如何让企业持续内生增长，与竞争对手拉开距离？多数企业并未找到有效而低成本的做法。来自INSEAD的市场营销学教授，Jean-Claude Larréché，为此展开一项为期十年的研究，分析财富1000强企业20年来的表现，并对其中150余家进行实地调研，以确定企业成长的关键因素。

　　他认为，某些条件可以使企业以较少的付出，获得极高的业绩。比如，一些产品不必大费资源，强力推广，仍然能够持续取得可观的市场反应。可以说，这些产品具备一种内生动力，对消费者产生持久的吸引力，这是巨额推广经费无法带来的，可称之为“惯性效应”（The Momentum Effect）。

　　那么，怎样才能赋予新产品以神奇的“惯性”呢？Jean-Claude Larréché指出，应围绕顾客的情感体验，开发新产品并持续改进，也就是多用脑，而不是多花钱——盲目提高那些缺乏惯性产品的市场经费。

　　在他看来，微软颇具代表性，其产品曾拥有这种惯性，能够与用户的感受产生共鸣；如今却在自顾自的产品导向中丢失了。相反，以Wii游戏机为代表的任天堂公司，则将简单的按钮操作、有趣的身体运动，与传统电子游戏相结合，对使用者而言具有源源不绝的娱乐魅力，堪称“惯性效应”的成功典范。

the results are counter-intuitive. “We discovered that the companies that delivered the highest growth in market capitalisation – growth which outstripped that of the Dow Jones Index by 80 per cent – were the firms that decreased their relative marketing spend over the period. This is exactly the opposite of what most people would expect.” In his book Larréché calls these firms the “Pioneers”. Despite cutting their relative marketing-to-sales ratio by 7 per cent, compared to their bigger spending competitors, the Pioneers massively outperformed the market.

He is quick to point out that this doesn’t show that firms should cut their marketing budget and expect to deliver superior growth. On the contrary. “The Pioneers,” he says, “actually increased the amount they spent in absolute terms, but their marketing efficiency was so high that the growth that it produced allowed them to decrease the percentage of their revenues that went to cover the marketing spend.”

So why is some marketing spend so much more efficient than others? “Because it is smarter. The reason companies spend so much on marketing is because they are impatient,” he says. “It is much faster, and a lot easier, to spend money than to use brains to solve the problems.”

At the heart of the momentum effect, he says, is the realisation that “the only form of sustainable efficient growth is customer-based growth.” When faced with a growth challenge, Larréché argues, it is essential to take the time to understand the underlying issues, rather than just keep pouring money in to push sales. “Firms first need to divert resources away from downstream marketing (communication and promotion) and turn towards upstream marketing – acquiring customer insights that will lead to superior offerings that generate real customer traction. Once this is done, and the offer is improved, then investments can be renewed in downstream marketing to deliver a new momentum for efficient growth.”