I know their is a difference between the two but I find value in both. I want to market (make people part w/ as much of their money for my services as often as possible - thanks to Kevin for that definition) while at the same time brand my business (when they think A New View they think window cleaning just like they think McDonalds and think fast food).
How many of you try to accomplish the same thing? Do you think it would better to do the combo than just marketing alone?
I think we all try to do that right? We sell our services (marketing) and then leave a lasting impression (branding) .
To an extent - yes. However branding goes a little deeper than that. It can be so powerful that potential customers already think of you as the service you offer even though they have not used you yet. McDonalds is synonymous w/ fast food to people that may not use their service.
I believe branding differs from “leaving a lasting impression.”
I think branding is even more than what people think when your company name comes up. Great branding is who do people think about when window cleaning in general comes into their mind. Hamburgers/McDonalds, Facial Tissue/Kleenex, Coffee/Duncan Donuts, Athletic Shoes/Nike etc.
Or is that great marketing?
i believe that is branding… mcdonalds is the brand they market their food… when you think of mcdonalds you think of the big yellow M… its what you look for when you get off the highway in a strange place looking for a quick meal… what mcdonalds should market is stomach aches 
i had a reply from paul mcquillan on another thread and he said he thinks branding is basically a ghost. to an extent i think he is right. however i think it is only bc it costs tons of money to market your services, your brand/your company to the point where you are thought of often by people all the time without any marketing. i think there is a fine line between the two (marketing and branding) bc you cant have one with out the other.
if you say cheeseburger and a stomach ache i think mcdonalds… if you say im out of t.p i think cottonelle… when people in your area think of window cleaning who do they think of? how do you become the household name in your area for window cleaning? lots of marketing, with a great offer and clear explanation of your service, with your brand/your company name and logo standing out.
Personally I do not “brand” my business because we are not a brand we are a service company.
I use Degree deodorant, Degree is a brand of deodorant. My 17 yr old uses AXE, another brand. AXE has branded itself as the product that will cause 5 girls to rush up to you when you leave the gym and run their fingers through your hair. Personally that would be a disaster for me. Degree on the other hand has “branded” it self as the product you use to stay cool under pressure, that’s my world. After all Degree has 'silver ion technology" whatever that is.
My point is that branding is about positioning yourself in the market to suit a specific target demographic. Another deodorant example is that of Gillette retooling Right Guard and calling it RGX to compete with AXE but position itself as the alternative for the more confident mature man who doesn’t want to overpower women with his fragrance.
As I look at my business I don’t see a need to “position” myself because we are all after the same demographic, in other words the market is not that wide. 17 yr olds aren’t buying my services and neither are college students. Therefore I need to focus on marketing and customer relationship management more than branding.
Branding is not going to happen in any resemblance to Mcdonalds
for any of you, ever.
Billions of dollars have been spent for you to know them. They are
always in plain sight and they satisfy a constant need/want.
Advertise as smartly as you can and over-deliver. Brand awareness will
be won customer by customer. Aim small miss small.
There is something else; because they heard of you does not mean they
will call you.
Branding is a ghost and you will never know if you have it or not. Worry
about what you can control.
I only made reference to McDonalds so as to clarify branding as opposed to marketing.
I am not worrying about it, simply asking if anyone implemented it along w/ marketing. I don’t think it would harm anyone to attempt to brand their business while marketing it. Provided of course that they made sure the branding didn’t take the front seat over good marketing technique.
Everything you do to get into the customers head helps.
How would you effectively brand your business?
I make sure that I use my logo on everything (uniforms, vehicle, buckets, business stationary, ads, etc). On my marketing I make sure to put my logo at the bottom of the info because I know the offer is the most important thing but it’s still there so they associate the offer w/ my brand.
As far as being effective that takes time. I know I can’t make it happen any faster than it will but I have to consistently use and promote my brand. It will eventually [B]aid[/B] in separating me from my competitors.
I believe that the combination of marketing and branding could be more beneficial than marketing alone.
Branding in the window washing world to me can be explained this way:
I got a call the other day to come give a quote on a window washing and low pressure soft wash. When I met the client in person, after a few minutes of small talk I asked him how he found my number. He stated he’s seen my truck in town numerous times, at jobs and just going down the road. When he needed window washing, he didn’t know my number, but remembered the “We Wash Windows” truck and googled my name, and found my number through my website.
I wouldn’t call this marketing, because I didn’t target him specifically.
So I really push the logo and business name for this very purpose - not on a flier or other peice of marketing though. But when they do happen to notice this info on the marketing material, hopefully they will put connections together; like, “hey I saw them cleaning that big house on Main Street” or “I remember that We Wash Windows truck let me in traffic last week”…
Excellent example Micah!
If anybody successful brands their window cleaning business i’ll buy them a beer.
Is there even enough demand for window cleaning to brand?
Can you supply most of that demand?
for example there is not much branding going on in services
there are few i can think of but there is a huge demand for them, H&R, ORKIN, idk what else, but is there a painting service branded? or pool service? duct cleaning? and painting has a huge demand too. house cleaning is branded , marry maids on every corner, they even clean windows i doubt any good but why wouldnt they clean windows.
house cleaning has a lot of demand out here.
I suppose you can brand locally.
how would you even go about doing that? lots of advertising, tv does a good job of it, and radio , play enough radio commercials people are going to know you good commercials though, billboards are the dinosaur, not big, thing of the past, regular fliers, not just one, but consistency, and a smart ad campaign
ooo forgot about cox, cox has done so much advertising in my area, that idk how qwest is still in business here
and super cuts for hair, , cheap, crappy but branded, easy to find
im sure there is plenty more examples
ah and you can always brand your face, or logo which ever. just dont be 40 trying to look 20 like some of these lawyer guys huge weird looking face with spiked up hair, logo branding for them
To me, placing your business name on your vehicle [B]is[/B] marketing.
Then again, I don’t know **** about marketing.
technically marketing is anything that encourages an action 
in so many words
How does the logo on my truck encourage them to part with their money?
I guess it could be referred to as ‘passive marketing’ similar to handing out business cards. Hopefully the business name or words after the name mention your service or more specifically the quality or value of your service.
I saw a truck the other day; printed on it was something along the lines of ‘Acme Inc. Trusted for over 25 years, followed by their phone number’. I thought to myself, “Gee I’ve never woken up in the morning an decided that I need some of that Acme Inc.” Why would I, I don’t even know what it is. But people do wake up in the morning sometimes thinking, “Gee we really need to get our windows washed” and when they see your truck later that day, by a twist of luck they copy down your number and hopefully call; the rest is up to you.
