The Funnel is Dead: Time for a New Marketing Framework

For too long, marketing has clung to a relic of the past: the Marketing Funnel. Born in the late 19th century as a tidy, linear path to purchase — awareness, interest, desire, action — it promised a predictable blueprint for turning strangers into buyers. Picture a 1900s ad man in a stiff collar, hawking elixirs from a soapbox, confident that consumers would march obediently from curiosity to cash register. That world made sense then: limited choices, captive audiences, and a scarcity of information shaped a landscape where brands could dictate the journey. Fast-forward to today, and that same funnel is still the backbone of how multi-unit restaurant brands approach marketing — despite a seismic shift in consumer behavior that renders it laughably obsolete. Cultivate or Collapse: Marketing in the Age of Overload is here to bury that relic and introduce a model fit for the chaos and opportunity of the modern guest.

Let’s start with the stark reality of today’s consumer — or, as we’ll call them here, patrons, a term that honors their agency and humanity over the cold anonymity of “target.” Patrons don’t wake up pondering a linear trek through a funnel. They’re drowning in options. For every craving — pizza, sushi, a quick coffee — hundreds of brands vie for attention, from local joints to national chains to ghost kitchens on delivery apps. This isn’t just abundance; it’s cognitive overload. A 2023 study estimated the average American encounters 4,000 to 10,000 ads daily, a barrage that scrambles the tidy stages of the old funnel. Patrons don’t sit still long enough to be “aware” before they’re “interested” — they’re Googling, scrolling X, and polling friends in a chaotic swirl of discovery. Yet, multi-unit restaurant marketers still lean on century-old logic, funneling budgets into “top-of-funnel” ads or “conversion” tactics as if patrons obediently follow a script.

The Marketing Funnel’s flaws aren’t just theoretical — they’re exposed by real-world evidence, like Google’s Messy Middle studies. Unveiled in 2020, this research dismantles the funnel’s linear fantasy, revealing a sprawling, nonlinear space between trigger and purchase. Patrons loop, zigzag, and double back, exploring and evaluating in a tangle of touchpoints — reviews, social posts, word of mouth, a slick Instagram story. Google found that even loyal buyers bounce into this “messy middle” repeatedly, swayed by new information or better offers. The funnel assumes a patron’s journey is a straight chute from awareness to action, but the Messy Middle proves it’s more like a pinball machine — unpredictable, dynamic, and driven by emotion as much as logic. A multi-unit brand plastering billboards to “build awareness” might as well be shouting into the void when patrons are already deep in the weeds, comparing Yelp stars or texting friends for recs.

And yet, the industry’s language betrays how stuck we are. Consider the term “eblast.” It’s still slung around in 2025, a fossil of email marketing that screams everything wrong with our practices. An “eblast” isn’t an invitation — it’s a bombardment, a one-way assault on inboxes that assumes patrons want to be hit with noise. It’s proof positive that restaurant marketing hasn’t evolved fast enough to match the patron’s reality. We’re still playing whack-a-mole with attention, not building relationships. Worse, this martial vocabulary — “campaigns,” “targets,” “blasts” — sets a violent tone that’s antithetical to growth. Who wants to be “blasted” by a brand they’re supposed to trust with their Friday night dinner? The funnel thrives on this aggression, pushing patrons down its chute like cattle, but today’s patrons aren’t here for it. They’re not passive — they’re in control, and they demand connection, not coercion.

Layer onto this the outdated obsession with “campaigns.” Multi-unit brands pour resources into splashy, time-bound efforts — seasonal promos, grand openings, limited-time offers — while patrons live in an always-on world. They don’t wait for your campaign to discover you; they’re scrolling X at 2 a.m., craving tacos, and choosing based on what’s immediate, authentic, and resonant. The funnel’s episodic mindset — launch an ad, measure conversions, repeat — can’t keep pace with a patron base that’s always consuming, always judging, always producing their own narratives about your brand through reviews and posts. Campaigns are a relic of a broadcast era; today’s multi-unit leaders need a system that’s perpetual, adaptive, and patron-led.

This is where the old dies and the new begins. The Marketing Funnel is dead — not because it was wrong for its time, but because its time is over. In its place rises the APC Model: Attract, Promote, Cultivate. This isn’t just a tweak to the playbook; it’s a paradigm shift that mirrors how patrons seek to connect with brands today. Attract is about cutting through the cognitive overload with relevance and authenticity — think localized storytelling or partnerships that spark curiosity, not billboards shouting into the abyss. Promote moves beyond “conversion” to meaningful engagement — data-driven offers that respect the patron’s messy journey, not generic discounts blasted to a list. Cultivate is the heart of it all: fostering intimacy and loyalty so patrons don’t just dine — they advocate, return, and root for your brand as it scales from 3 locations to 20+.

The APC Model doesn’t force patrons into a chute; it meets them where they are — overwhelmed, discerning, and hungry for connection. It rejects the funnel’s violence for a foundation of trust. No more “eblasts” or “campaigns” that treat patrons like targets; instead, it’s an always-on dialogue, a living relationship that grows with every interaction. For multi-unit restaurant leaders, this isn’t optional — it’s survival. The brands that cling to the funnel will stagnate, lost in the noise of a million options. Those that embrace APC will thrive, building empires not through force, but through the quiet power of patrons who choose them again and again.

This publication series is your guide to that shift. We’ll unpack the APC Model, dismantle the funnel’s lingering myths, and arm you with strategies to scale your brand in a world where patrons hold the reins. The funnel is dead. Long live the patron.