The Relationship between Branding and Marketing

A blog banner with text overlay that says the relationship between branding and marketing. A conversation between Vaishali Shah and Melanie Johnson

On Thursday 1st May 2025, I was joined by Vaishali Shah from Creative ID for a LinkedIn live discussion on the Relationship between Branding and Marketing.

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Vaishali Shah is the founder of Creative ID, a branding and marketing consultancy. She helps businesses connect the dots between their branding and marketing to get noticed and create long-lasting relationships with their customers. Vasihali is based in London and Dubai and is celebrating 25 years in her business.

Melanie Johnson: is the founder of Sussex Social. She helps businesses develop and implement strategies for their social media and email marketing, which helps them market their businesses more successfully with the time, money, and resources they have available.

 

What is the difference between Branding and Marketing?

There are many myths and misconceptions about branding and marketing, and how the two work together. This also intersects with the hot topic of personal and employee branding, which is becoming increasingly important in modern marketing.

So, what do branding and marketing mean, and what is the key difference? Vaishali defines the difference between branding and marketing as: ‘branding shows up, marketing shows off’.

What we mean by this is that branding is how you appear in the world. It encompasses:

It’s the emotions you want to convey and the promises you make and keep.

On the other hand, your marketing is the spotlight. It’s how you amplify what you stand for. It’s where you get to:

This can be through marketing campaigns, social media, emails, hosting events, or PR – it’ll likely be a mixture of some of these. That’s the difference.

Personal branding will also be incorporated into the mix

In addition to your business brand, there is your personal or employee brand. This is what people say about you when you are not in the room.

It’s all about the person involved and your employees; you need to represent your brand authentically and be proud of it.

Marketing used to be very much one way, but now we must ensure we factor in time for strategic engagement with other businesses, customers and collaborators into our marketing plans.

The rise of AI and increased use of social media means we expect our marketing and branding to be a lot more human-centric.  What your customers and your employees or the people within your business say about you is really powerful, and this is where branding and marketing intersect.

How do branding and marketing work together?

The two have some commonalities, and they need to work together. A bit like shoes and shoelaces. Without branding, there is no clear marketing message or strategy, as you don’t have anything to show off, and without marketing, no one will see your brand.

You need to have a strong, consistent brand so that your marketing can promote it effectively. If you have a weak brand, marketing can only go so far.

If you know who you are targeting, who you need to reach, and how and where to spend your time, your marketing will feel less overwhelming and be more cost-efficient. 

Laying a solid foundation for both is absolutely key. This allows you to plan, be objective and be consistent. The piece before you even start the branding or marketing work is key. It will help you understand exactly what you are trying to achieve, work on your brand values and understand your route to market. 

That way, everything will work together, and you will have a clear plan that fits with the time, money and resources you have available. 

It’s a bit like the ‘Guess the Logo Game’ – we know some of those logos because of the names, shapes or colours they use. That takes time and consistent marketing. Remember, branding is about so much more than a logo; it’s about creating a complete brand experience and one that creates an emotional connection. 

The complete brand experience involves having:

It’s the way you present yourself on a LinkedIn Live, and you answer the phone. It’s your email signature. It’s your website. It’s everything about you and creating that experience for a customer. There are a lot of factors to consider.

Research is key

Research needs to play a key role in all of this, which can seem like a big investment. However, research enables you to lay a solid and sustainable foundation for your marketing. Over time, deliver a better return and help you retain customers.

Because, you will be drawing people towards your brand, building their trust and future-proofing your business. Over time, the messages will become subliminal,  to the point where people know that it’s you or your brand before they even see your name or logo.

Your brand must reflect who you are as a business; if you are not sure of your values or whether your brand resonates with your customers, do make sure you ask them. 

Creating that human connection is where your branding and marketing intersect. Understanding your values and who your target audience is, is absolutely critical. It’s not about choosing the colours you like, or marketing on the platforms you love, it’s about what reflects you and resonates with your target audience. 

The research will also help you to identify your marketing approach by:

Branding and marketing all come down to a solid foundation based on clarity and research.

How will investing in branding and marketing help my business?

Unfortunately, there is no blueprint for this; it’s not about a one-size-fits-all approach, you and your brand are unique. It’s about understanding what your audience wants and needs from you. 

However, understanding what your brand stands for and where to invest your marketing efforts will make you more profitable in the long term. However, it will also create freedom because you can let go of the things that won’t work. It is, however, a case of testing and measuring, and that’s where your marketing activities come in.

It’s also important that the people within your organisation are aligned with your branding and marketing from the outset, so they understand what you are promoting, why and how this will strengthen your brand and lead to a more joined-up approach to your sales and marketing.

It’s about laying a foundation, involving your people and showcasing what you do in a relatable, engaging and trustworthy way to create a sustainable strategy, plan and business.

Make sure you create multiple touchpoints for your branding and marketing

The word touchpoints is something that gets bandied around in marketing and sales a lot. It’s any interaction where your customers experience and connect with your brand. It’s so important because your first impressions become lasting ones.

Some of these you may not have even thought of, but they include: your packaging, your website, your social media, an onboarding form, any gifts you send out and then things likel your email signature, this is often overlooked, but it is an important piece of real estate, as everyone who receives an email from you will see that link.

This could also be a Zoom background or something as simple as the enquiry form on your website.  All of these things together create a meaningful experience and subliminal messaging.

It’s estimated that people need between 5 and 52 contacts with someone before they consider buying from them, so these things are really important.

Email can be an excellent example of this; it does get a really bad rap, but think about how much time you spend in your inbox; even if someone doesn’t open your email right away, you’ll be in their inbox serving as a gentle reminder that you exist and appearing in their search function! Making your marketing smarter and creating connections whilst you sleep.

Practical Steps to improve your branding and marketing

If you do these things from the outset, they will quickly become second nature and easy to incorporate into your content.

This blog was adapted from a conversation between Melanie Johnson and Vaishali Shah on LinkedIn. If you would like to view the original content, you can do so by clicking here.

To find out more about how I can help you clear up your messaging or get started with your marketing, get in touch via email at melanie@thesussexsocial.co.uk.