Brand Growth: More People, More Often or Both?

Understanding and explaining how brands grow is top of mind in the industry. For decades, Ipsos has been helping our clients answer the question, “How do I grow my brand?”

At Ipsos we believe that brand growth comes from having more people buying your brand, more often, and more easily.

• ‘More people’ is primarily about brand penetration
• ‘More often’ relates to the level and/or share of spend that you get from your existing customers
• ‘More easily’ is about accessibility – the more people perceive that they can easily obtain one option vs. another similar option, the more likely it is to be selected.

Building brand desire is about building strong mental networks for the brand: creating saliency (brands coming readily to mind in the moments that matter) and brand relationships (meeting functional and emotional needs that establish brand connections). However, there is currently a prominent point of view in the industry stating that increasing brand penetration is sufficient for brand growth - the equivalent of simply getting more people to buy a brand.

Presenting our research findings into the importance of ‘more people’ versus ‘more often’, this new thought piece from Ipsos Laboratories explores the purchase behaviour of consumers across 200+ brands over a 12-month period. It provides evidence that brand growth is not solely about increased customer penetration, but also about maintaining (or increasing) the levels of spend from existing customers.