Growth marketing was built on continuous improvement — experiment, optimize, compound.

That’s not a discipline problem.

In this pillar episode, I break down why the traditional growth marketing model — including the AARRR framework (Awareness, Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue) — is no longer optimized for how modern consumers make decisions. Built for scale and efficiency in a general-market era, these models struggle in today’s fragmented, identity-driven landscape.

Drawing on insights from the American Marketing Association and a conversation with Bennie F. Johnson, this episode explores:

Why growth marketing optimization is breaking down despite best practices

How scale without intention creates friction across the funnel

Where identity friction shows up across Awareness, Acquisition, Activation, Retention, and Revenue

Why relevance — not reach alone — is now critical to sustainable growth

How an identity-layered approach helps growth compound again

This episode focuses on diagnosing why growth marketing stopped compounding — not tactical fixes, but how the underlying model needs to evolve to reflect how people actually make decisions today.

If growth feels harder than it should, this episode explains why — and sets the foundation for what modern growth marketing requires now.

Find out what's slowing your growth - www.frictionlessgrowthlab.com/quiz

Interview with Bennie F. Johnson, CEO of AMA - https://www.frictionlessgrowthlab.com/trust-in-marketing-bennie-f-johnson/

How to use data to increase customer success for all - https://www.frictionlessgrowthlab.com/ep-146-how-to-use-data-to-increase-customer-success-for-all-with-deborah-pickett/

Modern marketing excels at personalization — until it reaches one consistent area where many brands still break down, costing them growth and frustrating customers in the process.

In this milestone episode, Sonia Thompson explores The Glitch in Modern Marketing — and why brands that are otherwise sophisticated in growth marketing and customer acquisition often hesitate, stall, or retreat when identity enters the picture.

Marketers know how to tailor products, experiences, and messaging by behavior, lifecycle stage, and preferences. But when personalization intersects with human identity, that rigor often disappears — replaced by assumptions and a return to “general market” thinking.

This episode breaks down:

Why identity shapes how customers decide what’s “for someone like me”

How general market marketing quietly creates friction and lost sales

Why asking customers to adapt is no longer a neutral choice

And how integrating identity completes personalization — instead of complicating it

If growth feels harder than it should, this episode will help you see what’s been missing — and how to fix it.

Find out what's slowing your growth: www.frictionlessgrowthlab.com/quiz

Many brands are finding that the growth strategies that once worked aren’t delivering the same results anymore.

In this episode, Sonia Thompson breaks down the marketplace shifts reshaping brand growth strategy in 2026 and beyond — and why traditional growth playbooks are falling flat.

From trust becoming a real constraint on growth, to discovery happening in entirely new ways, this episode explains what’s changed in the market — and what brands need to do differently to grow today.

If your brand’s growth feels harder than it used to, this episode will help you understand why — and how to adapt your brand growth strategy for the market we’re actually in.

Take the Frictionless Growth Quiz to identify where your brand may be creating hidden friction: frictionlessgrowthlab.com/quiz

Also mentioned in this episode:

Episode 198: The Growth Strategy Behind Crayola's Global Initiative Engaging 17 Million Kids | Brand Strategy and Customer Acquisition Case Study - https://www.frictionlessgrowthlab.com/brand-ecosystem-crayola/

In year one, Crayola launched a global initiative expecting to engage about 500,000 kids. Instead, more than 2 million participated. Five years later, that same initiative now engages over 17 million kids across more than 120 countries.

In this episode, Sonia Thompson breaks down the brand strategy and customer acquisition approach behind that scale with Crayola’s Chief Marketing Officer. Together, they explore how the brand designed a global initiative rooted in inclusive marketing principles — and how focusing on engagement across the customer journey became a powerful engine for building trust, relationships, and long-term growth.

You’ll hear how Crayola:

Used brand strategy to design a global initiative that scales year over year

Approached customer acquisition through participation, not promotion

Built an ecosystem across products, experiences, and content

Applied inclusive marketing to engage diverse audiences worldwide

This conversation offers a clear lesson for modern brands: sustainable growth comes from engaging customers throughout the journey — not just reaching them once.

If you’re curious how other billion-dollar brands are driving growth in today’s market, I’ve linked my Billion-Dollar Brands Roadmap in the show notes. It breaks down the strategies leading brands are using to build relevance, trust, and loyalty at scale. - www.frictionlessgrowthlab.com/roadmap

Crayola Creativity Week 2026 - https://www.crayola.com/learning/creativity-week

Marketing is shifting — and many brands feel it, even if they can’t yet name it.

In this episode, Sonia Thompson speaks with Bennie F. Johnson, CEO of the American Marketing Association, about the AMA 2026 Marketing Trends shaping the future of modern marketing and growth marketing.

They unpack how trust in marketing, AI in marketing, and audience fragmentation are rewriting the rules of growth — driving up customer acquisition costs, raising expectations for relevance, and reshaping how brands build credibility in identity-driven communities.

Drawing on insights from the AMA’s 2026 Future Trends in Marketing research, this conversation explores what’s changing beneath the surface — from responsible artificial intelligence, inclusive leadership, and evolving workforce models to the implications for growth strategy in today’s complex marketing environment.

🎧 A must-listen for CMOs, growth leaders, and brand strategists navigating the next era of modern growth marketing.

Brand growth today depends on evolving your brand strategy and improving the customer journey to meet changing consumer expectations.

In this episode of Frictionless Growth Marketing, Sonia Thompson explores why traditional growth playbooks are breaking down — and what this moment is asking of marketers and business leaders instead.

Drawing on real-world brand examples and cultural shifts, Sonia breaks down how friction shows up across customer acquisition, customer experience, and customer retention — often in ways teams don’t immediately see.

