Rethink the funnel to better connect with Gen Z audiences: your go-guide

Pion has partnered with Vision One to get their take on the marketing funnel. Vision One will also be at YMS this coming June.

For decades, marketers have relied on the brand funnel

Awareness, consideration, purchase, loyalty, advocacy — as the go-to framework for understanding how customers engage with brands. It’s neat. It’s linear. And it’s wrong.

For too long, the funnel has dominated brand thinking

The youth focused brands of today need to think differently, as research, neuroscience, and real-world results now show that this framework is flawed and possibly one of the worst approaches for growing a brand.

The 3 myths of the funnel

It assumes a linear journey

In reality, customer journeys are messy. People jump in and out, loop around, and
often start at the “bottom” (e.g. via recommendations or reviews). Brands are not pipelines, they’re networks of energy and emotion.‍‍
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‍It treats decisions as rational
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People don’t buy like robots. We buy based on intuition, emotion, memories, social cues, and cultural triggers. The funnel’s clean, logical flow misses the chaotic, human nature of decision-making.

Awareness is overvalued

Being known is not the same as being wanted. Awareness without interest does little
to move people. Thousands of campaigns studied by the IPA show that awareness
alone offers limited benefits to most brands—especially those without the budget to
back it up with emotional pull or relevance.

‍Flip the funnel: build energy instead

The better analogy? A kettle.

Your brand is the heat source. Consumers are the water molecules. When you apply energy – through creative campaigns, cultural relevance, emotional storytelling—you create momentum. The hotter the water, the more movement you get. Some molecules will “boil” and rise to the top (your buyers).

But if you stop feeding the heat, the energy cools and customers evaporate

Gen Z want to engage with brands generating energy with 64% likely to purchase from brands who they perceive to be growing.

Brand growth is essential for building energy and brand emotion with this audience.  

We tested known global brands across varying sectors with Generation Z, Millennials, Gen X and Boomers- one of the brands with the highest momentum with Gen Z was McDonald’s with a momentum score of 4800, McDonald’s has their finger on the pulse when it comes to creating energy with their audience.

Their recent ad with ‘Order like Stormzy’ taps into their audience effortlessly generating hype around generic items of food allowing Gen Z to order like an artist that resonates, creating momentum around the brand and product offering.

Recent research by Vision One found 46% of Gen Z would be likely to purchase from McDonalds after seeing the ‘Order like Stormzy’ ad‍

Focusing on creating energy and momentum around the brand can help propel brands into growth phases and increase the lifespan of the brand- higher energy around the brand increases the number of people who purchase from the brand and in turn increases profits and the opportunity to reinvest back into the brand.

So what’s the takeaways?

• Ditch the funnel: it’s outdated and misleading.
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• Start tracking energy, not just awareness.
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• Think thermodynamically: You get out what you put in.
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Whether you’re launching, scaling, or stagnating, Brand Momentum offers a more accurate and actionable way to build your brand with Generation Z and Alpha.

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Vision One is an award-winning strategic insight agency that helps brands grow through business and consumer research. With over 25 years of experience, they help companies understand their customers, innovate new products and build stronger brands - empowering them to make better decisions.

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