Frictionless Growth Marketing

Most brands still think growth audiences are a segment. But multicultural and multigenerational consumers are increasingly the market — and brands that fail to recognize that are misallocating their marketing spend in ways that cost them ROI, trust, and market share.

In this episode, Sonia Thompson sits down with Amani Duncan, CEO of MyCode and award-winning agency Remezcla, to unpack why so many brands are still investing against an outdated picture of today’s customer — and how that disconnect impacts marketing effectiveness, media efficiency, and long-term growth.

Together, they explore why inclusive brands outperform their peers in growth and loyalty, how outdated “general market” thinking leads to inefficient media allocation, why performative marketing erodes consumer trust, and what it really takes to authentically connect with the audiences driving modern growth.

They also discuss:


why Gen X and multicultural consumers are often overlooked despite enormous buying power,


how customer intimacy and cultural insight improve marketing ROI,


why “growth audiences are the pie” — not a carve-out strategy,


and how the right strategic partners help brands stop wasting spend and start investing where growth is actually happening.

If you work in growth marketing, brand strategy, media, advertising, customer experience, or consumer insights, this episode will challenge how you think about today’s market — and where your marketing investment is really going.

MyCode Media - www.mycodemedia.com

Friction Finder Growth Audit - https://www.frictionlessgrowthlab.com/frictionfinder/

Email Sonia: [email protected]

Why do inclusive brands grow faster — and why are so many companies still struggling to capture that growth?

In this episode of the Frictionless Growth Marketing Podcast, Sonia sits down with Asha Shivaji and Jason Klein of SeeMe Index to break down the data behind modern brand growth — and what it reveals about the future of marketing.

Using data from the 2026 Beauty Inclusivity Index, a global UN/Oxford-backed analysis, and AI-powered identity measurement across 700+ identity dimensions, this episode explores why brands that market more inclusively are outperforming competitors in growth, loyalty, and long-term relevance.

The numbers are hard to ignore:

Inclusive brands are growing 1.8x faster

Inclusive advertising drives 16% higher long-term sales

Loyalty increases by 15%

Brands that fail to adapt risk long-term irrelevance

But this episode goes beyond the data.

We unpack:

Why traditional audience segmentation and “melting pot” marketing strategies are failing

How brands unintentionally create friction that pushes customers away

The hidden cost of underrepresentation in advertising and customer experience

Why consumers keep a “mental scorecard” of how brands show up over time

What the SeeMe Index reveals about skin tone representation, age visibility, LGBTQ+ support, and identity gaps in beauty marketing

Why customer experience must match the promise communicated in marketing

How brands can use data to replace fear with clarity

What it actually means to build a mosaic marketing strategy

If you work in:

growth marketing

brand strategy

customer experience

multicultural marketing

inclusive marketing

consumer insights

audience segmentation

brand leadership

…this episode will fundamentally change how you think about modern brand growth.

Because the brands winning today aren’t trying to market to everyone the same way.

They’re building brands that specific communities can clearly see themselves in — and designing experiences that reinforce that belonging consistently over time.

SeeMe Index Beauty Index: https://www.seemeindex.ai/beauty

Friction Finder Growth Audit: https://www.frictionlessgrowthlab.com/frictionfinder/

How community drives brand growth—and why it only works when it’s built into the customer experience.

In this episode of the Frictionless Growth Marketing Podcast, I sit down with Carolina Moraes, Chief Marketing Officer at Zumba, to break down how one of the most recognized global fitness brands has turned community into a powerful growth engine over 25 years.

But here’s the nuance most brands miss:
Community isn’t something you create. It’s something you earn.

And it only forms when the customer experience is designed in a way that makes people feel like your brand was built for someone like them.

From a growth marketing perspective, this episode explores what it really takes to drive sustainable brand growth, retention, and loyalty through community.

We get into:

Why community marketing strategy often falls short—and what actually makes it work

How customer experience design drives retention, loyalty, and word of mouth

The difference between building a brand community and simply creating a container for engagement

How Zumba equips instructors to deliver a consistent, inclusive experience at scale

Why representation isn’t just a marketing tactic—it’s an experience design principle

The signal that you’ve built real community (hint: it happens without you)

What most brands overlook about community as a growth lever

If you’re focused on growth marketing, brand growth, customer retention, and building a community that actually lasts, this episode will change how you think about what it takes.

Because the brands that win don’t build community first.

They design experiences people want to belong to—and community becomes the outcome.

Friction Finder Growth Audit - https://www.frictionlessgrowthlab.com/frictionfinder/

Email Sonia: [email protected]

Episode 203: Relevance Over Reach: The Growth Marketing Playbook for 2026 (Dense Bean Salad Girl Case Study)

Listen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/203-relevance-over-reach-the-growth-marketing/id1604907821?i=1000750520486

Listen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ZqA02lYQjliJX8S9U5yAy?si=9e980f38c2214882

Most buyer personas look complete — but they’re missing a critical layer.

And that gap shows up everywhere in your marketing.

In this episode, we break down how incomplete buyer personas impact growth marketing performance — including brand growth, customer acquisition, and conversion — using real-world examples and real consumer reactions.

Because when your personas don’t fully reflect the people you want to serve, your marketing sends the wrong signals — and your ideal customers quietly opt out.

This is a growth marketing problem — not just a messaging issue.

You’ll see how small decisions — from imagery and language to user experience — create friction that limits performance across your entire customer journey.

And more importantly, you’ll learn how to identify where your personas are falling short — and what to do to fix them so your growth marketing actually performs the way it should.

In this episode:

How incomplete buyer personas show up in your marketing

Why small decisions send powerful signals to customers

Real examples of missed conversions and lost customers

How personas impact your growth marketing strategy

A simple way to identify and fix persona gaps

If this episode made you realize there may be gaps in your personas, the next step is to identify exactly where your marketing is creating friction.

That’s what the Friction Finder Growth Audit is designed to do.

Learn more: frictionlessgrowthlab.com/frictionfinder or email me at [email protected]

If you’ve ever thought, “our personas are fine” — you’re not alone.

This episode takes a closer look at why many buyer personas don’t work as well as they should — and how that gap can impact your growth marketing, customer acquisition, and conversion rates.

From “our product is for everyone” to “this won’t move the needle” to “we don’t have the resources” — these are common responses when it comes to evolving your target audience strategy.

But they can also mask a deeper issue that’s preventing your marketing from reaching — and converting — the customers you actually want to serve.

In this episode, we break down 8 of the most common objections — and what’s actually happening behind each one:

"Our personas are performing fine”

“Our product is for everyone”

“Our customers don’t care about identity”

“This is niche / DEI”

“This won’t move the needle”

“We tested our messaging and it worked”

“We don’t have the resources”

“How would we actually implement this?”

At the center of all of it is one question your customers are asking — whether you realize it or not:

“Is this for someone like me?”

When your marketing doesn’t answer that clearly, customers don’t push back — they simply don’t move forward.

And when that happens at scale, it directly impacts your brand growth and customer acquisition performance.

This episode will help you see where that gap may exist — and what to do about it.

Friction Finder Growth Audit - https://www.frictionlessgrowthlab.com/frictionfinder/

Email Sonia: Sonia at Soniaethompson.com