What if maximising reach is costing your brand more than you think? In this episode, Dom Hawes sits down with Dr. Felipe Thomaz from Oxford's Saïd Business School to unpack the myth of reach-based marketing. Felipe’s latest peer-reviewed research dismantles the widely held assumption that "reach is king," proving instead that channel effectiveness and differentiation drive results.
From the psychology of customer choice to the optimal blend of media channels, this conversation dives deep into how businesses can achieve sustainable marketing effectiveness.
What you'll learn:
• Why focusing solely on reach limits campaign success.
• How brands can balance short-term sales with long-term growth.
• The power of archetypes: recipes for optimal channel combinations.
• Insights from 1,081 global campaigns and what they mean for marketers.
• Why some big-budget campaigns underperform compared to targeted strategies.
If you’re a CMO, marketing leader, or strategist, this episode could redefine how you allocate budgets and build campaigns.
Links:
Full show notes: https://unicorny.co.uk
Felipe Thomaz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drfelipethomaz/
Sponsor: https://selbeyanderson.com
0:00 Introduction to Dr. Felipe Thomaz
9:33 Oxford Future Marketing Initiative
13:09 Why just aiming for maximum reach isn't an effective strategy
19:57 Reach sufficiency hypothesis
32:47 What are archetypes?
39:02 How to make your strategy dominant
48:04 Common mistakes in channel selection
51:17 Where to find Dr Felipe Thomaz's paper
#marketingstrategy #marketingscience #marketingeffectiveness