Consumer Journeys Demand Continuous Engagement Beyond Funnel Thinking

The traditional marketing funnel is no longer a reliable map for consumer journeys. Instead, a fragmented, dynamic ecosystem demands a shift from linear progression to a continuous loop of inspiration and action. This conversation reveals the hidden consequences of clinging to outdated funnel thinking: wasted ad spend, missed opportunities, and a failure to connect with consumers who operate on their own terms. Leaders from LYS Beauty, Liquid Death, Smart Commerce, Kellanova, Sephora, and Argonaut navigate this new landscape, emphasizing the critical need for relevance, emotional connection, and a deep understanding of consumer behavior across all touchpoints. Anyone in marketing, brand strategy, or retail operations who wants to move beyond vanity metrics and drive genuine business outcomes will find invaluable insights here, offering a strategic advantage in an increasingly complex marketplace.

The Funnel's Collapse: Embracing the "Shoots and Ladders" of Consumer Behavior

The ubiquitous marketing "funnel" has become a relic, a concept so outdated it's often referred to as "the other F-word" in marketing meetings. As Jennifer Silverberg of Smart Commerce points out, the linear progression from awareness to purchase is a myth. Consumers now discover, consider, and buy in near-instantaneous bursts across myriad channels, often in ways that defy traditional stage-based thinking. This isn't just a minor shift; it's a fundamental redefinition of the consumer journey. The consequence? Brands that continue to operate under the old funnel paradigm risk significant inefficiencies, pouring resources into strategies that don't align with how people actually behave.

Tisha Thompson, founder of LYS Beauty, experienced this firsthand when her brand went viral on TikTok. The surge in orders had little to do with her carefully crafted brand narrative and more to do with a simple product demonstration. This forced a strategic backtrack: the conversion happened first, and the brand awareness needed to follow. This highlights a crucial downstream effect of funnel collapse: the need for continuous, multi-pronged engagement. As Thompson states, "You really need to be doing tactics at all elements and all gears at all times." The implication is that brands can no longer afford to silo their efforts into distinct "funnel stages." Instead, they must orchestrate a constant flow of activity across awareness, consideration, and conversion, recognizing that these actions can happen in any order.

Benoit Vatere of Liquid Death offers a more visceral analogy: "shoots and ladders." This captures the unpredictable, often backward-and-forward movement of consumers. A simple review can catapult a brand's reputation, while a viral moment can drive immediate sales without prior brand recognition. This dynamic challenges the notion of a singular, brand-driven narrative. Instead, the consumer is in control, navigating a landscape where inspiration and action are inextricably linked, but not necessarily in that order. The danger here is for brands to become complacent, assuming their carefully constructed upper-funnel messaging will automatically translate to lower-funnel sales.

"The truth is, the first time I saw Liquid Death, I was like, 'Oh, cool, that's cool, I'm going to have that.' And so there was this compression of between discovery and action that we feel like it's in the reason we call it the other F-word is if you're thinking in terms of a funnel and you believe that your job is awareness, kind of purchase interest, you know, brand awareness kind of thing, that you can do a lot of dumb things and weak things and things that at the end of the day don't drive somebody to buy the product, which is at the end of the day, the only thing that pays for our kids to go to college or to buy our car or whatever, is somebody's got to buy something. So that's for us, it's thinking about action rather than feeling."

-- Jennifer Silverberg

The core problem, as Silverberg articulates, is a potential disconnect between "feeling" (brand building, emotional connection) and "action" (purchase). While emotions are undeniably powerful drivers, especially in categories like beauty, the ultimate goal remains conversion. The challenge lies in ensuring that brand-building efforts, however emotionally resonant, ultimately contribute to tangible sales. This requires a strategic alignment where every piece of marketing asset, as Candace Payne of Sephora suggests, must "pull both brand and demand." This dual purpose is a significant creative challenge, demanding a level of sophistication that moves beyond traditional, single-objective campaigns.

The Rise of the "Retailer as Media Company"

A significant consequence of the funnel's collapse is the evolving relationship between brands and retailers. Retailers are increasingly becoming media companies, leveraging their first-party data and direct consumer access to create new revenue streams. This shift fundamentally alters how brands must strategize their media investments and partnerships. Nicole Vinson of Kellanova highlights this, noting that CPG companies now have greater access to purchase behavioral data, previously a closely guarded secret by retailers. This access, facilitated by investments in retail media, allows for more effective audience targeting and a deeper understanding of consumer journeys.

