Before discussing Marketing vs Brand Management, let’s learn that Marketing and Brand Management often go hand in hand, and therefore, many people may not realize that they are two distinctly different fields of work. While the majority of the purposes of both departments are the same, their operational methods differ.
The primary job of any company is to increase its sales of products and services, stay afloat during all seasons, and promote and grow its business. Marketing and Brand Management are the primary tools to achieve those targets. But how do they achieve that? How do Marketing and Brand Management function closely yet distinctly from each other? To answer all these questions, let’s delve deep into this article. But discussing Marketing vs Brand Management in detail, let us learn what Marketing and Brand Management are.
What is Brand Management?
Brand Management is the process by which a Brand ensures that its image in the market and people’s perception of it remain upheld with the utmost quality. It is part of a marketing strategy that is dedicated to shaping and enhancing people’s notion of their brand, product, and services. When a brand, after its launch and success, finds its customer base, it tends to work towards keeping it at any cost.
They study consumer behaviour, customer buying patterns, their likes and dislikes, and other aspects before coming up with a strategy to market themselves. A large part of their marketing strategy is Brand Management – How they were going to identify themselves to the worldwide market from then on.
Brand Management begins with Brand Identification. Once any company or brand becomes successful, it becomes incumbent upon itself to not only maintain its positive image but also build on it. It requires a lot of effort, brainstorming, market studying, self-understanding, knowledge about one’s own company, etc., to come up with a logo, font, and image that serves as a brand’s long-term image.
Once their products and services both align perfectly with what their brand image stands for, they leave an indelible mark on consumers’ minds. Take the Apple logo with a bite taken out of it. Anybody around the world will immediately identify the logo and associate it with quality products and services when it comes to gadgets and technology. You could also consider the Nike Swoosh logo that denotes a premium brand of sportswear.
Once the brand image is built, even more effort goes into maintaining it. Each brand has to ensure they don’t fall behind in offering customers the same good quality products and services, something the brand has spent years building its image upon.
A small goof-up or mishap can lead to a permanent or long-lasting tarnishing of their image. Take Samsung, for example, a South Korean brand that prides itself on being one of the market leaders in premium electronic gadgets and equipment. However, some years ago, when the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 kept exploding en masse, after being rolled out into the market and into customers’ hands and pockets, that was a mess very hard for Samsung to scrape off.
Brand Management is, therefore, creating a unique image of the brand, developing a brand strategy, implementing it, maintaining its consistency, monitoring the brand perception, all the while building customer loyalty and then ensuring that it remains.
What is Marketing?
Marketing is the branch or department in a company that is primarily responsible for driving the sales of the company and ensuring its growth in the market. Marketing is a broad umbrella term that involves every small department, strategies, and concepts that help in achieving the common target – driving the sales of the company.
It is a multivariate, multifaceted process that employs a few steps to ensure that the customer is finding value in the products and services, and the company is gaining value in it. It involves understanding customer needs, developing products and services to meet those needs, and then communicating and delivering those products or services to the target market in a way that creates value for both customers and the company.
Marketing also involves building relationships with customers, attracting new ones, and retaining existing ones. It helps the company grow in this process. Of the several departments under Marketing, Brand Management is also part of it. When a company takes charge of increasing its sales and growing its brand, its image needs to be intact.
Any falter in that will cost the company dearly (eg. – Samsung as mentioned above). Therefore, Brand Image, Brand Identity, and Brand Management play pivotal roles in marketing a product.
Marketing begins with understanding customer needs and simply providing them with what they want. There should be no negotiations with that aspect if a company wants to grow and stay in the market. Of course, this needs to be done keeping the brand image and brand identity in mind, but understanding the customer’s needs has to be the primary aspect of Marketing. Developing the products, setting the price, distributing them, promotion, communication, and value adding, all play important roles in the marketing department.
What is the Difference Between Branding vs Marketing?
Branding and Marketing, while related, focus on different aspects of the company’s interaction with the audience. Their modes of communicating with the customers are different, and the way they interact with the audience is also different. Here’s looking at the major differences between Marketing and Branding or Marketing vs Brand Management:
- Branding is geared mainly towards creating and maintaining the brand identity of the company, whereas Marketing employs strategies and campaigns to promote the brand.
- Branding ensures that the positive identity, values, and perception of the brand that it has generated over the years remain the same. Marketing focuses more on immediate sales and engagement of the brand.
- The goal of Branding is to establish and nurture a strong, consistent brand image that helps build customer loyalty and satisfaction. Marketing is solely oriented toward driving sales and building customer awareness through various marketing channels. It also deals with brand awareness.
- Branding employs tactics such as developing brand strategies, crafting messaging, maintaining the brand’s visual identity, and ensuring consistency across all products and services of the brand’s experiences. Marketing tactics include everything from advertising to social media to email campaigns, to content marketing, public relations, and other promotional activities.
- Brand Management is more of a long-term vision, especially since it has to maintain that image for a long time. Marketing is much more tactical and immediate.
- Brand Management establishes the foundation of the brand, whereas Marketing drives the brand forward with awareness and sales.
- Brand Marketing focuses on ‘Pull’ (Building a Following), whereas Marketing focuses on ‘Push’ (Promoting products and services).
How to Become a Marketing & Brand Manager?
To become a Marketing and Brand Manager, you will need a relevant degree in that field of study. Alongside, garnering enough skills and knowledge from that degree and education is very important. Practical experience, industry experience, internships, seminars, workshops, etc., all go a long way in developing Marketing and Brand Management skills.
For education, you can start by passing Class 12 with a minimum of 50% or more marks across academics. After that, you can apply for a graduation course in Marketing, Business Administration, or a relevant field. A BBA in Marketing is the best example.
After you graduate from BBA or any other Bachelor’s degree, you can then pursue an MBA in Marketing from any reputed business school. As for Brand Management, you can follow the same path, but for Brand Management courses.
For Marketing, you can build proficiency in modern-day important areas such as Digital Marketing, Data Analysis, as well as develop age-old skills such as Communication, Leadership, and Networking. Leadership and Communication skills are as important to be a Brand Manager, but this would also require expertise in Analytical Skills.
Try to get as many professional certifications as possible, either during the degree or after it, and then use them to build your portfolio to secure a decent corporate job offer.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is the Role of a Brand Manager?
The role of a Brand Manager is to create and maintain a positive brand image, one that the brand itself wants to communicate via, and establish relations with the customers. It upholds the positive identity, values, and perception of the brand in customers’ minds. To achieve that, they employ several tactics such as brand strategies, crafting messages, and visual identity.
2. What is the Role of a Marketing Manager?
The role of a Marketing manager is to ensure that the sales of the product and services are flowing smoothly at any cost. They employ strategies and campaigns to protect the brand and constantly spread awareness among the customers.
