Should we market our corporate brand or our product brand?

I'd say yes to both, but of course have a plan to brand corporate.

Look, we all know viral is important when it comes to iPhone apps, so the application will and should take on a life of its' own. The branding for corporate comes from "whose behind that great app?"

At least that's what I look for, when I use a new great app. When I first saw the question, it did remind me of the chicken or the egg and cart before the horse metaphors. Which one is important to brand first corporate or the application?

Simple answer: yes! :-)

The application should be compelling enough to stand on its own, and maybe simple enough to say "Our great app name, by Corporate Brand Name." Of course this is semantics and not a real answer, but fixating on either or is sort of silly. Just market the app, allow it to go viral and let the corporate branding follow behind it.

Just my two cents. :-)

Sincerely,

Ed Bisquera
Follow @edbisquera on Twitter

It looks like you are trying to decide on where to allocate your funding. Which project do you believe will bring your customers the most value and ultimately your company the best ROI? That should be your main motive and where you should focus.

On a related topic, although it doesn't have to do entirely with marketing, you should read "The 12 Different Ways for Companies to Innovate" from MITSloan Management Review. Here is a link to the pdf: http://www.cioindex.com/nm/articlefiles/61695-12WaysToInnovate.pdf

I believe that marketers and salespeople should focus on how your company—not your product or service—is differentiated from the competition. This compelling brand story should be woven into the context of each unique sales conversation. There’s only one asset your sales force can leverage that no competitor can…and that’s your company’s brand.

If you're interested, I recently posted an article on this topic: http://robwolfemba.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/does-your-sales-team-live-the-com...

Before you answer this question, it's important to determine what you want your audience to think when they see the brand name. Do you want them to associate the app with a subject/topic/feeling, or your company with it? The most powerful thing you can do with a brand is to own a phrase, concept, or feeling in your customers' mind.

In the consumer-driven world of cars, Chevrolet Corvette drivers say, "I drive a Corvette." BMW 325i, 535i, M3, and X5 drivers all say, "I drive a BMW." Realize, too, that whichever brand is strongest in your audience's mind will be what they lead with -- at some point, you won't have control over it, and you can choose to ride it or fight it. (You'll be more successful if you ride it.)

Al Ries (The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing / Branding) has some great things to say on this subject -- I highly recommend his books.

When you consider the perspective of the customer (in many ways the only valid perspective) Short term...if your only thing your customers know is the product. The naked truth is, your customers probably care about the product, and promoting the corporate brand is a long long term ROI proposition.

This is why more and more companies are launching as product brands. Google is a notable example, Facebook and Twitter are others. The company is the product and the two brands are inextricably one. Consider the possibilities for product-branding the company, otherwise I would focus on the product for short-term market acquisition and sales, then use that success to create awareness for the corporate brand once you have sales and relationships.