7 Attention Hacks for Brands in 2025

The average human attention span may not literally be shorter than a goldfish’s (that’s a myth!), but it’s definitely under pressure. Endless feeds, AI-generated content, and an algorithm economy that changes faster than a TikTok trend have made holding audience focus the ultimate brand challenge.

At our latest Future Skills Fest breakfast, four brilliant minds - Matt Plant (Thinkerbell), Georgia Fink (Bega), Mason Rook (Pedestrian Group), and Bridget Cleary (BRX) - shared their best strategies for breaking through. We’ve also added a few extra hacks, backed by behavioural science and industry research, so you can future-proof your brand attention game. 

Anything that works in the long term, should also work in the short term. We work with lots of major big brands, and our view is there’s no point trying to build something in 3 years if it’s not also going to drive them an immediate outcome. We think about it as what is the right brand operating system, and how do you build the right elements to do all of the jobs that you need to do. You come from the point of view of who you are and what you need, rather than being a slave to the algorithm."  - Bridget Cleary (BRX)

Algorithms are fickle. One study found that the average TikTok trend lasts just seven days before engagement drops. Build a brand that people recognise and trust regardless of the latest platform update - then use the algorithm as an amplifier, not a crutch.

"There’s so many social trends happening within each market and each audience group, so instead of taking a real homogenous approach to a zennial audience (so Gen Z or a Millennial), it’s who are we going after and what’s the thing that’s working for that audience and where can you tap into it authentically." - Mason Rook (Pedestrian Group)

People are wired to notice novelty, faces, and emotion - which is why a heartfelt story or an unexpected twist can outperform a perfectly polished campaign. Think less “content factory,” more “tiny dopamine spark.”

"I think people put too much emphasis on attention. I know that’s disruptive considering the nature of this talk, but there’s a number of facets of attention - there’s goal driven attention and then stimulus driven attention, and what we notice is a negotiation between those two parts. The focus for all marketers should be building memory structures that activate them later on - and that’s more about memory, than it is about attention. Attention is cheap, but memory is expensive." - Matt Plant (Thinkerbell)

When every brand is following the same “top 5 trends,” the best thing you can do is zag. Distinctiveness drives memory - and memory drives market share. In Byron Sharp’s words: “Being noticed is not enough. You have to be noticed and remembered.”

"Within brand, you want to lean into the trend, but by doing so, there’s a way you can create your own unique moment within that AI algorithm. Each brand has their own personality, their own authenticity, which we should play into within that trend to make sure we’re disrupting that market so that we’re having our own unique spin on it." - Georgia Fink (Bega)

Gen Z’s BS radar is razor-sharp. They’re not anti-brand, but they are anti-fake. Make your content participatory (polls, duets, challenges), not just broadcast. And with Gen Alpha coming fast, expect shorter formats, more immersive experiences, and higher expectations for social responsibility.

"You decide how you’re going to play in that ecosystem. You are very clear about the metrics that you’re trying to drive so that you’re not distracted by bits of attention for the sake of it - but what is valuable, rather than just what’s measurable." - Bridget Cleary (BRX)

You don’t have to post every day to stay top-of-mind. Research from LinkedIn shows that brands who post 2–3 times per week often outperform those posting daily, because the quality stays high and audiences don’t burn out.

"A misunderstanding is that creativity is just wackiness or wildness or just being cool and interesting. The truth of creativity is that it recognises a truth. People have goals and things that they’re trying to accomplish and you should be trying to represent something in their world. You should have empathy for the human condition, and some recognition of what’s going on in culture and creative storytelling is really trying to solve a highly complex problem. So you have a brand meaning and strategy that you’re trying to get across in market - you have to recognise that this person is a complex brain navigating the world and bouncing between all kinds of platforms and there is this huge macro landscape going on plus all of your competitors in market … creativity and storytelling is to find the really nuanced thread through all of that, that allows you to communicate your brand, actually get noticed, and build a memory structure." - Matt Plant (Thinkerbell)

AI can write headlines, but it can’t create culture (yet). The brands winning attention are still the ones telling great stories and taking creative risks. Even in a data-driven world, the campaigns that break through are usually the ones that surprise, delight, or provoke conversation.

"A lot of brands - and we’re guilty of it as well - use an influencer or someone else who has the social currency, but in reality a lot of brands have that credibility that they don’t leverage enough." - Mason Rook (Pedestrian)

Vanity metrics might get you through the next board meeting, but loyalty is what gets you through the next decade. Build systems for sustainable content creation, measure what actually drives behaviour, and stop refreshing your engagement stats every five minutes.

Attention is the most valuable currency of 2025, but that doesn’t mean you have to out-shout everyone to earn it. Think like a human, not an algorithm. Deliver value, spark emotion, and take the occasional creative risk. And if in doubt? Yes, cat memes still work.

To watch the session, please click below.