Why brand awareness isn't enough to drive growth. October 12, 2026 09:00 AM EDT Brand growth is the number one business metric boards want to hear about. But brands often show up too late in the marketing funnel. That was a key message from Katelyn Ferrara, VP of client development at quantilope, during a discussion at Ad Age's Business of Brands summit alongside Leah Swalling, director of brand management at Kettle & Fire. Why? Because much of the work of determining which brands a consumer will consider has already happened by that point. "You know, you can have 90% awareness, but are they even considering you when they are in and becoming a category buyer?" Ferrara said. Being known isn't the same as being considered. To understand that distinction, Ferrara pointed to the concept of Physical and Mental Availability. Physical Availability is how easily a consumer can buy your brand across channels - from widespread distribution and shelf placement to online frictionlessness. Mental Availability is how easily your brand comes to mind in a purchasing situation, driven by strong mental associations and clear Category Entry Points (CEPs). Physical availability means nothing without prior mental presence. As Ferrara put it, "If you're not making it into the consideration set... how would a consumer even consider you if they're at that point of purchase?" Those buying moments, called Category Entry Points, can vary widely even for the same product. For a bone broth brand like Kettle & Fire, a consumer could enter the category because they want something to support their health & wellness goals or are looking for an ingredient that will add more to their dishes. Those different occasions show marketers where they can come to mind. "When someone is in market, how do you own more of those opportunities so that your brand is in the consumer's right mental spot and the rest of the funnel can actually do its job?" Ferrara said. Awareness wasn't giving Kettle & Fire enough to act on. For Kettle & Fire, awareness alone wasn't giving the team much to work with. The brand had already conducted significant consumer research when Swalling joined the company nearly two years ago. But for ongoing brand measurement, the company tracked awareness primarily. "Brand awareness was increasing on an annual basis, but it wasn't giving us a clear sense of what to do next," Swalling said. "When we shared it with those outside of marketing, it didn't lead to much discussion about what was working or where we should invest." Working with quantilope on a brand health tracker gave Kettle & Fire an in-depth view of not only how many people were aware of the brand, but also what its Mental Availability was. Some of the findings surprised the team. "The research helped us identify whitespace opportunities and pressure-test our assumptions about competitors," Swalling said. "It validated some of what we suspected and showed us where competitors weren't as strong as we'd assumed, giving us a clearer view of where Kettle & Fire could win." Kettle & Fire also identified scale as one of its biggest growth opportunities, leading the company to lean more into bringing more people into the brand by driving household penetration. "We went beyond awareness and started thinking more about Category Entry Points, Mental Availability and even white space opportunities compared to our competitors," she said. The framework moved beyond marketing. Kettle & Fire identified priority Category Entry Points and began incorporating them across its marketing. They now appear in agency briefs, influencer briefs and creative development. The framework has also extended beyond marketing. "Our priority category entry points give the marketing team a clear focus for connecting Kettle & Fire to more everyday occasions," Swalling said. "They're also relevant beyond the marketing team, helping us identify how new products and retail opportunities can strengthen those connections." Ferrara described that distinction as the difference between measurement that acts as a scorecard and research that provides a playbook. "Awareness can still be measured, but it's more of a scorecard versus a playbook," she said. The opportunity is to identify "where we can drive growth and here's how we're going to do it." More content isn't necessarily the answer. These insights have also changed how Kettle & Fire approaches creative. Swalling said the research helped the team connect product benefits to relevant consumer occasions. Category entry points gave Kettle & Fire specific occasions to build its messaging around. "It's not, okay, we just need more advertising," Ferrara said. "It's, 'We need advertising to make an impact in a certain direction.'" For its 2027 marketing planning, Kettle & Fire is using these insights to sharpen its marketing priorities and ensure its initiatives support a consistent brand experience and long-term growth. That framework has become a "source of truth" for the broader marketing team, Swalling said. Ask what your brand is known for. For marketers looking to apply the same thinking, Ferrara suggested starting by changing a deceptively simple question. "I think we're asking the wrong question," she said. Instead of asking "Are we known?" marketers should ask: "What are we known for?" Ferrara suggested putting your brand and its biggest competitors on a whiteboard and asking why consumers choose each one. Where are competitors coming to mind that your brand isn't? Marketers should then look at where their budgets are going. Ferrara said brands often spend heavily protecting what they already own rather than investing in opportunities to expand. "There's no lack of ideas and excitement and ways that everyone wants to grow the brand," Ferrara said. "But I think now marketers have an opportunity to really take accountability for that." The question, then, is what comes to mind when someone is ready to enter the category. About quantilope. quantilope is a technology company obsessed with helping customers grow their brand. Our end-to-end, AI-driven Consumer Intelligence Platform transforms the research process, equipping marketers and insights professionals with 15 fully automated advanced methodologies and real-time tracking. By turning complex data into clear, actionable recommendations, we empower over 1000 global brands - including Pepsi, Kenvue, and Nestlé - to make confident decisions at the speed of the market. Recognized as Greenbook's #1 Market Research Technology for two consecutive years, quantilope is the definitive solution for high-impact strategy, innovation, and performance monitoring.

Kettle & Fire taps RXBAR veteran sam McBride as CEO to fuel next growth chapter. Kettle & Fire today announced a leadership transition as part of a broader push to scale the bone broth brand into a significantly larger wellness platform - one increasingly backed by operational infrastructure, investor alignment and adjacent-category ambitions. Sam McBride, executive chairman and an investor in the company, will become CEO. He replaces Brian Hack, who will transition into the role of president and CFO. Unlock the articles, expert interviews, and data reports that power the food and beverage industry. Join our community and stay ahead with exclusive insights from BevNET and Nosh.