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Publications

Studies, playbooks, reports, articles, and practical frameworks from the Institute for Real Growth.

Report

The Case Study Library

Fourteen companies worked through the seven building blocks of Real Growth, each with the statistics behind the block and what the company actually did.
Cover of CMOs Driving Humanized Growth
Report

CMOs Driving Humanized Growth

Why companies started replacing marketing chiefs with growth officers, and what the Real Growth study found the successful ones do instead.
Cover of Focus on People, and the Profit Will Follow
Study

Focus on People, and the Profit Will Follow

The November 2018 work session that first set out the seven growth drivers, the four-stage journey, and the storyline behind real growth.
Cover of Brand Generates Demand, Reputation Generates Approval
Article

Brand Generates Demand, Reputation Generates Approval

An argument, built on Nike's decision to make Colin Kaepernick the face of Just Do It, that brand and reputation are different assets and sometimes have to be
Cover of How the Initiative for Real Growth Began
Report

How the Initiative for Real Growth Began

The April 2018 program description that proposed the Initiative for Real Growth inside WPP, with a nine month plan and a Davos launch date.
Cover of Seven Myths About Growth, and the Evidence Against Them
Study

Seven Myths About Growth, and the Evidence Against Them

The first preview of IRG's findings, presented in New York in 2018: why traditional growth formulas were failing, and seven building blocks argued against seven beliefs the research
Cover of The First Findings Presentation
Report

The First Findings Presentation

Marc de Swaan Arons walks through the growth challenge, the research behind the Initiative for Real Growth, and the seven building blocks as they were first framed.
Cover of The Year IRG Was Built: The 2018 Horizon3 Program Plan
Report

The Year IRG Was Built: The 2018 Horizon3 Program Plan

The founding document for the Initiative for Real Growth, written as the plan for a fifteen person leadership program that would run the research and launch the findings
Cover of The CMO as a Driver of Real Growth
Article

The CMO as a Driver of Real Growth

An article outline arguing that the CMO role is under threat, and that the answer is a different definition of growth rather than a different job title.