For decades, marketers have relied on brand funnels—a framework that assumes consumers move linearly from awareness to loyalty. The idea is that brands can "push" consumers through the funnel, ultimately turning them into loyal advocates.
However, this approach has critical shortcomings:
1. Consumer Behavior is Fluid, Not Static
Real-world purchase data shows that consumers don’t stay fixed at one stage in the funnel. Their buying behavior fluctuates as they switch between brands. A consumer might be a loyal buyer one period and a light buyer the next, simply due to natural variation in shopping habits. This makes rigid funnel classifications misleading.
2. Funnels Lack Actionability
Brand funnels fail to identify specific strengths and weaknesses. Larger brands naturally score higher across all funnel metrics, making fair brand comparisons difficult. While monitoring funnel changes over time provides some insight, it doesn’t pinpoint where a brand is overperforming or underperforming—and, most importantly, what actions to take.
A Smarter Approach: Benchmarking for Actionable Insights
Instead of relying on funnel metrics alone, we use benchmarks based on market patterns to evaluate a brand’s true performance. By analyzing how a metric typically changes with market share, we can determine a brand’s expected score and compare it to its actual performance.
For example:
If data shows that a 1% market share increase typically leads to a 0.5% rise in spontaneous awareness, then a brand with 30% market share should have an expected 15% spontaneous awareness.
If the brand’s actual awareness is 18%, it is outperforming expectations—a relative strength.
However, if consideration is 25% but should be 29%, then consideration is underperforming—indicating a potential issue, such as price positioning or brand image weaknesses.
By comparing each metric to its realistic benchmark, we uncover actionable insights that guide brand strategy and drive growth.
At Be Digital, we specialize in benchmark-driven brand evaluation, turning complex data into clear recommendations that improve brand performance.