“How brands grow” – a thought provoking and insightful book

It has been a while since I read such a good marketing book “How brands grow” by Byron Sharp. I like it because it talks about marketing, using actual data to analyze and back up any recommendations, rather than following old time marketing beliefs that sound “nice”.
Because its findings go against so many basic assumptions we have as marketers, hence, it is not an easy read. The book might evoke some strong emotions, especially some initial “really?”. So I would recommend reading this with an extreme open mind and let the numbers/research have the chance to present them to you.
Now, I would not recommend taking all of the recommendations in the book to heart without checking the validity of the supporting data/research. However, I hope that by reading this book, it would at least make you paused and think a little bit.

Before reading this book, I did have many of the “common” assumptions below and the book thoroughly explain the validity of each:

  • Customer retention is cheaper than customer acquisition
  • Loyalty program, customer relationship management (CRM) program are critically important to grow a brand i.e. increase market share
  • Mass marketing is dead?
    This is particularly thought provoking since I have spent a number of years in digital marketing
  • Consumers of a particular brand are distinctive type of person
  • Brand personality is important to grow a brand
  • Showing/Demonstrating Unique selling propositions is crucial in advertising

Here is the link to buy the book.

I hope you would learn a lot by reading this as I did.

Cheers,
Chandler

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