Slaying marketing myths

www.contagious.com, April 2016

This article was published in issue 46 of Contagious magazine. Contagious equips companies across the globe to achieve the top 1% of marketing creativity through its research platform, consultancy, quarterly publication and live events.

by Raakhi Chotai

Byron Sharp’s seminal 2010 book How Brands Grow is one of the most influential marketing texts of recent years. In it, Sharp put fact before faith, using empirical data to contest the industry’s long-held belief in seemingly deeply flawed principles.

While the first instalment provided a critique of targeting (less is better) and differentiation (it doesn’t really exist), the second, How Brands Grow: Part 2, lays out practical commandments designed to help its readers achieve the holy grail of growth. Sharp’s co-author, Jenni Romaniuk, research professor at the University of South Australia and associate director at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, talks to Contagious about her quest to provide actionable insights for converts, and even more empirical proof to persuade the non-believers…. >> read more