Last week, I came across this brilliant analogy explaining the difference between marketing and branding.
Basically, marketing is like asking someone out on a date. Branding is the reason why they say “yes.”
Marketing is an integral part of any business, and in a way, its end goal is to create a strong and enduring brand that communicates the right idea about who you are to your target customers.
Done right, branding establishes the value that your company offers from the get-go, whether it’s an aspirational lifestyle or a tried and tested part of everyday life (and everything in between).
So, how do you ensure that your brand leaves the right impression on your customers? Well, there are several roads that lead to that castle, so to speak.
In the meantime, we can look to some of the world’s best branding experts for guidance. Here’s what a handful of them have to say on the matter:
1. “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” ~Seth Godin, marketing and leadership expert
2. “A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn a reputation by trying to do hard things well.” ~Jeff Bezos, Founder and Executive Chair of Amazon
3. “A brand is a voice and a product is a souvenir.” ~Lisa Gansky, American entrepreneur and author
4. “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”~Warren Buffett, American investor and philanthropist
5. “A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.” ~Scott Cook, Co-Founder of software company Intuit
6. “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do” ~Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company
7. “Branding demands commitment; commitment to continual reinvention; striking chords with people to stir their emotions; and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful.” ~Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group
8. “It’s important to build a personal brand because it’s the only thing you’re going to have. Your reputation online and in the new business world is pretty much the game, so you’ve got to be a good person. You can’t hide anything, and more importantly, you’ve got to be out there at some level.” ~Gary Vaynerchuk, entrepreneur and branding expert
9. “Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time.” ~Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX
10. “Brands are built from within … [they] have very little to do with promises made through advertising. They’re all about promises met by employees.” ~Ian P Buckingham, leadership coach and author of Brand Champions
11. “Brands should think of themselves not as storytellers but storybuilders. We plant seeds of content and let our community build on it.” ~Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment
Looking for the right team to help you tell your story through effective branding in the digital world? You’ve come to the right place!
Remote Staff has been assisting AU entrepreneurs and SME’s like you find and hire top Filipino remote talent since 2007. Whether you need a social media marketer, a copywriter, a graphic designer, or an entire digital marketing team to help bring your unique brand into fruition, we’ve got you covered.
Call us today or schedule a call back and let’s get started.
Serena has been working remotely and writing content for the better part of the last decade. To date, she's written for Pepper.ph and Mabuhay Magazine, among others, and has churned out more than a thousand articles on everything from The Basics of Stock Market Investing to How to Make Milk Tea-Flavored Taho at home. Hermits, aspiring hermits, and non-hermits with interesting project propositions may email her at serena.estrella10@gmail.com.
