Advertising & Marketing: The Two Sides of the ‘Branding’ Coin
If you’re an entrepreneur or wannabe entrepreneur, you need to read this.
Because we – at LINs.AD – would love to see if we can change your mind about your current perception of the 3 foremost keywords in business: Advertising, Marketing and Branding.
Of course, changing your mind isn’t the be-all-and-end-all. But let’s save that for later, shall we? And to that end, let’s start by defining (or re-defining, if you wish) ‘Advertising’, ‘Marketing’and ‘Branding’, first, OK?
Heads, It’s Advertising
Advertising is a FORM of communication, used to persuade or influence other people to do or buy something.
In Malaysia alone, Nielsen’s reported that for the period from 2007 to 2012, the advertising industry is estimated to be worth more than RM6 billion, with newspapers contributing the lion’s share (56.1%), followed by TV (32.9%), radio (4.4%), magazines (3.0%), outdoor media (2.0%), points-of-sales (1.1%) and cinema (0.5%). The biggest spenders were classifieds (RM680 million), mobile operators (RM360 million) and government institutions (RM230 million).
Advertising Industry Malaysia Statistics
Unfortunately, advertising is still perceived – at least, by an overwhelming majority of Malaysian entrepreneurs and business owners – to be an ‘expense’, as opposed to an ‘investment’. No criticism here though, if that’s your perception…everyone is, after all, entitled to his or her own opinion.
But consider this. According to Business Insider’s May 2013 report, the world’s top 5 brands – with their estimated brand values alone – are Apple (US$185 billion), Google (US$113.7 billion), IBM (US$112.5 billion), McDonald’s (US$90.3 billion) and Coca-Cola (US$78.4 billion).
Now, what do these top 5 global brands have in common? They – or rather, their founders and CEOs – know that building a brand via advertising is a process that requires effort, investment and time.
Tails, It’s Marketing
Marketing is the PROCESS of communicating the value of your product or service to customers, with the ultimate objective of selling it to them.
Remember; ‘marketing’ is the PROCESS, ‘advertising’ is the FORM of communication. Both advertising and marketing are distinct from – yet complement – each other, when you wish to sell your product and more importantly, build your brand.
A marketing consultant or firm must determine the buying behavior or patterns of targeted customers, in order to market a product or service effectively. Buying behavior usually consists of 2 primary categories: Business-to-consumer (B2C) and Business-to-business (B2B).
With the advent of ‘instant technology’ and Gen Y-ers fast joining the ranks of bulk customers, the ‘holistic marketing’ approach is most preferred nowadays, where every factor regarding the product or service, and buying behavior, is taken into consideration during a marketing campaign. But despite ‘holistic marketing’ being synonymous with ‘branding’, effective `advertising’ remains a pre-requisite, for any ‘branding’ process to succeed!
And The Entire Coin…Branding
Branding is a company’s main PHILOSOPHY, with marketing as part of that branding philosophy.
By `philosophy’, we’re talking about a company’s values, and the very values and perception it wishes to convey to people who buy or peruse that company’s products or services. Branding is intended to differentiate your product or service from similar products or services offered by your competitors, thereby allowing you to establish a niche market for yourself, and your company!
The art of branding typically consists of the following elements: Name, Logo, Tagline, Graphics, Shapes, Colors, Sounds, Scents, Tastes, Movements, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
Where brand names are concerned, a brand name should conceptually be synonymous with the product or service promoted; i.e. what your company stands for; otherwise, any branding exercise you undertake won’t be as successful as it should be. And bear this in mind, too: Branding is NOT just about logos. In fact, a logo is only one of the many elements that make up a successful brand.
The global branding industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, with U.S. brands dominating. And this is unsurprising, as many U.S. corporations take the effort to invest financially and study consumer sentiment, in advertising and marketing their brands.
Your Branding Coin, Your Currency To Greater Heights
This is where you come in.
So, you’re the proud owner or founder of a SME (small/medium enterprise) or SMI (small/medium industry). Well done!
Would you be pleased to know that the branding industry is still pretty much in its infancy stages in Malaysia, with only very few home-grown brands recognized overseas so far, such as Royal Selangor?
What are we talking about here? OPPORTUNITY.
Namely, the opportunity to grow. The opportunity to carve your own niche, and take your company to even greater heights. The opportunity to let new markets open themselves up to you – instead of the other way around – because you’ve successfully branded your company, and its products or services.
The Moment Of Truth
So, have we changed your mind, about what Advertising, Marketing and Branding really are?
Have we changed your mind, about how we can help you market and advertise your company, and help you build your own unique brand?
Because if we have, then all you need to do…is talk to us. We’ll listen to you, and explore all avenues with a 360o microscope/telescope/periscope (call it whatever you want).
The ‘LINs’ in ‘LINs.AD’, after all, stands for “Looking Inwards ‘N’Strategizing”.
Talk to us, today.
Award Winning 4As Agency (Association Of Accredited Advertising Agents of Malaysia) 
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