Byron Sharp: be easy to remember, and easy to buy.

Byron Sharp is Professor of Marketing Science and director of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, a post he has held since 1995 according to Wikipedia. He grew up in New Zealand and lives in Adelaide. His book How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don't Know was published by Oxford University Press in 2010; How Brands Grow: Part 2, written with Jenni Romaniuk, followed in 2015.

Sources differ on the institute's university. Wikipedia and his own site say the University of South Australia; the institute's site now says it is part of Adelaide University. The institute describes itself as the world's largest centre for research into marketing, funded by sponsors including PepsiCo and Mondelēz.

Why does Byron Sharp matter to a brand builder?

Because he asks marketers to prove things. His work, and the institute's, looks for patterns in how people actually buy, and it has challenged several comfortable beliefs. The line on his own site argues that a 5% drop in customer defections does not lead to an 80%+ jump in profits, a direct shot at a well-known retention claim. Wikipedia notes his 1997 paper with Anne Sharp, which found only a small loyalty effect from a loyalty programme.

What are his key ideas?

These summaries come from Zappi's guide to the book and a Nature Research Partnerships summary, both secondary sources that agree with each other.

• Mental availability. A brand is chosen when it comes to mind, or is noticed, in a buying situation. That is more than awareness.
• Physical availability. A brand must be easy to find and easy to buy.
• Light buyers and reach. Much of a big brand's volume comes from occasional buyers, so growth comes from reaching more of the category, not only from squeezing loyal ones.
• Double jeopardy. Smaller brands have fewer buyers, and those buyers are also slightly less loyal. Loyalty tends to rise as a brand gains buyers.
• Distinctive assets. Consistent colours, shapes, characters and tone help people spot and recall a brand fast.

Not everyone agrees with how far these ideas go. Marty Neumeier's Zag, which I wrote about in his profile, argues for radical differentiation; Sharp's work puts the weight on distinctiveness and reach. Both are widely read, and the debate is live.

My take: the idea I use

This is opinion. Sharp is right that most brands are forgotten, not rejected. A founder can do excellent work and still lose because, at the moment someone needs it, they think of a competitor first, or cannot find how to buy.

Where I add to him, for a small business: distinctive gets you remembered, but clear gets you chosen. Sharp's evidence is mostly from large consumer brands with wide shelves. A founder selling a service usually has neither the budget for broad reach nor a shelf. So in Brand Growth OS™ terms I put Clarify first (what you do and for whom, in one sentence), then use Sharp's two availabilities as the test for Connect and Convert: are we in their head, and are we easy to buy?

Being forgotten costs more than being disliked. Be easy to remember, and easy to buy.

How do you apply it?

• When does someone need us, and what do they think of first? Name the moment. Then check that your name, colour or phrase shows up there, every time.
• How many steps from "I want this" to "I bought this"? Count them on your website and in your sales process, and remove one this week.
• What do we use the same way, everywhere? A colour, a phrase, a shape. If nothing is consistent, nothing is distinctive.

The Brand Growth Audit™ tests whether your brand is easy to recall and easy to buy, and the Brand Growth OS page explains the four stages. For a different view of brand value, read David Aaker on brand equity, or see all brand voices.

Sources

Wikipedia: Byron Sharp · byronsharp.com · Ehrenberg-Bass Institute · Zappi: Principles of How Brands Grow · Nature Research Partnerships: The scientific approach to brand growth. Opinion is Mike Bruce's; this is a profile of published work, not a claim of personal contact. See all brand voices · About Mike Bruce.