⚠️ The US government issues new directives on AI development.

💬 YouTube wants to start conversations with Reddit-style comment threads.

🥤 Coca-Cola brings back cane sugar.

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🏀 How Jordan Brand is marking “40 Years of Greatness.”

💄 Revlon & Guy Fieri debut sauce gloss.

🍪 Plus, Chips Ahoy releases cookies from the Upside Down.

In B2B marketing, the dark funnel is the part of the buyer’s journey that happens before a prospect ever contacts a vendor, accounting for nearly 73% of the entire process.

During this hidden phase, buying teams research anonymously, form opinions, shortlist vendors, and often decide who they’ll buy from before you even know they exist.

Here’s what happens in the dark funnel:

• Independent research on problems and solutions
• Vendor shortlisting
• Requirements building
• Peer and analyst consultation
• Preference formation

By the time a buyer reaches out, 82% already have a preferred vendor.

So, how do you intervene?

1. Track intent signals (via tools like 6sense or Bombora).
2. De-anonymize traffic with IP lookup and ABM platforms.
3. Create strategic content (buyer guides, ROI tools, pricing calculators).
4. Enable self-service research (resource hubs, technical docs, transparent pricing).
5. Measure dark funnel activity with dashboards tracking pre-contact behaviors.

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Earlier this month, PATRÓN Tequila’s “Censored Truth” campaign took a bold stand for transparency in the spirits industry.

With redacted visuals, bleeped audio, and censored train wraps, the campaign challenged consumers to question what’s really in their tequila.

While many brands aren’t required to disclose additives under 1%, PATRÓN uses only three ingredients—100% Weber Blue Agave, water, and yeast—and wants to make that known, despite industry restrictions.

The campaign invites consumers to “read between the lines” while highlighting how industry pressures silence additive-free producers.