Products and Brands have commonly been interchangeably used these are terms that every entrepreneur, organization, establishment will make use of for the life of the business. While a brand cannot exist without the product, the brand goes to become more valuable than the product. Gaining expertise includes understanding and using the right term in writing or in conversations.

According to Statista Apple the most valuable brand in the world is valued at  $ 947b as at Sept 2022 and other brands such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft and even Coca Cola, have become top brands that are recognizable by users and non-users. The valuation is not just a summation of the value of the tangibles e.g. for iPhone – the board, screen, microphone etc but a larger part is from the value of the intangibles i.e. perception, popularity, recognition and loyalty.

Definition of Terms

A product an article or substance that is manufactured or refined for sale.it can be physical or in virtual form. Brand refers to marketing concept that helps people identify a particular company, product, or individual.

Every product is made at a cost and each is sold at a price. The price that can be charged however depends on how much work has gone into building the brand. While the product may stay the same in composition, the brand can be relaunched or revamped to create excitement around it among the target market as well as keep it relevant within the segment.

5 Key Differences

• As earlier said while brands cannot exist without products but they become more valuable than the cost of the composite elements of the products. According to macrotrends Coca Cola is currently worth $268.47b. It has achieved this through consistency, relevance and emotional connection. Coca-Cola sells the lifestyle, the emotion, and the association of the brand that people can relate to such that it shows enjoying the brand.
• Products are GENERIC because anyone can produce it, however brands are UNIQUE and are not supposed to be reproduced without rights from the owners. A trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises. Trademarks are protected by intellectual property rights.
• Products satisfy our NEEDS in their barest form e.g. owing a car is a basic need for movement, wearing a shoe or drinking water are basic needs of humans. However, Brands satisfy the WANTS, it isn’t targeted at the basic but the higher level of the desire so e.g. buying a Rolls Royce is not to satisfy the need for movement but for status. In the same vein wearing a red sole shoe nor drinking water from a bespoke bottle has taken it beyond satisfying the need.
• While products are MANUFACTURED/ designed, brands are BUILT. Products are a composition of specifications, Detergents, clothes, shoe are produced with specifications, and even Services are delivered with some specification which can be replicated by ‘anyone’. Brands on the other hand are built over a period, the owners support it by making the product deliver on its promise and consistently connecting with the customer.
• Products as we can then see are RIGID, it can be likened to science or HTML in coding, products are a result of components or rules. Brands however are DYNAMIC, amenable, flexible which can then be likened Art or to CSS in coding. While consumers use the product they connect with the brand. Today the UAE has earned a reputation of one of the top countries in the world with amazing structures. Brands don’t get built overnight.

Conclusion

It is not enough to have a product, it is really important to build and keep build your brand that is how value is commanded.