Marketing Truths.Where science meets impact.

Ask the marketing question you would ask a wise peer. Get back the answer the evidence already supports, with the source attached, synthesized from peer-reviewed research.

Ask the AI →

A joint platform from

The eternal questions,finally with grounded answers.

And more…

Preview answer · Marketing Truths

“Which marketing lever moves sales most: advertising, price, or distribution?”

Distribution, and the levers are not close. Advertising comes last. Across 62 established consumer-goods brands tracked every four weeks for seven years, sales respond most to how widely the brand is stocked: a 1% gain in distribution moves sales about 2.4% over time. Price is the only lever in the same league (a 1% price increase cuts sales by about 1.7%). Promotion adds about 0.3%, and advertising comes last at about 0.04%, in line with prior evidence.

The budget meeting usually fights over the ad budget and the promo calendar while shelf presence goes uncontested; this evidence says the neglected lever is the strongest one. Distribution is also the strongest mover of advertising awareness, consideration, and liking, so it builds the brand while it moves the volume. Based on French data, 1999-2006.

Source

Srinivasan, Vanhuele & Pauwels · 2010Mind-Set Metrics in Market Response Models: An Integrative Approach · Journal of Marketing ResearchRead the full findings →

What does it costto get them wrong?

Six decisions from the briefing room of a $10B brand. Each one drawn from a published meta-analysis. See what your beliefs cost when the evidence disagrees.

Take the test →

6 scenarios~3 minutesHundreds of millions per wrong call