How B2B Brands Actually Grow

When it comes to marketing, everyone has opinions—but few have proof. That’s where Professor Byron Sharp steps in.  

In this episode, Drew sits down with the globally renowned marketing scientist and author of How Brands Grow to unpack what B2B marketers are getting wrong, what they should measure instead, and why focusing only on in-market buyers is a recipe for decline.

Byron drops truth bombs on:

• Why mental availability drives physical availability (not the other way around) 

• How B2B marketers are shooting themselves in the foot with fluffy brand campaigns  

• What to measure if you want to track real progress 

• Why B2B growth takes time—and how to prove it’s working

Plus, why CMOs should stop pretending that awareness is enough and start earning a place in buyers’ brains before they’re ready to buy.

Whether you’re defending your brand budget to a CFO, fighting for longer-term investment, or just trying to grow your share of voice without blowing it all in Q1—this episode delivers the mental fuel (and science) to make your case.

To hear the rest of this CMO Huddles Bonus Huddle, visit CMO Huddles Hub on YouTube.

Renegade Marketers Unite, Episode 496 on YouTube

Resources Mentioned 

• How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp 

• CMO Huddles 

• Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science

Highlights

• [0:29] Meet Byron Sharp 
• [1:47] Physical availability vs. mental availability 
• [6:21] Why demand gen ≠ demand creation 
• [8:06] Rethinking “brand spend”  
• [13:57] How to measure mental availability  
• [22:06] B2B is a slow burn (and how to prove it’s working) 
• [24:09] What do say when your CEO wants proof

Highlighted Quotes

“Every product ad should build the brand. It should be unmistakably you.” —Byron Sharp 

“Point to every single valuable company in the world, and they’re valuable because they’ve got a lot of mental availability and physical availability.” —Byron Sharp

“ You have to understand how to fire in their brains, get some attention, and fit easily into their lives.” —Byron Sharp

“There is a trick: Take your budget and spread it out over time.” —Byron Sharp

Full Transcript: Drew Neisser in conversation with Byron Sharp