Attention: Key 2 to a memorable brand

By the time you get home every day, you’ve likely been exposed to thousands of messages and even more visual stimuli: push notifications, emails, your favourite podcast, signs on your commute, ads to skip, texts from a loved one, and business meeting slides.

At the core of today’s information-based economy is attention—the world's cheapest yet most valuable currency. Every glance, scroll, click, or ‘like’ is a transaction.

While Emotion is at the heart of memorability, Attention is the gateway to it. Too often, brands assume they’ll be noticed simply by being relevant or authentic. But as every advertiser knows, if you’re not seen, the battle for the mind is over before it even starts.

Attention is the cognitive process that filters sensory input, allowing us to focus on, process, and store information. It’s the first step any brand must take to communicate effectively.

Attention can be considered in two dimensions: quantity (duration, or how widely you capture it) and quality (intensity, or how deeply you capture it). Media saturation has forced many brands to prioritise catching people’s attention, but holding it is even more critical. The goal isn’t just to turn heads but to break through the noise and remain relevant long enough to create meaningful associations.

For brands, success lies in identifying the key moments along the customer journey—knowing when and where to stand out and engage in ways that resonate most with people.

Design with intention: Go beyond bold typography, and colour. Use white space, composition, and perspective to create depth, draw the eye, and evoke emotion.

Add dynamism: We instinctively notice movement. Use motion to draw attention towards important elements or messages. Play with speed, rhythm, and direction to create emotional impact.

Make it human: Faces trigger emotions. Use eye contact and people-centred photography to build personal connections.

Write for impact: Bold statements, cliffhangers, and calls to action spark curiosity and create urgency.

Break the codes: Challenge industry norms to stand out. In a sea of sameness, don’t just aim to be different, but truly unique. Use your brand strategy as a lens to craft a distinct, authentic interpretation of the world that no competitor can replicate.

Create value: Meaningful attention is sustained, intentional, and comes from delivering enriching experiences for stakeholders. People will engage deeply if they feel they’re being given something of value. Ultimately, this means understanding your audience, tapping into their curiosity, and supporting their growth.

Challenge the mind: Meaningful attention also comes from presenting audiences with cognitive challenges that end with a sense of reward. It's why we love puzzles, mysteries, and advertising that invites us to fill in the blanks. It's not just about clever mind-tricks; it's about sparking reflection. Brands need a strategy with a clear point of view, one that can thoughtfully leverage tension and challenge the status quo.

In an over-saturated media environment, the notion that ‘consumers have short attention spans’ can lead to oversimplification. Brands that prioritise efficiency over engagement add to the noise but fail to make lasting impressions.

To build long-lasting relationships where people are intentional and generous with their attention, brands must be equally intentional and generous in creating compelling, meaningful experiences worth that attention.

Ready to enhance your brand’s memorability? Download The Six Keys to a Memorable Brand to discover tools to assess your brand and see how we applied Attention to our work with the V&A.