Build, Nudge and Connect - the funnel rewritten around how memory works rather than how inventory sells
PrincipleBrand Strategy
Roach's modified funnel replaces awareness, consideration and conversion with build, nudge and connect. Build mental availability, associations and brand assets. Nudge refreshes those memories closer to purchase and adds a few extra hooks. Connect is a navigational job that points people to brands they have already decided on.
Source
The WARC Podcast - Four marketing frameworks you need to know (2026)
Tom Roach (VP, Jellyfish / Brandtech Group), interviewed by David Tiltman (WARC)
00:20:37-00:23:32, Tom Roach on The WARC Podcast, April 2026
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PrincipleThe performance plateau is Binet & Field translated for brands that only ever bought performancePrincipleLong and short have to be drawn as one system, or the chart itself invites a choicePrincipleFor a digital-first brand, performance spend is a floor, not a variableCaseThe most useful part of the performance plateau was identified by its readers, not its authorsWarningThe flat part of the growth curve is the most dangerous moment in a scale-up's lifeWarningThe brand-performance balance has shifted far less than the brand bubble believesWarningTeams named after funnel stages are structurally incentivised to stop the system workingPrincipleThe funnel survived because it made ad inventory easy to sell, not because it was ever accurateWarningThe funnel's real problem is the assumption that you can push people through stages in orderPrincipleAwareness is not wrong, it is just far too thin a description of the top of the funnelPrinciplePerformance advertising mostly directs people to brands they have already chosenPrincipleCategory entry points are what replaces the message on a creative brief