• by Robert Wheatley , August 6, 2024

For the last 50 years, CPG and retail brand building has been focused on chasing awareness. The theory is that top-of-funnel recognition will lead to consideration -- and if the brand is persuasive while spiraling further down the funnel, a consumer purchase will occur.

The funnel is dead, long live the funnel…

The fundamental weaknesses of the funnel model have been exposed, as follows:

• It is grounded in transactional thinking that positions consumers as walking wallets.
• It fails to address the dynamics of how real brand relationships are built.
• It assumes that consumers will behave in a linear fashion on the road to purchase.

It’s fair to say that the focus of brand marketing work and investment has leaned heavily on top-of-funnel activity -- frustrated somewhat by the demise of mass media, the splintering of consumer attention across channels, and their uncanny newfound ability to avoid it all.

Consumers -- especially Gen Z and Millennials -- no longer operate in linear fashion. For one: The purchase isn’t the end game. Rather, it is the starting point. Consumption is now an infinite loop of inspiration, exploration, community participation and advocacy.

• New brand world is defined by content, events, experiences and fandom.

What are you risking if you continue to be an awareness chaser?

Declining relevance: Your brand and business are seen as exploitive, possibly manipulative and transactional.

Edelman Trust Barometer sheds light on the shift

Edelman’s latest trust report revealed a remarkable change in behavior that has significant implications for sound strategy: People have a strong cognitive bias for post-purchase rationalization.

Edelman’s research confirms where the action is: 50% of consumers now conduct the vast majority of their brand research AFTERpurchase and not before. What’s more, 78% are looking for credible proof and validation that they made the right decision. Turns out, post-purchase is when people are most open to brand engagement.

You might be wondering what’s behind this change…

• The systematic dilution of trust -- based in part on the absence of any prevailing brand value system, higher purpose or real evidence of same.

• The precipitous rise of vulnerability, with consumers uneasy over a perceived lack of personal control due to political, social and environmental stresses.

Brand marketing has shifted to cultural influence

The great news is that consumers in a post-purchase-focused world are primed for engagement. No need to wrestle them to the ground with look-at-me overreach. Here’s advice on best practices.

Trust creation: You should be conveying and demonstrating your brand purpose, mission and identity beyond the product on offer.

You’re working to confirm: your company’s competence, ethics and values -- and their relevance to your consumer, based on their identity and aspirations, which you’re trying to help them fulfill.

You deploy: credible and trusted voices in the form of “people like me” (via user-generated content), scientists and academic experts, brand tech experts and employees.

It’s exciting to know that following purchase, 79% of consumers engage with branded content, will participate in brand activities, and want to connect on your social platforms. Your brand marketing should be operating to help feed and encourage this behavior.

This post was previously published in an earlier edition of Marketing Insider.