Remember Schlitz? Electrasol? Bosco? Ipana? Remember the days when brand loyalty grew year by year? Today’s most successful brands of consumer goods were built by heavy advertising and marketing investments long ago. But recently, many marketers have lost sight of the connection between advertising spending and market share. They practice the art of discounting: cutting ad budgets to fund price promotions or fatten quarterly earnings. They may win the volume battle today, but they lose the competitive war.
A version of this article appeared in the January–February 1990 issue of Harvard Business Review.
