I read an article recently, intended to provide guidance to independent retailers in these unusual economic times. Among other things, the article stated that “A recession is no time to focus on branding.” In fact, I had to stop to make sure I read it correctly. Isn’t a recession the time to focus on branding? Hmm…

Was the author implying that a more appropriate time for brand building is when the economy is strong? Let’s consider that for a moment. Actually, before we get to that, let’s see if we can first agree on what the heck the brand actually is.

Webster’s says that branding is “the promotion of a particular product or service by identifying it with a particular brand.” If we accept that definition, then branding would seem like something you’d always want to be doing, wouldn’t it? I mean, after all, shouldn’t you always be working to promote your product or service? And shouldn’t you always be trying to identify your product or service with your brand? It seems logical.

I think the problem is that in many companies the term branding has become a code for things that are not focused on sales. There are those who truly believe that branding and sales are mutually exclusive activities and that you can focus solely on one or the other. I think it’s like saying that breathing is more about inhaling than exhaling. You can’t do one without doing the other.

For example, in an effort to boost sales during the current recession, luxury bridal wear designer Vera Wang reportedly reduced the average price of her wedding dresses by about 30%. So is this sales or branding? Sure the move is aimed at generating short-term sales, but will it have a long-term impact on the brand?

Changing your pricing structure is a brand statement. I’m not suggesting it’s wrong. I have no idea what the situation is at Vera Wang and I’m sure they know their business better than I do. What I do know is that a price cut is branding.

I used to work for a company where Marketing and Sales were two separate fields. The marketing department firmly believed that their job was to promote brand promotion by creating an emotional connection with the consumer. They had a strong belief in avoiding price promotion to drive sales and loyalty. The Sales group believed their role was to gain space and increase market share. They saw their job as winning over customers by offering dynamic product features at attractive prices.

Sales would accuse Marketing of creating high priced “fluff” that did not generate revenue and Marketing blamed Sales for making the brand a commodity by focusing customers solely on the product and price, which they felt over time would lead to the ruin of the company.

Consequently, the company would go through this kind of schizophrenic business cycle where we would spend huge amounts of money on brand building activities in the first 6 months of the year and when sales didn’t come right away, any remaining budget would be given to Dirty. Sales would quickly use it to run “off dollar” promotions and other discount schemes, which not only didn’t regain much ground, but also tended to have an adverse effect on overall brand positioning. Every year we did the same thing, hoping somehow that the result would be different. it was not

What we didn’t recognize at the time was that everyone, both in Sales and Marketing, was absolutely right about their roles. Yes, Marketing should work to build brand and product awareness and an emotional connection with consumers and, yes, Sales should leverage that brand awareness and loyalty to gain consumer acceptance and gain market share. It’s not about sales or marketing, it’s about sales and marketing. The truth is that branding and sales are inseparable functions and the best retailers really understand that.

Wait a minute. Did I just say that Sales and Marketing are the same thing? Absolutely not. Sales and marketing are two very different roles. However, what I am saying is that for either to be successful, they must be performed in concert with each other. Like two halves of the whole.

As for the “recession is no time for brands” idea, it just doesn’t make sense. Even no brand is a brand. Perhaps what they meant was that a recession is not the time for an ineffective brand and with that I totally agree.