Fuelling Brand Growth Through Buyer Engagement
The key to brand growth may not be about loyalty after all. In fact, it could be more about the simple and humble concept of buyer engagement. The more buyers you have, the more brand growth you can hope for, and reports have found that this is true all over the world and across the board when it comes to consumer goods.
More Buyers, Not Loyal Buyers
Research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science has taken place over a long period of time and has found that the brands that experience the most growth are the ones with the best penetration rates. In terms of household goods, this means the ones that are bought by a large number of households as opposed to brands that have loyal customers who buy on a large scale. In fact, research shows that the wider the net your product can cast, the better your brand growth. Whilst most brands hope to lead within a small sub-category, it’s actually better to position yourself across a number of categories. A good example of this is Red Bull, who could have opted to be a niche energy drink, but instead have managed to compete across a spectrum of products, including the both fizzy drinks market and that of caffeinated hot drinks.
Improving Penetration Rates
So armed with the results from this research, how can companies achieve these increased penetration rates? One key issue here is having a long-term strategy rather than a short-term tactic. Penetration rates that increase steadily over time are the most likely to be sustained, and firms that have long-terms plans for growth and stick with their ideas are more likely to succeed.
Given that most brands, even leading ones, are constantly losing customers, working on gaining new ones at all times is the key to increased penetration. With this in mind, another important concept is brand consideration. Improving your chances of being a brand people would ‘consider’ is the first step to increased penetration. The best way to increase brand consideration is with the help of an experienced branding agency such as www.blondideasgroup.com, based in London and New York.
This important research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute is vital information for all manufacturers of consumer goods. It’s a really important, and ultimately simple, lesson about brand growth.
