The hot dog marketing lesson

There's a hot dog vendor in Manhattan who runs three carts. 

One cart is outside the gym. The sign says "HIGH PROTEIN SNACK." 

Another one is outside the Morgan Stanley building. The sign reads "QUICK LUNCH. NO WAIT." 

And the third one is outside the baseball stadium. It says "AMERICAN CLASSIC SINCE 1871." 

The hot dog vendor figured out there's more than one way to sell hotdogs by being relevant to specific people in specific situations.

Gym goers care about protein, so they get the protein-focused message. People working at Morgan Stanley want on-the-go food that they can eat quickly. 

But “American Classic” speaks to something else entirely. It taps into cultural identity, like baseball, another American classic.

The first two messages are product marketing. The last one is brand marketing.

So which side of marketing are you on?

In today's newsletter:

• What's product marketing?
• What's brand marketing?
• Why you need both

Most marketers pick one side

Most companies try to be one or the other. 

Those that advertise an “American Classic” to everyone lean into brand marketing – but their product lacks clarity. 

Others go in the opposite direction. They get so specific about “protein” content and features that no one remembers the brand behind them. 

So let’s unpack the difference between brand marketing and product marketing.

Product marketing makes things smaller

Product marketing takes your everything-for-everyone product and cuts it down to one specific truth for one specific person. 

Waterproof shoes become "trail running shoes for Pacific Northwest winters." Project management software becomes "Kanban boards for remote design teams." Accounting software becomes "job costing for construction companies."

The smaller you go, the stronger the pull.

Brand marketing makes things bigger

Brand marketing gives people a reason to care before they need you. It builds memory through repetition of belief.

Basecamp sells the belief that meetings are toxic and work doesn't happen at work. Patagonia sells the conviction that buying less stuff matters more than buying their stuff. Every blog post, every tweet, every ad reinforces what they stand for.

When consumers finally need what you sell, you're already in their head.

Buyers don't want vision anymore, but brand marketing is still important

We’ve just published our 2026 trends report, and the biggest shift is this: buyers no longer care about your vision for the future. They care about stability today.

A few years ago, you could sell transformation or where your product would take them in five years. Now the question is simpler: What problems does your product prevent right now? What risks does it reduce? What disasters does it stop?

That’s why messages like “Detect threats in 10 seconds. Contain them in 60.” work. They’re concrete and feel safe.

But just as before, B2B buyers don’t buy quickly. They research for months. They consume lots of content before they ever talk to sales. And if you’re forgettable during that research phase, you never make the shortlist.

Product marketing proves you’re safe.
Brand marketing makes sure they remember you while they compare you to 20 other options.

You need both.

Product marketing + brand marketing 

Every piece of content needs both elements baked in. 

1. Article

The product marketing part: "How a corporate training provider integrated AI coaching features into their custom LMS." 

The brand marketing part: Your POV that AI only works if your learning platform controls data, logic, and integrations.

2. Homepage

Product marketing in the headline: "Content marketing agency for B2B tech teams."

Brand marketing in the subtext: "You're blowing your budget on head-to-head SEO, and still mean nothing to your customers. You can do more with less."

3. Case study

Product marketing in the metrics: [Company] reduced deployment time by 67%. 

Brand marketing in the story you tell about why most deployment tools solve the wrong problem.

When someone reads your content, they should get specific solutions wrapped in a memorable perspective. That's how you win the immediate need AND the long research cycle.

The content that performs best always has both: sharp audience and use case definition plus a perspective worth sharing. Here's the full framework if you want to see how we build it.

See you next week

The year's only started, but we already signed 3 new clients. Better this, than slow January. 

Kateryna

P.S. If we aren't connected already, follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram. If you like this newsletter, please refer your friends.

P.P.S. Need help with quality content? Zmistify your content with Zmist & Copy

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