Abstract
Companies can either strive for organic growth or growth through acquisitions. For marketing the first option is more attractive because it relates directly to its core responsibilities. Further, organic growth increases the market value of companies, whereas acquisitions often fall back on such expectations. The main opportunities for organic growth lie in new products, brand building, customer management and channel innovation. There are many sources of growth ideas and multiple paths toward organic revenue goals. The key is to generate a large number of ideas and then select the most promising among them. While the most obvious one is technology development, there are other useful approaches, as well, such as observing or asking consumers, co-creation projects or approaching ideation systematically. But even good ideas with initial support from all relevant parties can fail. For a growth initiative to succeed, all stakeholders need to be considered. The outcomes need to be positive to all relevant parties both inside and outside the firm.