The world isn’t turning against big brands, despite a narrative that people are trust big brands less, are becoming more interested in small, local brands, and that younger consumers are less brand loyal, according to Professor Byron Sharp of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute.
Sharp says claims that big brands are dying are “popular fiction” but not only that, are dangerous, because they hide the reality, which is poor marketing strategies.
“When someone shouts that big brands are dying they get a lot of attention, but the scary story that large brands are dying turns out to be wrong,” says Sharp,
“These claims are dangerous because they are being used to justify hasty, ill-thought out marketing strategy.”
Is Ehrenberg Bass the revolution in marketing Dr Byron Sharp thinks?
The Ehrenberg Bass Institute has published a new report that looks at these claims and weighs them up against its database of evidence.
Professor Magda Nenycz-Thiel, who co-authored the report, says: “Our analysis reveals that in more than 40% of cases, leading brands actually do better among under-25 year-old consumers than they do selling to older consumers.”
“While there is certainly a trend for brands to signal virtues like being eco-friendly, the idea that young people increasingly distrust and reject big brands is not backed by the evidence.
The report shows that the ‘top five’ brands in any category are more likely to be growing sales than losing sales, despite competition from small brands as well as retailer’s own private labels.
Read the AdNews feature from earlier this year on the Ehrenberg Bass Institute and the discipline of marketing science.
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