholders. Branding communicates the vision of the management and in a way describes the company’s characteristics.

2. Branding being multifaceted, focuses on multitude of messages. It is a progressive and continual process. Over a period of time, with consistent brand communications, the customer comes to expect that the brand will continue to display the same characteristics/ brand values at all times and with it's all associations.

So far you've got a response that says branding is just a part of marketing, marketing is just a part of branding, branding is about your product, branding is about how you run your entire company. It seems this term is creating more confusion than clarity.

Marketing is presentation. Branding is influencing!

I think the word "branding" has been misused and over-extended to the point that its originally intended meaning is obscured. It would be easier to avoid the word entirely and talk about how the era of "brand thinking" has impacted marketing and advertising.

The biggest lesson for marketers and brand managers is simply to step back from media and tactics and minutiae and look at the big picture again. As Rathan responded above, not "What should we say about ourselves, and how?" but "How are we different? What do we stand for? Why should anyone care?" Answering these questions before examining something like the 4 Ps will ensure consistency in messaging, but also---as Coreen states---in actions, which is increasingly where brands are winning or losing.

Personally, I'd like to get past thinking of "branding" as some hot new idea that can sell a lot of books and accept it as more of a renewed focus on something that we intuitively knew mattered all along. Practically speaking, getting answers to those big questions listed above and expressing the resulting ideas employs the same old tactics we've always used, like market research, ethnography, advertising, package design, etc.