Persuasion starts with permission

Welcome to a space where every edition delivers insights, strategies, and inspiration to fuel your advertising brilliance. 🤯

🧠 The Anti-Funnel Revolution: Why Customers Should Guide Your Strategy (Not the Other Way Around)

The traditional funnel is broken—not because the steps are wrong, but because the control is an illusion.

Old-school marketing treats customers like passive objects to be moved: Awareness → Consideration → Decision. But modern buyers don’t move in straight lines. They explore, jump stages, rewind, and most importantly—they choose. That’s why the smartest brands are ditching the funnel for a new framework:

The Anti-Funnel — a system where curiosity pulls the customer forward, and your brand simply stays in the right place to be found.

1. Gamify Self-Discovery, Don’t Push Benefits

A skincare brand replaced product pitches with a viral “Skin IQ” quiz. Instead of explaining their product, they asked disarming questions:

“Is your pillowcase aging you?”

“Does stress sabotage your glow?”

Users weren’t persuaded. They persuaded themselves. In under 4 minutes, they went from unaware to fully educated—and converted 37% better.

Why it works:

• Autonomy builds trust.

• Competence triggers pride.

• Shareability creates viral lift.

You don’t need a pitch. You need a mirror.

2. Turn Products Into Protagonists of a User-Generated Saga

GoPro didn’t sell cameras—they sold “the hero’s journey in your pocket.” By urging users to share raw, unfiltered clips of skydives, mountain summits, and toddler first steps, they turned their product into the invisible star of every story. The camera wasn’t a gadget; it was the enabler of legacy.

Why it works:

• Narrative Ownership: Customers in Stage 3 (“solution aware”) crowdsource your value proposition by broadcasting how they use your product, not just buy it.

• Social Proof: Unpolished, adrenaline-charged clips (Stage 4 → 5) bypass ad fatigue, letting peers validate your product’s worth better than any script.

Tools like Motion expert agents analyze these grassroots stories to spot emerging desire patterns—so you can amplify what’s working before competitors notice. You can get early access to Expert Agents here.

3. Use Data to Adapt Messaging, Not Just Optimize Ads

A meal-kit company discovered Reddit threads where customers called themselves “accidental gourmet chefs.” So they pivoted. Instead of “save time,” the brand promised “unlock your inner genius.”

Result? A 22% lift in male conversions.

Final Thought

Funnels are about control. Anti-funnels are about curiosity. Stop dragging customers through a sequence—build environments where they choose the journey and invite your brand to join.

When they sell themselves, you’ve already won.

Together with Poplar

There is a reason Direct Mail has re-emerged as such a powerful marketing channel for performance marketers.

New printing technology, platform integrations, and 1:1 personalization have allowed top brands to leverage the channel in an effective, highly profitable way that was never possible before..

Still, marketers need a solution that integrates all of that for them, giving them the ability to launch, test, measure, and iterate on their campaigns quickly and effectively.

That’s where Poplar comes into play.  

Poplar is the leading platform for tech-powered direct mail, used by hundreds of major eCommerce and retail brands like Manscaped and more:

• Lemonade –  Leveraged customer data to power direct mail personalization, resulting in a 46% increase in conversions.
• Kettle & Fire –  Utilized Poplar for win-back campaigns on lapsed customers, which led to a 15x ROAS and response rate lift of 1.4%
• Knix – Achieved a $10 CPO on retention campaigns using Poplar’s Shopify integration.

With real-time attribution, a powerful Shopify app, and direct Klaviyo integration, Poplar makes it easy for DTC marketers to get up and running quickly and drive profitable Acquisition, Retention, and Retargeting campaigns.

Book a free demo with Poplar and get a free one-month trial of their Pro Plan (a $499 value) with no minimum spend or commitment.

🚀  Reel of the Day

What Works:

Starting with an audition waiting room and a loud “No. 603” instantly grabs attention. It feels like the beginning of a reality show, tapping into familiar media tropes to create instant recognition and intrigue.

Instead of leading with product placement, Meller lets the narrative lead, only introducing the shades organically when the contestant picks her “talent.”

Showing quirky, bizarre, and impressive talents humanizes the reel. This unpredictability taps into meme culture and Gen Z humor, boosting replay value and relatability. From weird tongue tricks to intense breakdancing, it mimics the chaos of real auditions while keeping the energy fun and unpredictable.

The final line-up + announcement scene replicates classic TV formats, making viewers stay till the end. The closing credit-roll spoof (listing “shades for all shades” and contestant names) ties everything together while subtly reinforcing Meller’s inclusive branding.

Broader Insights:

This reel isn’t selling sunglasses—it’s selling personality, performance, and playful identity. Meller uses an entertainment-first approach, embedding the product as a key character in a story that feels like something out of Netflix, not an ad. It’s how modern storytelling meets brand-building in under 60 seconds.

Thanks for reading this edition! Keep pushing boundaries, testing ideas, and staying inspired. See you in the next edition with more ways to ignite your marketing success. 🥰