What Actually Drives Sales? (Spoiler: It’s Not Loyalty or Your Brand Pyramid)
Old brand strategy frameworks are still clogging up decks and marketing plans—but the data says it’s time to move on. Here’s what customers actually care about (and what you should do instead).
Let’s get one thing straight:
Most people don’t buy because of your mission statement.
They don’t care about your archetype.
And they definitely didn’t read your 47-slide brand strategy deck.
If you’re still trying to win customers through textbook theories like STP or “positioning that instills loyalty”— I’ve got bad news and a great alternative.
TL;DR:
- Most brand strategy is built on outdated theory
- Customers need clarity
- Brands grow when they’re easy to notice, easy to access, and not annoying to buy from
- Fix your messaging, fix your funnel
💀 The Myth: Loyalty Drives Growth
You’ve probably heard it a hundred times:
“We just need to differentiate, position the brand clearly, and build loyalty.”
But new research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute
(yep, the folks who study real buyer behavior) shows that’s not how it works.
Here’s what they found:
- Most customers buy from multiple brands in a category
- They don’t see much difference between them
- “Loyalty”? Mostly a myth
Brands don’t grow because people fall in love with them.
They grow because they’re easy to see, easy to choose, and easy to buy.
🤯 The Reality: Make Buying Easy
What actually drives purchase decisions?
🧠 Mental availability (aka: people remember you in the moment)
🏪 Physical availability (aka: you’re easy to get)
💡 Minimal effort required
That means most brands win by being visible, obvious, and safe — not radically
different. You don’t have to impress buyers. You just have to make sure they:
- Know who you are
- Understand what you offer
- Don’t overthink the decision
😬 Why Your Value Prop Isn’t Working
A lot of brand messaging dies in the first 5 seconds.
Why?
- It’s too clever
- It’s too vague
- It’s trying so hard to be different instead of just being clear
People aren’t looking for brilliance. They’re looking for answers. Fast.
Here’s what they really want to know:
✔️ What is this?
✔️ Who is it for?
✔️ Why should I care right now?
✅ What to Do Instead
Ditch the branding jargon and focus on how people actually decide to buy. I help clients build systems around:
- Clear messaging based on buying triggers (not mission statements)
- Websites that guide users from “confused” to “converted”
- Custom GPTs and AI tools trained on your strategy—not random prompts
- Sales content that supports humans actually selling
No fluff. No pyramids. Just content that works because it makes sense.
👉 Ready to build something people can actually say yes
to?
Most AI content sounds robotic because it’s trained wrong. Learn the right inputs — customer language, sales insights, strategic positioning — to train AI content systems that actually convert.
You don’t need a big-budget brand study to know if your message works. Here are five simple, fast ways to test your messaging.
Not all content converts on command—and that doesn’t make it useless. Learn why some brand assets build long-term trust and how to think beyond the dashboard when measuring value.
Is your value prop are too vague, too clever, or trying too hard to be different? Here’s what actually works—and what the data says about making your message land.
Most brand strategy is a fantasy. This post takes a chainsaw to outdated frameworks like STP and the 4Ps—and shows what actually drives buying behavior (hint: it’s not your tagline). Based on real research.