Is there a winning strategy for driving current and future brand growth?

Based on data from 50 CPG brands across 3.5 years, this research shows a 97% correlation between the number of buyers now and 4-week sales - wow!

What does that mean? The most effective strategy for driving incremental sales now (and in the future, we’ll get to that) is by increasing the number of buyers now.

This may seem obvious, but there’s a common belief that targeting for acquisition (gaining new buyers) is the most effective strategy for brand growth. It turns out - acquisition is central to penetration, but penetration has an 84% correlation to current sales (vs. the 97% above).

On the contrary. We know from previous research on long-term effects that the most effective way to increase sales today is with a loyalty-driven advertising strategy (focused on reaching existing buyers).

A purchase today is the foundation for long-term impact, which happens through equity, loyalty and higher repeat rates.

This brings us back to: increase the number of buyers now for current and future brand growth. Find out what Anheuser-Busch learned about how they can put these insights into action for future campaigns.

This doesn’t mean advertisers should give up on acquisition, but it shouldn’t be the primary goal. Acquisition requires a new message or repositioning of the brand, which could come at the expense of losing existing buyers.