"I think on that, what is key to make it all work together, and maybe a bit technical, but it is tech, like it is, in my opinion, what I call identity resolution. Like, there's no cookie, there's no such thing anymore to follow that person around. We need to be able to understand who has seen us at what stage of the funnel. So now we're getting in front of them, we're getting in front of them with the right message to either go try the product or to go back and repeat a purchase on the product."

-- Nicole Vinson

The implication of Vinson's point on "identity resolution" is profound. As third-party cookies become obsolete, the ability to track and understand individual consumer journeys becomes paramount. Retail media networks offer a solution, enabling brands to leverage retailer data for more precise targeting and personalized messaging. This creates a powerful flywheel effect: better data leads to more effective advertising, which drives more sales, which generates more data. However, this also means brands must be more strategic about their investments, prioritizing partnerships that offer genuine data insights and collaborative opportunities, rather than just ad placements.

Candace Payne of Sephora underscores this transformation, emphasizing how retailers are not just selling products but also creating content and media experiences. Sephora's creator storefronts, for example, leverage influencers to drive direct purchases, turning content creators into de facto media channels. This blurs the lines between inspiration and commerce even further. The consequence for brands is a need to adapt their creative strategies to seamlessly integrate into these retailer-led media ecosystems, ensuring their message resonates within a context that is both inspirational and transactional.

The Creativity Moat in an AI-Saturated World

As AI continues to democratize data access and content generation, creativity is emerging as the ultimate differentiator. Beth Tripaldi from Argonaut points out that while everyone will soon have access to vast amounts of data, it will be the ability to craft compelling narratives and unique brand identities that sets businesses apart. The danger here is that brands might rely too heavily on AI-generated content or data-driven personalization, losing their unique voice and emotional connection.

"The one thing that I keep resting my morals on here is the fact that creativity is the one thing that's going to be immensely important at this moment in time. Everyone is going to have access to so much data and it's going to be more accessible and more easy to actually like manipulate than ever. And everyone's going to be able to use it at some point in time. And so creativity is going to be the key thing that everyone's going to have to use in order to move forward and to build that differentiation and that distinction that we started this conversation around."

-- Beth Tripaldi

This suggests that the long-term advantage will not come from simply having more data, but from the insightful application of that data through human creativity. Brands that can connect with consumers on an emotional level, tell compelling stories, and offer unique experiences will be the ones that thrive. This requires an investment in creative talent and a willingness to experiment with new forms of storytelling, even as AI tools become more sophisticated. The immediate discomfort of developing truly original creative work will pay off in the long run with a durable brand identity that resists commoditization.

Key Action Items

• Reframe "Funnel" to "Flywheel" or "Shoots and Ladders": Immediately begin using language that reflects the dynamic, non-linear nature of consumer journeys in all internal discussions and strategy documents. This shift in perspective is foundational.
• Audit Creative Assets for Dual Purpose: Over the next quarter, review all current marketing creative. Assess whether each asset simultaneously builds brand equity and drives demand/conversion. Identify gaps and begin planning for integrated creative development.
• Prioritize Retail Media Partnerships: Allocate a portion of the marketing budget (e.g., 10-15%) towards strategic partnerships with key retailers that offer robust data insights and audience targeting capabilities. This investment will pay off in 6-12 months with more efficient campaign performance.
• Invest in Identity Resolution Technology: Begin researching and piloting identity resolution solutions to build a more robust understanding of individual consumer journeys, especially as third-party cookies phase out. This is a longer-term investment, with significant payoffs expected in 12-18 months.
• Champion Creativity as a Differentiator: Within the next six months, establish a framework for evaluating creative output that prioritizes originality, emotional resonance, and brand storytelling over sheer data optimization. This requires a cultural shift, encouraging risk-taking in creative development.
• Develop "Always-On" Brand and Demand Messaging: Implement a strategy where every marketing touchpoint, regardless of its primary objective, incorporates elements that reinforce brand identity and encourage action. This requires cross-functional alignment between brand and performance marketing teams.
• Seek Direct Consumer Feedback (with Caution): While acknowledging the limitations of relying solely on vocal minorities, implement structured methods for gathering direct consumer input (e.g., targeted surveys, focus groups) to complement data analysis, ensuring a more holistic understanding of audience needs. This provides ongoing insights.