merkgroei

Merkgroei is a term used in Dutch marketing and corporate strategy to describe growth that is driven by strengthening and leveraging a brand's equity. In contrast to growth generated primarily through price changes, product innovations, or distribution expansion, merkgroei focuses on building brand value—awareness, associations, perceived quality, and loyalty—and translating that value into higher demand and market share over time.

Practically, merkgroei includes branding activities such as clear and consistent brand positioning, storytelling, customer experience design, packaging, sponsorships, and multichannel communications that align with the brand promise. It often involves investments in brand research, segmentation, and the measurement of brand equity alongside traditional sales metrics.

Measurements and analytics for merkgroei combine brand metrics with financial outcomes. Common indicators include aided and unaided brand awareness, brand recall, perceived quality, brand associations, loyalty, and share of voice, together with revenue, market share, and profit growth. Brand trackers and marketing mix modeling are frequently used to assess impact and inform allocation.

Merkgroei is typically pursued as a long-term strategy that complements product- or price-driven growth. It aims to create durable demand, stronger pricing power, and resilience against competitive pressures, through coherent brand strategy across products, channels, and customer experiences.

Limitations and challenges include the long time horizon required to realize effects, attribution difficulties, and the need for consistent execution to avoid brand misalignment with customer expectations.

See also: branding, brand management, marketing, customer experience.