How Branding and Marketing Work Together for Growth

Branding is building who your company is, marketing is using who your company is to talk to consumers. But how do these two vital factors complement each other to create growth and success?

If you’re not quite sure how to harmonize your branding and marketing efforts, this guide will help you understand the differences, the relationship between the two — as well as why a cohesive approach is key to the overall success of your business.

What Brand and Marketing Actually Entails

Before we get into how these components work together, let’s focus in on their separate definitions.

What Is Branding?

Branding allows your business to define itself. It is the soul of your business, including the values, the voice, the look (logo, colors, etc.), everything that makes you different than your competition.

Your brand is how you communicate your purpose, personality and promise to your ideal audience. For instance, Nike’s branding is all about motivation and motivation is expressed through their infamous slogan “Just Do It” and their sleek and bold visuals.

What Is the Marketing Mix?

The marketing mix is a framework that recommends a set of tactics for promoting your products or services effectively. It usually consists of the 4Ps:

Product (s) : Goods or services offered.

Price: The amount or money for which something is bought or sold.

Location: The channels in which they are available

Promotion: The promotional materials to reach customers

Contemporary approaches sometimes expand this to 7 Ps, to include People, Process, and Physical Evidence, and are often applied in the case of services marketing Other classifications centres around (Product, Price, Place and Promotion) which is an adaptation of Jerome McCarthy”s concept of the Four Ps and can easily be described as a Marketing Mix.

And marketing powers awareness, engagement and sells within your audience. It’s living and dynamic and changes with trends, technology and customer demand.

The Relationship Between Branding and the Marketing Mix

Now that we have a clear understanding to what branding and marketing are, it’s time to decipher how they become more powerful together when aligned.

Branding Drives Marketing Efficiency

To market without branding is to talk without a voice. The identity of your brand guides all elements of your marketing mix:

Your brand’s quality and intention is what the Product mirrors.

The Price is congruent with the value the brand offers.

Your Place is about easy and responsive, and in harmony with your brand voice.

Your brand’s tone, colors and messaging are applied to the promotional materials for cohesive customer experience.

For instance, Apple’s cool and premium “minimalist” branding funnels directly into its marketing. From the branding of its products to the marketing campaigns around them, it is the fact that Apple is Apple that enables the company to stand out globally and create a loyal customer following.

Marketing Breathes Life Into Your Brand

If branding is meant to establish your identity, marketing is designed to bring it across to your audience. Marketing says who your brand is and what your product offers. Consider how:

Each post on social media is an extension of your brand’s voice.

Both online and offline advertising serve to strengthen your visual identity.

Email campaigns demonstrate to your brand’s commitment to its promise.

Indulging us Another example is Coke… whose brand rides in happiness, togetherness and whose marketing frequently signals us to maintain this value through their catchy digital campaigns, their worldwide scaled reach, and their emotional content such as their age-old holiday ads.

The Cycle of Impact

When branding and marketing are married together, they foster a feedback loop of impact:

A brand is who you are.

It is marketing that communicates that identity to your audience.

Market responses guide your brand’s future.

The enhanced brand builds, that kind of more consistent and focused marketing over time.

Businesses that successfully integrate branding and marketing will generally have the best results in terms of audience and customers and ultimately revenue.

Creating an Integrated Brand-Marketing Ecosystem

There are a few ways to incorporate branding and marketing in a non-feasting sort of lifestyle.

Begin With A Strong Brand Strategy

You need to decide what your brand is before you create any marketing campaign. Answer fundamental questions such as:

Who is my target audience?

What is the problem that my company is solving?

What is important to my business?

How do I look, sound and say it?

Maintain a Unified Visual Image and Message

Your brand logo, colors, typography and tagline should be uniform across all marketing activities. So should your voice — be it professional, conversational or funny — across all materials.

Understand You Customers To Shape Your Brand And Marketing

You can research your target audience’s likes/dislikes and values, and align your branding to suit their expectations. Your marketing should speak to your customer’s pain points, but remain consistent with your brand’s promise.

Leverage Marketing Mix to Magnify Brand Values

Use marketing 4Ps (or 7Ps) to improve your brand image:

Make the promise of your brand true with your product.

Price: Use to indicate perceived brand value (premium, affordable, etc.).

Select Place so you can make known to everyone how far and wide you can find your brand.

Develop advertisements which reflect the brand personality.

Measure and Adapt

Measure campaign results such as web traffic, social shares, sales to determine how accurately your marketing communicates and conveys your brand. Adapt one of the three-tagline components or campaign tactic strategies so they align with measurable success.

The Importance of Branding and Marketing Working Together

There are many benefits companies get by integrating the branding and marketing symbiotically:

Loyal Customers: Allowing customers to trust and revisit.

Better ROI: Brand-consistent targeted marketing results in more sales.

Market Differentiation: A distinct identity helps you stand out in crowded marketplaces.

Scalable: Strong branding makes marketing operations easier as your business grows and provides a firm underpinning for future growth.

Take the Next Step Today

Once you grasp an understanding of how branding and marketing converge, you will have a new perspective on how to power your business in the future! When they come together in a compelling way, they not only generate sales, but also forge an emotional bond with you and the people you’re speaking with.

Interested in polishing your brand or taking your marketing one step further? Browse our resources or reach out to our experts to create a focused, scalable strategy for your organization.