Want to drive market share? Target loyal customers

Fiercely loyal customers are the key to success according to private equity firm Brentwood Associates, so the firm almost exclusively invests in brands people don’t just like but truly admire, reports Sarah Max today in The New York Times. And, Brentwood is the only private equity firm that consistently takes this approach.
“Over time, that’s really what drives market share,” said Bill Barnum, who co-founded Brentwood’s private equity practice in 1984. It has since invested in more than 40 companies with a total transaction value, or market value of equity at the time of the deal plus debt, of more than $5 billion.