Broad-Reach Works Better for Scale: The Data-Backed Case Against Over-Personalization

By German Tirado, August 12, 2025

Introduction: The Myth of One-to-One Personalization in Brand Growth

In today’s marketing landscape, the phrase “personalized, one-to-one marketing” has become a buzzword repeated in conference rooms, LinkedIn posts, and agency pitches. Proponents argue that micro-targeting and personalized content are the future, that to win in a competitive market, brands must deliver hyper-relevant, highly tailored messages to individual consumers at the perfect moment. The appeal is obvious: improved click-through rates, lower cost per acquisition, and campaigns that feel more “human.”

But while personalization can deliver short-term engagement, the empirical evidence from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute of Marketing Science reveals a fundamental truth: brands do not achieve long-term scale through narrow targeting, they grow by expanding market penetration through broad-reach marketing [18] [19].

The foundation of a successful brand growth strategy isn’t about speaking to fewer people “better.” It’s about being remembered by more category buyers, more often, in more buying situations. This is achieved by building mental availability (being easily recalled in a purchase situation) and physical availability (being easy to buy), both of which require mass marketing reach rather than narrow audience selection.

In fact, marketing science has repeatedly shown that broad-reach advertising, executed with distinctive brand assets and linked to multiple Category Entry Points (CEPs)—outperforms personalization when it comes to scaling a business. This is because:

Most category sales come from light buyers who purchase infrequently, making them difficult to target precisely.

The 95-5 Rule tells us that only about 5% of buyers are in-market at any given time—meaning you must also advertise to the 95% who aren’t yet ready to buy but will be in the future.

Broad-reach campaigns build the wider, fresher memory networks needed for long-term competitive advantage.

In this article, we’ll explore the data-backed case for broad-reach marketing as the primary driver of scale, why personalized marketing can be a growth trap, and how to design campaigns that maximize reach while building long-term brand salience. We’ll also show how concepts like mental availability, physical availability, distinctive assets, and Category Entry Points work together to create a sustainable path to market share growth.

Introduction: The Myth of One-to-One Personalization in Brand Growth
The Evidence for Broad-Reach Marketing
Why Personalization Struggles to Scale
How Broad-Reach Builds Brands at Scale
Implementing Broad-Reach Marketing in Practice
Metrics That Matter
Common Myths About Broad-Reach vs. Personalization
Conclusion: Why Broad-Reach Marketing Is the Proven Path to Scale
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Works Cited

The Evidence: The Double Jeopardy Law in Action

The Double Jeopardy Law
The Double Jeopardy Law states that brands with more buyers also enjoy slightly higher loyalty, while smaller brands suffer twice: fewer buyers and lower loyalty. The only way to break this cycle is to reach more category buyers, which broad-reach media achieves far better than personalization [18].
Mental Availability Is Built Broadly
Mental availability—how easily your brand comes to mind in a buying situation—is not built through isolated, one-to-one engagements. It’s built by repeatedly exposing large audiences to your brand in association with Category Entry Points (CEPs) such as “when budgets are tight” or “when replacing outdated equipment” [19].
The 95-5 Rule
In B2B markets, only around 5% of category buyers are in-market at any given time. If your targeting focuses exclusively on these in-market buyers, you miss the 95% who will buy in the future. Broad-reach advertising ensures you plant memory cues now for tomorrow’s purchases [19].

Why Personalization Struggles to Scale

Personalization isn’t useless—it can be effective for short-term sales activation or retention efforts. The problem comes when personalization becomes the primary growth strategy.

Limited Audience Size
By defining your audience too narrowly, you exclude the majority of category buyers. Growth comes from light buyers—those who buy infrequently—and they’re often missed by hyper-targeting.
Memory Decay
Brand associations fade quickly without reinforcement. Personalized campaigns often focus on immediate conversion rather than the continuous salience-building required for long-term growth.
Data Reliability Issues
Personalization depends on tracking and segmentation data, which can be incomplete, outdated, or wrong. Meanwhile, broad-reach doesn’t need to “know” the individual—it simply ensures your brand is present in as many relevant buying memories as possible.

How Broad-Reach Builds Brands at Scale

Expanding Category Buyer Coverage
Broad-reach campaigns ensure that both current and future buyers are aware of your brand. By covering the entire category, you naturally capture light buyers who make up the majority of sales volume.
Building Multiple CEP Links
The more Category Entry Points your brand is linked to in buyers’ memories, the more likely it is to be considered. For example, in the U.S. business insurance category, brands with more CEPs had significantly lower defection rates, showing the value of broad association building [19].
Sustained Mental Availability
Consistent, mass-reaching advertising keeps your brand top-of-mind across purchase cycles, combating memory decay and competitive interference.

Implementing Broad-Reach Marketing in Practice

Step 1: Choose Channels With Real Reach

Mass Media: TV, radio, YouTube, and programmatic display.

Digital Broad-Reach: Facebook/Instagram reach campaigns, streaming audio, and connected TV.

Avoid Over-Narrowing: Don’t exclude audiences unless there’s a legal or ethical requirement.

Step 2: Build CEPs Into Creative

Focus on one CEP per ad for clarity.

Over the course of the year, rotate through multiple CEPs (e.g., “when you’re launching a new location,” “when you’re upgrading software,” “when budgets are tight”) to widen mental availability.

Step 3: Maintain Distinctive Brand Assets

Use consistent logos, colors, taglines, and sonic cues to reinforce recognition.

