The marketing industry loves to convince itself that people sit there, glued to their screens, waiting for their latest campaign to show up. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Recent studies show 50% of TV ads are less interesting to people than watching cows chew grass for 30 seconds. And 85% of ads fail to meet the “attention threshold” required for lasting brand impact.

The reality is this: no one cares about your brand. It sounds harsh. But accept it, and it’s the best thing that will ever happen – for your marketing and your business.

An industry-wide epidemic

I’ve spent the last decade collaborating with talented creatives, founders, marketing experts, and NGOs, and I’ve noticed a pervasive trend: a belief that consumers care about brands as much as our industry does. This isn’t a minor issue; it’s an epidemic. Creatives often see themselves as artists rather than problem solvers, leading to an “ego-first” approach instead of one focused on effectiveness. Founders are deeply invested in their visions, often sacrificing stability and financial security to bring them to life – they have to believe there’s an interest in what they’re selling, if only to maintain their sanity. Meanwhile, NGOs are filled with mission-driven individuals who pour their hearts into causes, making it challenging to step outside their own worldview and see things from a broader perspective.

Even marketing directors, the pragmatic ones in the mix, aren’t immune. Surrounded by industry insiders and LinkedIn Kool-Aid purveyors, they can easily lose sight of what truly matters to consumers. 

So if it’s not helping, why does this cycle continue? Several factors come into play:

  1. The design and advertising industries reward “creative" work that appeals to its own echo chamber over effective solutions, making it more appealing to chase trends than look at the science.
  2. It’s tough to have candid conversations about the fact that “no one cares”. This is especially true for agencies at pitch stage – who wants to risk a contract, in this era of economic uncertainty, by saying ’no one cares about your brand’? 
  3. The False Consensus Effect – a common, human, psychological phenomenon – leads people to assume their beliefs and preferences are shared by others, distorting their sense of reality.

Competing for attention

You're not just competing against other brands for attention either. You're battling constant noise in consumers’ minds. Cognitive load – the mental effort required to process information – will thwart your efforts at every turn. To come back to the point we started with, studies show that today’s consumers are served 4,000 to 10,000 ads each day. But on top of that, they’re bombarded with constant information, too much choice – and, frankly, just the noise of day-to-day life. Their kids asking what’s for tea, their dog barking to go out, their own inner voice asking 'where should I go on holiday?’ and ‘what do I need from the shop?' Against this backdrop, expecting someone to engage with your message, let alone remember it, is a tall order.

Shifting the perspective

So how do you get people to care? The solution is different for every organisation, but we’ve developed a tried-and-tested path to get there.

  • Look at the audience as ‘humans’

Not ‘consumers’, not ‘demographics’. Yes, understanding where someone lives and how much they earn is useful for targeting your marketing, but making someone care requires you to dig deeper. You need to delve into the psyches of the people you’re trying to persuade – Who are they? Really? What matters to them? What do they desire? What do they dread?

  • Understand the ‘pull’ power of your brand

What makes your product, service, or issue magnetic? This isn’t just about features, or even benefits, it’s the thing that will make your audience - this group of humans - gravitate towards you. How do you meet their desires, alleviate their fears, or reinforce their sense of self? 

  • Focus – ruthlessly

This is the hard bit. It’s tempting to build pillars, or hierarchies, or try to sell win-win-win solutions. I get it. I’ve done it. But the truth is it’s not going to work. You can talk about multiple things as part of your overall brand, but when you’re trying to persuade someone, you have to pick The One Thing That Matters. This is the intersection of your Audience/Product Venn diagram. This is the thing that will make people care. Try to make them care about more than one thing at your peril. Trust me. Again, I’ve done it. It. Doesn’t. Work.

This approach isn’t complicated. It’s not wild science, or groundbreaking tech. But it works. And it has helped us launch new products successfully in over-saturated markets, generate record-breaking donations for charities, and persuade people to outspend (by a distance) on more sustainable solutions.

A strong creative philosophy

Once you’ve got to The One Thing That Matters – you know why someone will care about your product - the challenge is getting it out there in a way that will cut through all that noise. I’ve found it helps to have a clear creative philosophy - whether you’re working with a team or just for yourself. It’s not easy, but I like to keep it simple. So we have two creative tools that we use across all projects. 

First, The Three Up Scale allows us to objectively assess creative work against a six-point spectrum. 0 is dangerous. 5 is spectacular. Anything under 3 doesn’t leave the building. This helps us all stay accountable, but it also creates a set of common standards and expectations - allowing for objective discussion (vs emotional, ego-led opinions).

Second, five guiding principles - The 5 Cs - define our internal culture. Clarity, Curiosity, Commitment, Celebration, and Confidence. These are our common values as a business, ensuring we stay focused on impactful creativity and create a space where people feel safe being vulnerable. Because if they don’t, great work is impossible.

As marketing experts, we face a huge challenge: creating work that genuinely speaks to consumers amid a cacophony of competing voices (including the ones inside our audiences’ heads). By starting with ‘no one cares’, you have a much bigger chance of success. At Among Equals, we’re committed to this ruthless, transformative approach. We’ve seen it work for everyone from global giants to challenger brands. Acknowledging no one cares about you might seem daunting at first but, trust me, it changes everything.

Emily Jeffrey-Barrett is the Co-founder and Creative Director at Among Equals.