Branding, marketing and corporate identity

Branding is a word that is often used in today's practice, but it is also often confused. Many understand it as a synonym for marketing or, conversely, corporate identity. Although both have something in common, there are also clear differences.

 

Branding vs. marketing

While marketing tries to sell, the task of branding is to create a preference for your brand in the minds of customers over the competition. Ideally, customers are willing to pay more for your brand's product than for a similar competitor's. An excellent example is Apple, which many people often buy just because of the brand. Of course, we don't want to devalue its qualities, but the company has managed to create a real lovebrand here, where people don't even look up to a competing product. They don't go buy a mobile phone or a laptop. They are going to buy an iPhone or a MacBook.

 

As we mentioned in the first article, the peak of branding is when a brand becomes synonymous with an entire industry. Many people do not buy a building set, but Lego. They do not drink energy drinks, but RedBull, and so on.

 

Branding vs. corporate identity

Although they are related and the elements of corporate identity also define the brand in the eyes of the public, the difference lies in their meaning. Branding is the overall value of the brand in the eyes of the customer. How they perceive it, what emotions and values ​​they associate with it. However, corporate identity is only the individual elements that represent the company or brand externally. For example, its logo, colors, presented values, and so on.

In layman's terms, you could say that corporate identity is the individual elements that make up a brand, and branding is the value they give it and how people perceive it.