I think after PR, the most misused term in marketing is “branding.”
Commonly referenced examples include, “I need to brand my restaurant,” or, “I have to create a brand for my hotel,” and one of my personal favorites, “We want to build a brand to generate sales.”
While all of these have some element of truth in them, branding, as a term, generally refers to a customer’s emotional response to a product or service. Very classic examples include the reaction you get when you see the Coca Cola logo, or a Coach bag, or what made you choose an iPod for music. Now, not everyone is into the same brands for various reasons. So, I think the key to successful branding is to elicit the desired emotional response from the right audience.
Shaping that emotional response takes money, research, time and lots of effort.
PR can certainly help build a brand, especially through strategic communications tactics and approaches. While PR is part of the integrated marketing communication process, it cannot build a brand on its own legs. Marketing, Advertising and other IMC elements are important in shaping a brand. Like any major project, evaluating campaign progress is crucial to successful branding.
So, PR is in no way synonymous to branding. Their difference is clear; if branding is the ultimate goal, then PR is part of the marketing communications process to achieve that goal.