You’ll learn how modern marketing requires removing the friction that slows growth, erodes trust, and pushes customers away — and how to adapt your strategy to grow with clarity and confidence in today’s market.

If you’re rethinking how to grow in a changing landscape, this episode will help you understand what needs to evolve — and where to focus next.

This episode also marks the next chapter of the show — not as a departure from the past, but as a sharper focus on what actually drives growth now.

If you want to understand where friction may be quietly limiting your growth, start with clarity.

Take the free quiz to identify what’s slowing your growth: frictionlessgrowthlab.com/quiz

Because evolution isn’t a loss of identity.

Brand growth today depends on avoiding the marketing mistakes that quietly erode trust, relevance, and customer loyalty.

In this episode of Frictionless Growth Marketing, Sonia Thompson breaks down the biggest marketing mishaps of 2025 and the critical lessons they reveal about brand growth, customer expectations, and modern marketing strategy.

Drawing from real-world brand backlash and high-profile missteps, you’ll learn how friction shows up in messaging, brand decisions, and customer experiences — and why those mistakes matter more than ever in today’s values-driven, identity-rich market.

This episode explores:

If you want to build sustainable brand growth — without repeating the mistakes that cost other brands trust and traction — this episode will help you see what’s really holding growth back, and how to move forward with clarity and confidence.

Not sure where friction is holding your growth back?

Most brands think their messaging is clear.

In this episode of Frictionless Growth Marketing, Sonia Thompson sits down with Dr. J.J. Peterson — marketing and communication expert, former Head of StoryBrand, and former co-host of the globally top-ranked Marketing Made Simple podcast, and current host of the podcast Badass Softie — to unpack how messaging can either remove friction or quietly block business growth at every stage of the customer journey.

Together, they explore why unclear messaging is one of the most overlooked sources of friction in marketing — and how it leads to lost trust, stalled conversion, and missed growth opportunities, especially with today’s identity-rich, values-driven consumers.

This episode will help you spot where your messaging may be slowing customers down — and how to realign it to drive business growth.

You’ll learn:

How unclear messaging creates friction across the customer journey

Why customers need to see themselves in your story to take action

How storytelling increases clarity, trust, and conversion

Where brands unintentionally push customers away with their language and positioning

How to communicate with empathy and authority — without sounding generic or salesy

Why clear, human messaging is essential for sustainable business growth

Dr. Peterson also shares powerful real-world examples, lessons from working with global brands, and insights on how leaders can show up as guides — not heroes — in their customers’ stories.

If you want to improve customer experience, remove messaging friction, and drive business growth through clearer, more human communication, this episode will help you see exactly where to start.

The Super Bowl, the Olympics, and the FIFA World Cup are all happening in 2026 — and they’re not just sporting events. They’re cultural events powered by identity, influence, community, and the underrepresented audiences shaping modern fandom.

The brands that win next year won’t be the ones with the biggest budgets — they’ll be the ones with the deepest cultural understanding and the strongest consumer trust.

In this episode of Frictionless Growth Marketing, Sonia Thompson — inclusive growth and customer experience strategist — sits down with Cesar Martinez, Chief Commercial Officer at Sonoro, the largest multicultural podcast network in the world. Together, they break down:

• Why major 2026 cultural moments (Super Bowl, Olympics, World Cup) require a new marketing playbook
• The identity-led communities driving modern sports fandom — and why they’re essential for brand growth
• How to connect meaningfully with Latino, Gen Z, and multicultural audiences (without pandering or stereotypes)
• Why cultural competency is now a growth strategy, not a “nice to have”
• The risks of getting it wrong — and the long-term benefits of getting it right
• How brands of ANY size can show up in culture (even without a big-game budget)

If your brand wants to grow in 2026 and beyond, this episode will show you exactly how to remove friction, build trust, and create marketing that resonates in moments that matter.

Because the brands that understand and participate in culture will win next year and beyond.

Work with Sonia

Unlock sustainable, frictionless growth in your business:

Friction Finder™ Growth Audit — Identify the friction points pushing customers away and learn exactly how to fix them - https://www.frictionlessgrowthlab.com/frictionfinder/

Links from the episode:

Sonoro - https://sonoromedia.com/

Cesar Martinez on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cesar-martinez-1b34376/

Consumers today aren’t just buying products — they’re buying alignment, transparency, cultural fluency, and trust. And trust has officially become one of the most powerful growth marketing levers a brand can pull.

In this episode, Sonia Thompson — inclusive growth and customer experience strategist — breaks down what three real-world stories from LinkedIn, Disney, and Ralph Lauren reveal about the new rules of brand–consumer trust and how they directly impact growth, loyalty, and long-term revenue.

From algorithmic bias to cultural accuracy to identity-centered storytelling, these case studies show exactly why frictionless, values-led, inclusive marketing isn’t optional anymore — it’s a competitive advantage.

You’ll learn:

Why trust is now a core growth metric and a deciding factor in customer acquisition and loyalty

How Disney’s Moana backlash demonstrates the business impact of cultural accuracy and responsible creative decisions

What Ralph Lauren’s evolution teaches us about identity-driven brand building and long-term growth

Why LinkedIn’s algorithmic bias debate highlights the rising expectations around responsible AI and inclusive design

How representation, transparency, and cultural fluency shape modern customer experience

The specific behaviors today’s consumers reward — and the ones that create friction, backlash, and brand erosion

If you want to build a frictionless growth engine that resonates with today’s identity-led, culturally connected consumers, this episode gives you the clarity and direction you need for 2026 and beyond.

The LinkedIn post and article referenced from LinkedIn staff - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sakshirjain_putting-members-first-testing-and-measuring-activity-7397384012421451776-M7A8/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAADoGrYBxCncTQK1uoD5k0MgXOrx3330CMI