Branding and Marketing are often lumped together. The two are related, but quite distinct. And the order they are executed in can make an enormous difference in effectiveness of time, energy, and dollars spent.

Marketing can get expensive quick. Case in point, Nike spent $678 million last year in their U.S. marking budget alone. The problem – there are an endless sea of possible marketing opportunities and possible people to market those opportunities to. So where do you start?

Who do I send something to? What should I send? Print or electronic? What should I say? Will it be thrown away, caught in spam, or ignored? How do I know it was effective?

The number of decisions, dollars, and people can be overwhelming.

Before its time to market, its time to understand. Understand who an organization really is and why that matters. Understand how that authentic purpose connects with a consumer's core need. Understand how that fits in with the competitive landscape of other options that consumer has to choose from. And position the service or product where the least amount of competitive traffic exists.

Branding provides initial clarity – clarity that actually narrows the field of decisions before the would-be marketer. Marketing decisions are simplified, reduced. A highly focused message is created and geared toward a specific type of person – a message that was discovered early on in the branding process as a value to the customer.

The result: a more potently effective marketing effort. Fewer dollars spent on fewer deliverables and sent to fewer people. That means fewer throw-aways and a higher percentage of connections made with customers. Qualified leads ensue.

Don't start with direct mail, website creation, or a brochure. Discover who you are and why that matters first. It'll be an upfront investment to protect your money, time, and energy down the road.

*Gratitude for Alvin Diec's help in creating the above visual.

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