IB BOOKS
Issue No. 56 - Month/Month year
Busting myths of the devoted fan
Sparking controversy and curiosity amongst marketing academics and professionals worldwide, Professor Byron Sharp has punctured many of the myths that fill textbooks and hinder marketing practice, with his new book, ‘How Brands Grow’.
In his book Prof Sharp, who directs the Ehrenberg- Bass Institute at the University of South Australia, closely examines the behaviour of ‘brand fanatics’ and, with empirical evidence to support his claims, dispels the long-held assumption that these fanatics are important.
In Chapter 7, entitled Passsionate Consumer Commitment, Prof Sharp makes his point using some examples of extreme brand fanaticism such as Don Gorske, the man from Wisconsin who has consumed 23,000 Big Macs from the McDonalds chain, claiming the burger constitutes more than 90% of his daily food intake.
If there were millions of consumers out there who were all as dedicated to one particular brand as Gorske, the situation might be different. Yet, as Prof Sharp identifies, buyers this obsessive are few, so the real benefits of targeting such a minute share of the market are much smaller than many marketers would hope to believe.
He points out that while a brand may appear to have a few aficionados, there is little to no evidence they are of any financial or strategic consequence to a brand’s performance.
Prof Sharp closely examines world-renowned brands Harley Davidson and Apple. These brands are widely considered to have an avid and devoted customer base. He quotes several journalists and experts who reference consumer ‘love’ and ‘devotion’ for both brands – picking up on the fact that no evidence actually exists to support such assertions.
If this really is the case, Prof Sharp asks, and Apple and Harley Davidson really do h...
