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How Brands Grow

summary ofHow Brands GrowBook by Prof. Byron Sharp

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You’ll learn

  • Secrets to brand growth in competitive markets
  • How to choose the best branding strategy
  • The truth about buyer loyalty
  • How to turn occasional buyers into fans

first KEY POINT

Beyond creativity: Keys to marketing success

Marketing is a vast and dynamic field that requires creativity. But many professionals have come to believe that it is all about trial and error to see what works. The way they view it, their profession is not like engineering or economics, where hard and fast rules exist; it’s more about learning foundational concepts, like buyer psychology and the technicalities of sales channels, so that almost everything else they do would be hinged on experimentation.But research has proven this to be an ill-founded belief.Marketing is not an abstract field; it’s both a science and an art, and its laws are as predictable as the rules of math and physics. So, yes, creativity is involved, but you can also predict your results if you know and follow the laws.This summary is all about showing you what those laws are and pointing out simple ways you can start applying them right away. We will cover strategies for:• Increasing sales.
• Monitoring brand growth.
• Performing competitor analyses and everything in between.

Marketing offers the ability to outperform competitors while they wonder about your strategy.

To succeed in marketing, make your brand easy to find and purchase, as this boosts market share. Consequently, marketers need to improve the branding and uniqueness of their products. This is also one of the things you will learn from this summary.

second KEY POINT

Innovative brands prioritize horizontal growth

Growing your brand’s market share can be challenging, primarily if you’re operating in highly saturated markets like software or consumer products.Your first approach to growth and tackling the market-share issue should be trying to understand the dynamics of your market. Identify who the key players are and study how they rose to the top. Doing this will give you insight into how to drive your brand’s growth.A brand’s sales volume depends on two things:• How many buyers the brand has
• How often the consumers buy the brandIn theory, if a brand has many buyers purchasing occasionally, it is equal to another brand with half the number of customers who purchase twice as often. But this happens only on paper. The reality is different.In reality, brands offering similar products have around the same purchase frequency. And this has been proven statistically.For example, households might purchase body lotions 6-12 times a year on average. This figure will remain roughly the same for every lotion-producing brand, no matter their size.What makes the real difference in brand sales is penetration rate and market share. The more market share you have, the more sales you will make.Let’s explain this mathematically.Imagine the average purchase rate for body lotions in your region is 8.If brand A has 1000 households purchasing their lotions per year, that will translate to 8000 sales per annum.Brand Z, on the other hand, with a higher market share — 5000 households — will be selling 40,000 units annually.So, you see, you can’t do much about purchase frequency because it’s driven by people’s individual needs. What you can influence is the number of people buying your brand. So, focus on getting better at it.

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first KEY POINT

Boost sales by analyzing market share and buyer defection rate

second KEY POINT

Buyer must-have: Committed to a brand

third KEY POINT

Smooth sailing marketing & meeting buyer needs

fourth KEY POINT

Stages to brand success

fifth KEY POINT

Conclusion

About the author

Professor Byron Sharp is a renowned marketing expert acclaimed for his branding and consumer behavior insights.

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Frequently asked questions

What is How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know about?

How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know, authored by Byron Sharp, explores the fundamental principles of brand growth based on empirical research. It challenges common marketing myths and emphasizes the importance of reaching more buyers rather than focusing solely on customer loyalty.

Is How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know worth reading?

Yes, How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know is definitely worth reading for marketers and business professionals. Its insights are grounded in evidence-based marketing science, making it a valuable resource for anyone looking to enhance their branding strategy.

What are the key takeaways from How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know?

Key takeaways include the idea that brands grow by increasing their market penetration and the importance of mental and physical availability. Sharp emphasizes that understanding consumer behavior and the role of advertising in brand recognition is crucial for successful marketing.

How many pages is How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know and when was it published?

How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know consists of 280 pages and was published in 2010. This comprehensive guide has since established itself as a key text in the marketing discipline.

Why is How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know important for marketers?

The book is important for marketers because it shifts the focus from traditional loyalty strategies to understanding how brands gain and retain customers through growth. Byron Sharp’s research provides actionable insights that can transform how brands approach marketing, making it a must-read.