Greetings! Today we are talking about brand marketing vs. product marketing. What are they? Why are they important? Is one more important than the other? The answers may surprise you (but probably won't.)
When most people think about marketing their first thought is probably more in line with product marketing. Comercials, newspaper and online ads, billboards. All of these things are used for product marketing. Technically defined, product marketing is any kind of marketing that increases public awareness about a particular product. Brand marketing, by contrast is any kind of marketing that increases public awareness about a company or line of products. Brand marketing includes putting logos on ads, passing out swag with logos on it, and generally positioning products in order to make your company well known in a certain area.
In the publishing field, product marketing would involve giving press or attention to a specific book. Producing printed or media ads, putting out press releases, organizing release parties, and getting the book placed in a favorable place on the shelf are all product marketing strategies. This type of marketing is highly important because it makes the public aware that the work is available and draws new readers to the product. Ideally, a publishing house will combine this with brand marketing in order to create repeat buyers.
Brand marketing in publishing follows two separate courses. Marketing the publisher to vendors and distributors and marketing the author (and to a lesser extent the publishing house) to the book buying public. In order to get major book buyers to take you seriously, the publisher must have reputable status. Buyers aren't going to purchase from a publisher that has a series of failed books. Therefore a publisher must ensure that the name of their house is circulated around the trade favorably. Doing this includes face to face meetings, careful correspondence, and simply keeping up a good name. By choosing proper marketing tactics, the house can make sure that the first impression a major distributor gets from their publishing house is a good one.
The second phase of brand marketing is marketing the common factor that connects several products to the consumer. In publishing this is usually the author, but can be a common setting or theme that connects multiple titles. By marketing these commonalities, you can create repeat buyers who will continue to buy books that share that common thread.
While brand marketing may sound like a more important undertaking than product marketing, it must be remembered that brand marketing cannot succeed without successful product marketing. Product marketing lets people know that the book is out there and that it is interesting, brand marketing gives people a criteria by which to decide upon future purposes, thus making the future product marketing more effective. They are twin sides of the same coin, and it would behoove any company to pay equal attention to them in order to achieve success.
In the publishing field, product marketing would involve giving press or attention to a specific book. Producing printed or media ads, putting out press releases, organizing release parties, and getting the book placed in a favorable place on the shelf are all product marketing strategies. This type of marketing is highly important because it makes the public aware that the work is available and draws new readers to the product. Ideally, a publishing house will combine this with brand marketing in order to create repeat buyers.
Brand marketing in publishing follows two separate courses. Marketing the publisher to vendors and distributors and marketing the author (and to a lesser extent the publishing house) to the book buying public. In order to get major book buyers to take you seriously, the publisher must have reputable status. Buyers aren't going to purchase from a publisher that has a series of failed books. Therefore a publisher must ensure that the name of their house is circulated around the trade favorably. Doing this includes face to face meetings, careful correspondence, and simply keeping up a good name. By choosing proper marketing tactics, the house can make sure that the first impression a major distributor gets from their publishing house is a good one.
The second phase of brand marketing is marketing the common factor that connects several products to the consumer. In publishing this is usually the author, but can be a common setting or theme that connects multiple titles. By marketing these commonalities, you can create repeat buyers who will continue to buy books that share that common thread.
While brand marketing may sound like a more important undertaking than product marketing, it must be remembered that brand marketing cannot succeed without successful product marketing. Product marketing lets people know that the book is out there and that it is interesting, brand marketing gives people a criteria by which to decide upon future purposes, thus making the future product marketing more effective. They are twin sides of the same coin, and it would behoove any company to pay equal attention to them in order to achieve success.
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