How can brands stand out in the attention economy? (part 2)

Jennifer Banful, copywriter, Tug: “It’s important for brands to appeal to their audiences in a way that feels relatable, current, or even a tad rebellious. One of the easiest ways to do this is in the comments. Instead of feeling far removed from your audience with traditional contact forms and automated emails, responding directly to comments on posts is a great way to stand out and use the community features on social platforms. Exemplary brands include Ryanair, with its unapologetic and deadpan humor, and Duolingo, for its playful tone. While it’s a great way to increase engagement and spark a conversation, it’s essential to read the room, unlike Kris Jenner’s recent staged, leaked photo catastrophe with MAC Cosmetics, which led to uproar in the comments. It seems turning lament into Limes requires staying on the pulse, as with Lime Bike’s ingenious ‘Good service on all Limes’. Instantly memeable.”

Jonathan Hassell, CEO, Hassell Inclusion: “In an increasingly ‘noisy’ society, it’s understandable to think that if you shout loudest, then you’ll get noticed. However, for certain audiences, this can be hugely counter-productive. For example, when engaging with a brand, or considering a product or service, people who are neurodiverse want to be able to focus on whatever they are looking for. Content they weren’t looking for or expecting is just a distraction, which may mean they’ll look elsewhere. So, for this audience, less is most definitely more. That said, if you do want to stand out, it is important that the content is fresh and offers a different perspective. Creating content or themes around disability could offer something new and empathetic that audiences may not have seen before. However, a word of caution here – any content around disability must be authentic to the perspectives of people with disability. And if it’s not aligned to your brand, then don’t do it.”

Jenny Bronstein, chief business officer, NVE Experience Agency: “People pay attention when they choose to pay attention – when they’re actively engaged. That’s the key for brands in today’s attention economy. Rather than forcing themselves into lives through unskippable ads, brands should invest in experiences. Experiences are inherently participatory: people choose to show up, decide how much time to spend, and opt into how deeply they engage. That act of choice creates more potent, memorable connections than passive content ever could. In the battle for attention, the win isn’t shouting louder – it’s creating spaces where people are eager to lean in.”

Alex Turtschan, innovation director, Mediaplus Group: “For years, marketers assumed gen Z lived entirely online. But data – and behavior – tell a different story. This generation is actively rejecting the ‘always-on’ culture, choosing vinyl, running clubs, and analog meet-ups over algorithmic feeds. That’s not nostalgia – it’s resistance. The takeaway for brands is clear: stop chasing trends, start enabling communities. Build ecosystems in which the brand acts as infrastructure, not the centerpiece. Partner with slow media or create collectible formats. Converse’s collaboration with Hypebeast on limited-edition zines worked because they became cultural artifacts with genuine standalone value. Content should be something people want to keep, not scroll past. When media is designed to be collected, revisited, and shared offline, you’ve shifted from interruption to invitation – and earned the kind of attention that lasts.”

Anca Rhone, group strategy director, The MX Group: “The idea that attention is the endgame is flawed. Attention is a means, not the prize. The real goal is mental availability – being remembered at the moment of buying. That’s why chasing attention for its own sake often backfires. You get eyes, but not memories. To create memory, you need breakthrough creative — an idea as entertaining or as worth spending time with as the content your audience is already watching. In B2B, especially, growth comes from brand salience: consistently linking your brand to category entry points, the situations that trigger demand. Paid media builds reach, content builds credibility; consistency across both builds memory structures. Not being the loudest, not forcing themselves into every scroll, but showing up in a way that sticks, so when the buying situation arises, your brand is the one people actually remember.”

Will Brittain, head of brand media, Connective3: “When using paid media, you need to start from the perspective that a view does not equal attention. Between second-screening, passive scrolling, and on-the-go listening, you cannot be confident that even a viewable impression has been perceived. Too many brands are getting stuck on reach as a winning metric and are running low-frequency campaigns that can’t cut through the noise. What works now is a compound approach: building frequency and spreading coverage across channels. Aim for a minimum average of at least five ad exposures to each user per campaign to ensure you can break into an actively attentive moment. Combine that with a cross-channel plan so that when someone’s not paying attention on their phone, you’re on their TV (and vice versa), and you can start creating consistent brand cut-through. Creative still rules, but the single impact is losing power. Combining creativity with compound frequency = effective brand lift in 2025.”

Jamie Davies, executive creative director UK, Momentum Worldwide: “In the battleground for attention when we are already at a saturation point of people vying for your eyes and cash, it is vital to do some of these things. Be authentic: easy to say, really hard to actually do. That means creating content that matters, especially when the brand involved doesn't shout or badge something for the sake of it but actually adds value and shows up in the right way at the right time and therefore becomes an authentic part of the content piece itself (this could be done with clever product placement: AB InBev is becoming a master of this, cropping up in so many Netflix shows, subtly as the protagonists drink of choice it's now hard to count). Be hilarious, surreal, and silly. Comedy cuts through and by genuinely making people laugh, you create something instantly more shareable, as everyone likes to spread laughter and be first in on the joke. Interactivity is also good if done well, though few are, but I'd love to see more smart pieces of interactive storytelling used in integrated campaigns.”