One is the cart, one is the horse. Which are you putting first?

All advertising comes in two types: brand and campaign. Brand is the horse. But wait. First, consider … The world is full of shortcuts.

Overweight? Take a pill. Feeling down? Take a pill. Need to increase your college’s enrollment? Skip the hard work of branding and start demanding leads. Yes, it seems the world has adopted an “I want it now!” mentality.

But as Zig Ziglar says, “The easier way is not usually the best way.” Quick fixes only last so long. Sooner or later, you’ll pay for haste and be forced to do the work required for long-term results.

The difference between branding and lead-focused campaigning is pronounced and relevant here. Branding builds awareness and nourishes loyalty. Branding takes cultivation and time.

A campaign, on the other hand, generates reader action. You’re asking for participation, a response. For some colleges, a campaign is seen as a quick fix, a way to get leads fast. But if you’re not willing to spend time and money building your brand, why expect good leads?

Imagine you’re surfing the internet, and you see a banner ad for a new car called the Aglio. You’ve never heard of an Aglio, and there is no photo or information in the banner. All you see is, “Drive a new Aglio—click here.”

Would you click? You have no brand association with Aglio. It means nothing to you. Nobody has taken the time to introduce you to the car or the company, and you’re a busy person. The Aglio hasn’t given anything to you, so why would you give anything back?

The way of the competitive market, whether you’re a car company or a college, is to put in the effort to brand before you demand leads.

Building brand

The way to start building loyalty is by investing in brand advertising. Like many investments, you will not see returns right away. But like most good investments, you will see good returns over time.

Mary Pitts, undergraduate marketing director at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), understands the power of brand advertising. “The goal of brand advertising isn't necessarily to get the consumer to do anything immediate. Rather it builds an image in the customer’s mind, so that next time she is considering a purchase decision, the company's products and services will be top of mind,” Pitts explains. “The effects of this type of advertising are not directly measurable. But they can be quantified over time in brand awareness studies.”

Are you tempted to skip the hard work?

Patience to brand is often missing in today’s “I want it now!” environment. The rush to bypass brand advertising and go directly to campaign or lead-driven advertising is pronounced at colleges eager to get the most applications, the best prospective student pool, the most leads possible. When you skip the brand advertising and go straight to counting leads, you’ll lose every time.

For example, can Farmer Jones yell at the dirt to produce corn? First he cultivates the field and gets it ready for seeding. Then he plants the seeds and fertilizes them. He waits patiently for the seeds to take, for he knows that in time, his field will be filled with tall plants.

He knows that he can’t harvest anything without doing the hard work first. If he (and you) were to skip the hard work and merely demand results, all he’ll end up with is dirt.

Bill Sliwa, vice president for enrollment management at Lees-McRae College, likes to spend time with the prospects that are a good fit for his college. He is a believer in brand advertising.

“Lead generation is worthless to the admissions funnel if you do not own your brand,” Sliwa says. “You must first position yourself in the marketplace and know what your product is and who it will attract. Otherwise your leads will be suspects, not prospects. You’ll spend more money mailing to them than they will yield. First class mail and viewbook publications are costly. We have to know that our leads are truly prospects. We can’t spend time and resources on soft leads.”

Need more proof of the necessity of branding? Have you heard of Coca-Cola or McDonald’s? Of course you have. Yet they still advertise. They constantly keep themselves at the top of your mind through branding.

You can coast only so long without good brand advertising. Without proper management, your brand may develop itself. That is rarely a good thing. Do you want to be in control of your brand’s image, or would you rather have your competition define you?

Transitioning to a campaign

After you’ve invested in your brand advertising; when your market knows your brand and its promise, you should add campaign advertising. With your product and company known by your prospective clients, they may be ready to learn more.

Good campaign advertising warns up the reader and asks for his hand. A good campaign asks the reader to take action. Clip a coupon. Make a phone call. Book an appointment, Click here. Visit there.

Brand advertising nourishes the overall image. Campaign advertising is the heavy lifting.

Bob Bailey, COO of Partners & Napier, a Rochester, N.Y., advertising agency, says “A strong brand that is smartly positioned and consistently keeps its promises will help make the tactical campaigns much more effective in all measures.”

This blog entry was an article I wrote for the The Greentree Gazette, a magazine for professionals in higher education. You can view their site at http://www.greentreegazette.com/