21% vs 10.9%
StatBrand Strategy
Challenger brands convert loyalty into profit more reliably than penetration
Challenger brands are six times more likely to report profit growth when they also report loyalty gains (21%) than when they report neither (3.5%), and roughly twice as likely as when they report new customer penetration (10.9%). For challengers, being chosen repeatedly by a smaller group comes before being familiar to everyone.
Source
The Creative Dividend - a partnership between Effie and System1 (2026)
Andrew Tindall (System1), with Effie Worldwide; ESOC advised by Les Binet
Figure 85, p. 80, The Creative Dividend (Effie x System1, 2026), 297 challenger campaigns
Go to the originalMore from this source
StatCreative quality and media support together explain most of what a campaign achievesPrincipleCreative Dividend and Excess Share of Creativity - creative advantage, then creative advantage at scaleStatCreative advantage backed by media raises the odds of market share growth in a straight lineStatThe profit payoff from creative advantage compounds rather than accumulatesPrincipleDistinctiveness turns spend into revenue, emotion turns revenue into profitStatDistinctive and emotional work multiplies profit hardest on the smallest budgetsStatCreative quality is the largest profit multiplier a marketer actually controlsWarningMarketers rank targeting above creativity, and the data says it is the other way roundStatCampaigns that deliver several business outcomes are dramatically more likely to deliver profitStatRevenue is the easy result, profit is the rare oneWarningStacking short-term objectives onto a campaign drives its chance of profit to zeroStatThe rise of short-term campaign objectives tracks platform revenue almost perfectly