Should Marketers Promote Branding or Benefits?

If you are trying to sell a product or service, there are basically two ways to go. Either your marketing dollars in promoting the image of your brand, or you can try the prospects for the purchase of the product by a rational case cited facts and benefits. Let me explain a little further.

When we talk about promoting a "brand", we are not talking only products sitting on a shelf. We are actually a series of beliefs that the prospect about a product or a company over time.

A brand, in other words, is a powerful, that mental franchise remains deeply rooted in the eyes of the mind. For example, the Volvo brand for safety. The Disney brand is healthy, family entertainment. The FedEx brand is a reliable supply.

Effectiveness of marketing, on the other hand, try not to make or obtain a "picture". Yes. It is intended to deal with emotions, how branding works, but it also requires common sense and logic. He does so by the problems that the prospect can see and to show that the product solves these problems. Almost all direct service.

Now comes an important question: Which marketing approach you? If you try to do, or should you try to sell, customer-oriented benefits arguments?

My answer to you, and I will be as open as I can. . . Forget branding!

Ah, yes. I know that endless books written about the importance of branding. And I know that the business-school case studies in this excited branding strategies. And they are right to do so! The reason why I think you should stop worrying so much about branding is that the (very likely), you can not afford.

That is correct. Penetrating a part of the conviction of a person, that are embedded in a durable image of a person gray matter, which cost a lot of money.

For example, if I ask you, on the line: "You deserve a break today blah blah blah," you are in a coma, not knowing that the answer is" McDonalds ". They came with the correct answer, of course, because McDonalds has shelled dozens of millions of dollars in television, radio, print, outdoor media and buy pounds for the message.

For me it is in principle that a successful branding is money that smaller companies are simply not true. This means that you do not for a fortune on an expensive logo, because it is "to express your brand." Also, you must hire branding consultants ", unless you have the means to make your message stick!

Like when you go? How can you ring the box office in the short term and with limited resources? By creating hard advertising, direct mail, security, etc., shows that the probability that a better understanding of their "pain points". And that your product or service can benefit from this pain away. It is so easy (and difficult) as that!