The Great Marketing Unbundling Model
Spot channel disruption early and diversify before incumbents lose efficiency
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 95%
The model treats marketing-channel change as an unbundling process rather than the sudden death of an incumbent. A dominant aggregator becomes vulnerable when rising costs, worsening organic reach, privacy constraints, or a superior technology make alternatives more attractive. Marketers first diagnose pressure on the existing channel, then identify emerging options that serve the same audience need through a different experience or economic model. Each alternative is assessed for audience fit, scale, unit economics, and measurability. Small experiments establish whether it deserves a larger role. The output is a diversified channel portfolio that preserves useful incumbents while reducing dependence on them, allowing the business to adapt before changing customer behavior or platform monetization materially damages growth.
Origin
Extracted from Marketing Against The Grain, where Kipp Bodnar and Kieran Flanagan applied the unbundling concept to advertising, search, and customer messaging.
Core principles
- 01Dominant channels become vulnerable when their economics deteriorate.
- 02Technological change makes previously weak alternatives more competitive.
- 03New channels often supplement incumbents before materially displacing them.
- 04Channel choices should follow audience behavior rather than historical convention.
- 05Diversification reduces dependence on any single aggregator.
How to run it
- 1
Diagnose incumbent pressure
Track whether acquisition costs, organic reach, engagement, privacy restrictions, or platform monetization are degrading the performance of a dominant channel.
Pro tip Examine trends over time rather than reacting to one weak campaign.
Watch out Do not declare a channel dead merely because it has become more competitive.
- 2
Identify the disruption mechanism
Determine whether the pressure comes from a better technology, a changing economic model, new regulation, or evolving customer behavior.
Pro tip Look for cases where two mechanisms reinforce each other, such as better technology combined with lower costs.
Watch out A fashionable new platform is not necessarily a structural disruption.
- 3
Map credible alternatives
List channels that can satisfy the same customer need, including niche platforms, communities, multimedia search experiences, and messaging applications.
Pro tip Include modernized offline channels when technology has improved their targeting or measurement.
Watch out Avoid options that cannot reach enough of the relevant audience.
- 4
Score audience fit and economics
Compare each alternative using audience concentration, achievable scale, cost, measurability, and likely return.
Pro tip Treat scale requirements as stage-dependent; niche channels may work especially well for early-stage businesses.
Watch out A low CPM is not valuable if the audience is irrelevant.
- 5
Run bounded experiments
Test the strongest alternatives with limited budget, a defined audience, and a measurable success criterion.
Pro tip Compare incremental outcomes rather than vanity metrics.
Watch out Do not shift the entire budget before validating repeatable performance.
- 6
Build a diversified portfolio
Retain productive incumbent channels while expanding the alternatives that show useful economics or strategic promise.
Pro tip Review the portfolio whenever customer behavior or platform rules change.
Watch out Diversification without operational focus can spread a small team too thin.
In the wild
A software company sees its Google cost per lead rise for three consecutive quarters. It tests a niche industry newsletter, a measurable out-of-home placement, and a relevant streaming inventory package. The newsletter produces fewer leads but substantially better conversion, so the company keeps Google while reallocating part of its budget to the new channel.
→ The company lowers platform concentration and improves blended acquisition economics.
A regional retailer finds that customers in one market respond more readily through WhatsApp than email. It retains email for receipts and newsletters but pilots permission-based WhatsApp updates for order questions and limited promotions.
→ The retailer adds a higher-engagement channel without prematurely abandoning email.
Common mistakes
Mistaking addition for immediate replacement
Emerging channels may initially supplement a dominant platform rather than cannibalize it. Preserve productive incumbents while testing how customer behavior is actually changing.
Following novelty instead of the audience
A new platform is strategically useful only when the target audience uses it and the business can reach that audience economically.
Ignoring scale requirements
A niche channel may deliver excellent economics but still be too small for a large company's growth target.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for businesses heavily dependent on a small number of advertising, search, or messaging platforms.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for teams that lack enough traffic, budget, or capacity to test more than one channel responsibly.
From the transcript
“debundling happens in one of two ways”
“that unbundling is normally precipitated by major technology change, and it's oftentimes, a major like change in the economic model.”
“the channels and tactics you use are going to evolve.”
From the episode
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