Ensure assets are visible in the first seconds of any ad.

Step 4: Balance Long-Term Brand Building With Short-Term Sales Activation

Allocate roughly 60-70% of budget to broad-reach brand building and 30-40% to targeted activation campaigns for in-market buyers.

Metrics That Matter

Market Penetration: % of category buyers who purchase from your brand.

Mental Market Share: % of buyers who recall your brand for each CEP.

Distinctive Asset Salience: % recognition of your core brand assets.

Reach % of Category Buyers: How many unique buyers saw your campaign.

Common Myths About Broad-Reach vs. Personalization

Myth: “Personalized ads are always more relevant, so they work better.”

Fact: Relevance is meaningless if you’re invisible to 90% of the category.

Myth: “Mass media wastes money on people who won’t buy.”

Fact: Most sales come from light or future buyers who weren’t “ready” before—they need repeated exposure to remember you later.

Myth: “Personalization builds deeper relationships.”

Fact: Most buyers have shallow, habitual brand relationships. Broad-reach maintains salience so you’re chosen without deep emotional involvement.

Conclusion: Why Broad-Reach Marketing Is the Proven Path to Scale

The evidence is conclusive: broad-reach marketing is not just a traditional approach, it is the foundation of any effective brand growth strategy. While personalized, one-to-one marketing can play a supporting role in short-term sales activation, it cannot deliver the market penetration gains required for sustainable growth.

Decades of empirical research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute show that brands grow by reaching all category buyers, not by narrowing the audience to a handpicked segment [18] [19]. This is because mental availability, the likelihood that a buyer will recall your brand in a purchase situation can only be built through consistent exposure across as many Category Entry Points (CEPs) as possible. And physical availability, making your product easy to find and buy, depends on ensuring your brand is widely recognized before the purchase moment even arrives.

By focusing on mass marketing channels that deliver true category reach, brands maximize their presence among:

Heavy buyers who already purchase frequently.

Light buyers who make up the majority of a brand’s customer base and sales volume.

Future buyers who may be out-of-market today but will be in-market tomorrow.

This broad exposure builds wider, fresher memory networks, reinforcing brand salience and reducing the risk of being forgotten in competitive purchase situations. The 95-5 Rule reminds us that while only a small fraction of the market is actively buying at any given time, the rest still need to see and remember your brand so you’re front of mind when their buying situation changes.

To scale effectively, marketers should:

Prioritize reach over precision, avoid over-targeting that excludes large portions of the category.
Integrate multiple CEPs into creative over time to build mental availability across diverse buying triggers.
Maintain distinctive brand assets for instant recognition in all campaigns.
Balance brand building with activation, dedicating the majority of spend to long-term reach rather than short-term conversions.

In short, growth is not about chasing a mythical “perfect audience” with hyper-personalized messages, it’s about being remembered by as many category buyers as possible, in as many relevant buying situations as possible. Broad-reach marketing, rooted in the proven laws of marketing science, gives brands the mental and physical availability they need to win market share and defend it over time.

If your ambition is scale, the choice is clear: go broad, stay consistent, and build for the long game.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: What is broad-reach marketing?

Broad-reach marketing is a strategy that aims to expose your brand to as many category buyers as possible, regardless of whether they are currently in the market. It focuses on maximizing audience coverage to build both mental availability (being remembered) and physical availability (being easy to buy).

Q2: Why is broad-reach marketing better for scaling a brand than personalized marketing?

While personalized, one-to-one marketing can improve short-term engagement, it limits audience size and excludes many potential buyers. Broad-reach marketing ensures your brand is seen by both current and future buyers, aligning with the laws of brand growth such as the Double Jeopardy Law and the 95-5 Rule, which emphasize the importance of market penetration over narrow targeting.

Q3: What is the 95-5 Rule in marketing?

The 95-5 Rule, identified in research by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, states that at any given time, only about 5% of buyers in a category are actively looking to purchase. The remaining 95% are out-of-market but will buy in the future. Broad-reach advertising ensures your brand is remembered when those future buyers enter the market.

Q4: How does broad-reach marketing help build mental availability?

Broad-reach campaigns consistently expose your brand to the entire category, linking it to multiple Category Entry Points (CEPs)—situations or needs that trigger a purchase. This repeated exposure strengthens memory links so your brand comes to mind easily when a buying situation arises.

Q5: Should I completely avoid personalized marketing?

Not necessarily. Personalized marketing can work well for short-term sales activation or retargeting in-market buyers. However, for long-term growth and brand scale, it should complement—not replace—mass-reach brand building.

Q6: How do I measure the success of a broad-reach campaign?

Key metrics include:

Market penetration (% of category buyers purchasing your brand)
Mental market share (share of buyers who recall your brand for key CEPs)
Distinctive asset salience (% recognition of your brand assets)
Reach percentage (proportion of category buyers exposed to your advertising)

Q7: Can broad-reach marketing work for both B2B and B2C brands?

Yes. Research shows that the laws of brand growth apply in both B2B and B2C markets. The principles of building mental and physical availability through broad reach remain consistent across industries.

Works cited

[18] Romaniuk, J., Dawes, J., & Faghidno, S. (2021). The Double Jeopardy Law in B2B Shows the Way to Grow. Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science.

[19] Romaniuk, J. (2022). Category Entry Points in a Business-to-Business (B2B) World. Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science.