Some people assume that “brand strategy” and “marketing strategy” are one and the same thing. Though there are a few similarities and overlaps, the two are very distinct tools in an organization’s setup.

An organization has 3 layers of strategy which guide the form and structure of how it conducts its business: Business Strategy, Brand Strategy and Marketing Strategy.

The Business Strategy of an organization delineates its vision, mission and long-term objectives. It is an overview of the organization’s strengths and weaknesses, the opportunities that it has in its market, and the threats it can face to achieve its objectives This is a high-level document that does not change over time.

We will examine “Brand Strategy” and “Marketing Strategy” in more details.

How do you define Branding Strategy?

A brand is a combination of tangible and intangible elements that taken together describe the organization’s characteristics and values, the attributes that its products stand for and why the customer should buy that brand.

Brands are the expression of the business strategy of the organization. A brand shapes and nurtures a consumer’s perception of the organization, its products and its commitment and sincerity in the market.

The brand strategy is a strategic document that outlines the brand’s unique properties, characteristics and values. It consists of many parts, one of which is the marketing strategy.

A properly drafted brand strategy is very crucial for an organization’s business. It helps support the organization’s long-term growth in several ways:

1. It defines the organization’s market position.
2. It clearly explains the value the organization can provide to existing and new customers.
3. It helps the different departments of an organization (sales, marketing, production) to align their functioning and activities properly.
4. It provides clear guidelines for business decisions, budget planning and resource management.
5. It can indicate new growth opportunities for the organization.

Components of Branding Strategies

A brand strategy highlights the unique characteristics and values of a brand. A functional brand strategy has various elements:

1. Brand positioning: This is the relevant, sustainable and unique place that the brand holds in the market and in the consumers’ minds.
2. Brand story: This is the narrative that summarizes the facts, figures and emotions of the brand.
3. Brand values: Also known as brand equity, the brand values are the proposition, personality and purpose of the brand. In short, the who, what and why of the brand.
4. Brand tone of voice: It’s about the content and the way the brand expresses itself to its consumers.
5. Brand architecture: This is required when an organization has multiple brands, and each must be linked to other brands and to the overall organization strategy.

Steps to building a Branding Strategy

1. Match the brand with the organization’s business model.
2. Ensure consistency in messaging.
3. Build an emotional connect with the customer.
4. Be agile to respond to changes in market situations or customer likes and dislikes.
5. Reward loyalty (existing customers).
6. Build new customers all the time.
7. Be alert for competitor activity that can impact your brand in the market.
8. Make sure that your brand strategy is measurable.

Brand Strategy in a graphic:

Image source: http://startupchucktown.com/brand-strategic-marketing

What is a Marketing Strategy?

The marketing strategy of an organization is a function of the organization’s brand strategy. The marketing strategy outlines the methods and tools to be used to communicate the brand’s key messages and other types of communication to its customers.

A marketing strategy defines how the organization should promote the brand and identifies specific goals and resources to achieve the goals. The marketing strategy involves identifying the right target audiences and taking decisions on the “4 Ps” – product, price, promotion and place.

Marketing is a tactical, sales-focused activity and has a defined timeline within which it must be executed. The marketing strategy always has an “actionable outcome” – to either buy the brand or take a step towards buying the brand.

The marketing strategy is designed to put the right product in the right place at the right time in the right customer’s hands.

The ideal marketing strategy contains the following elements:

1. The company’s value proposition
2. Key brand messages
3. Customer demographic data
4. Goals and objectives to be achieved
5. Competitor analysis
6. Consumer awareness
7. Relevant content
8. Focused messaging
9. Measurement

Marketing Strategy cycle in a graphic:

Image source: http://www.edu-active.com/articles/2013/apr/08/developing-marketing-strategy.html

The key difference between Brand Strategy and Marketing Strategy

The most important difference between brand and marketing strategy is the time span of each commitment. A brand strategy is a long-term commitment to the customer, and it should be consistent across all touchpoints.

A marketing strategy is short-term, brand-focused and has a clearly defined timeline. It can be flexible enough to respond to various internal and external factors that can influence the outcome in terms of sales or other tangible KRAs.

Is Brand Strategy part of marketing?

In fact, it is the other way around, as we have seen above. The brand strategy provides the template or the path for the marketing strategy. A branding strategy is designed to influence customer perceptions around your brand and is a mix of physical and emotional cues.

A brand strategy must build relationships that the marketing strategy can use to achieve sales or awareness of the brand. By building recognition, loyalty and a positive customer sentiment, a branding strategy helps the marketing teams to design a plan that will use this connection to drive awareness and eventually sales.

What comes first: Branding or Marketing?

Branding is at the core of an organization’s strategy. It reflects what the organization stands for and is the expression of an internal decision-making process that determines what the organization wants to accomplish.

Branding is about the product or services that your organization offers to customers and is designed to drive the business over a long period of time.

Marketing pushes the brand into the public domain through communication. It is a short-term activity plan that translates the brand values into actionable tactics and promotions.

Branding builds connections and marketing converts those connections into viable customers.

It is, therefore, clear that branding comes before marketing.

Branding vs Marketing examples

Let us look at a few examples of branding and marketing initiatives to better understand the difference between these two concepts.

Branding examples

There are three distinct types of branding:

1. Company brand: Disney, McDonald’s or Nike
2. Product brand: EuroDisney, Big Mac or Air Jordans
3. Personal brand: Walt Disney, Elon Musk or Michael Jordan

Marketing examples

Marketing campaigns provide good examples of how marketing takes forward a brand strategy

1. The “Just Do It” campaign from Nike
2. The “Share a Coke” campaign from Coca Cola
3. The “We Try Harder” campaign from Avis Car Rentals

Which strategy is effective for startups?

It is not a question of “which strategy” is better for a startup. Any organization, whether it is a startup or an established entity, needs both a branding strategy and a marketing strategy.

A branding strategy will help the startup establish its individual identity in the marketplace. Putting in place a clear brand strategy will help the startup be recognized as a separate entity, with which its customers can start building connections. The brand strategy also informs potential customers about how the startup will relate to them.

A startup requires a marketing strategy to get insights into its target audience, their platforms of engagement with brands in the segment and competition actions in the category. The marketing strategy will not only build the brand but will also engage and convert customers and drive a profitable sales channel.

It is important to note that startups do not need to spend a lot of money on marketing to get noticed in the market. A smart startup should explore low-cost and high-impact marketing tactics that can help it reach its targets with a minimum spend. The growth of digital and online marketing channels has provided a massive opportunity for startups to implement marketing campaigns at a very low cost.

Some of the marketing tactics that a startup can implement include:

1. Word-of-mouth marketing
2. Content marketing
3. Email marketing
4. Social media marketing
5. Digital media marketing
6. Influencer marketing
7. SEO marketing

Conclusion

An organization needs to integrate the 3 core strategies of its operations to create effective synergies: 

Business Strategy → Brand Strategy → Marketing Strategy 

A brand can be used to align the organization around its high-level strategies so that the brand positioning and strategy can be directly linked to the business strategy.

Brand strategy must be developed at a senior level within the organization, because a good brand strategy needs people who understand the business, the business model to be used and the competitive strategy to be followed, and can take appropriate decisions to drive the business. 

The marketing strategy is derived from the business and brand strategies. A good marketing strategy guides the company and its marketing team to make the right marketing decisions and helps align the company’s efforts and campaigns with its overall brand goals.

Finally, a well-defined brand and marketing strategy should answer the following questions:

1. Who are you as a brand?
2. What do you want to bring to the market?
3. What are your core values?
4. How are you going to communicate all these points to your target customers?