Your ATTN Please || Friday, 25 April

AI can spin up an image, video, or post in 5 seconds flat.

So, simply creating more more MORE content will no longer make you stand out. Audiences don’t want their feeds crammed with generic slop. They want proof there’s a human who actually cares in there somewhere. Because when you show your napkin scribbles, your red-pen-marked notes, your 2am brain dumps, your audience will get that your message is worth their attention—because it was worth yours.

- Charlotte, Editor ♡

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MARKETING TODAY?

The Oscars were never fair, Musk to spend less time on DOGE & DHL suspends shipments over $800

Oscar voters are now required to watch all nominated films in categories before voting.

Wait… so up until now they were all just voting on vibes? The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has just introduced a new rule that ensures voters have seen all the films in a category before they cast their ballots. Which has, for good reason, stirred up some controversy. Because WHAT DO YOU MEAN that wasn’t already a thing???? Many are now questioning the validity of previous Academy decisions, theorising about the reasons certain titles have been snubbed.

“You’re telling me all this time people could just watch one movie and be like ‘yeah that should win all the awards,’” said one user on X. “THEY WEREN’T DOING THAT BEFORE?”, wrote another, adding: “This explains why movies like The Color Purple, What’s Love Got to Do With It, and Malcolm X were snubbed. These voters were NOT watching black films?” The Academy sure as hell has some answering to do. Considering people already question the validity of such award shows in general, it’s not going to be an easy bounce back.

Elon Musk says the time he spends on DOGE will drop "significantly" in the following months as Tesla stocks plunge 40%.

You ever felt lowkey sorry for a billionaire? That’s when you know it’s bad. And Elon, things just seem to be going from bad to worse for you. On Tuesday, the Tesla CEO began his company’s earnings call by saying that his time spent running President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency will drop “significantly” starting in May. He went on to report a 20% year-over-year slump in automotive revenue and a 71% plunge in net income.

Last year, Musk spent almost $300 million to help Trump return to the Oval Office. Then, he joined the administration with a mission to drastically reduce the size of the federal government. Musk says he will continue to spend 1–2 days per week on government issues for “as long as the president would like [him] to do so.”

New DHL rules suspend high value shipments to the U.S.

As of April 21, the logistics giant has suspended all U.S.-bound consumer shipments over $800 in value “from any origin.” This is due to a backlog at U.S. customs triggered by tariff-related delays and marks a shift in what happens behind the scenes of e-commerce. Until now, the “de minimis” rule allowed goods under $800 to skip formal customs clearance. This gave overseas retailers, especially those in fast fashion like Temu and Shein, an easy pass.

But as of May 2, the U.S. will eliminate that exemption. Instead, those packages will now be subject to a 90% tariff or a flat fee of $75. Removing the “de minimis” provision is widely seen as a way to target Chinese retailers popular with American shoppers. All may be fair in love and tariff war. But all seem to suffer at the hands of it, too.

-Sophie, Writer

DEEP DIVE

6 ways to humanise your content in a sea of AI slop

It would be easy to say that AI will be a big trend on brand socials in the next year.

Because of course it will. It already freaking is. The tools are getting better, the slop is getting faster, and the pressure to pump out more content with fewer people isn’t going anywhere. But here’s the actual truth: it’s not AI itself that will define social in 2025 — it’s the reaction to it.

Many brands willingly slopify themselves into oblivion. The ones that will stand out are those that invest even deeper into creative with craft.

Not content. Creative. The kind that’s thoughtful, human, and, most importantly, provable. I want to preface this article saying I’m no AI hater. I fully embrace the tools here to help us do good work. But not everyone feels that way, alas. And so we see the rise of the "Proof of Reality" post.

These are the videos, carousels, and captions that act as creative receipts. The behind-the-scenes process. The hand-drawn sketches. The creative brief. The original voice memo. The Figma board. The moment in the group chat when someone said "what if we made it weird asf" and everyone went silent before texting: "wait that’s actually good." This content isn’t about entertainment. It earns trust.

So, what does that look like in practise?

Here are a few formats you can start playing with:

1. The process carousel. Turn your post into a mini case study. Slide 1: the final result. Slides 2-5: the sticky notes, failed attempts, rough sketches, client feedback, or brainstorm moment that birthed it.

2. Show the tool, not just the output. Whether it's a Figma board, a messy Premiere timeline, or a scribbled-on Moleskine, showcasing the tools behind the creative adds instant credibility (and a subtle flex that real humans were involved).

3. Voice memos and lo-fi inspo. Don’t underestimate the power of an iPhone voice memo or a “we found this in our Slack thread” post. It shows spontaneity and process and gives people a peek into the why behind the what.

4. Time-lapse and screen-record BTS. Simple, effective, and oddly hypnotic. People love watching things get made, even if it’s just watching a designer fiddle with kerning for 2 minutes.

5. Caption receipts. Try pairing a polished post with a caption that explains the thought process. Not a press release. Just a sentence or two that hints at the human input. "We debated whether this was too weird. We did it anyway."

6. Personal stories. AI will never be able to create content about your actual human experiences (at least, not without a lot of help from you). So create content about something that actually happened.

Why this works:

• It’s a trust builder in an increasingly AI-generated world

• It signals craft—a quiet rebellion against low-effort content

• It earns engagement because it invites curiosity and conversation

• It differentiates you from the AI mush by putting intention front and centre

Look, you don’t have to show everything.

And you don’t have to pretend every campaign came from a genius muse moment from the gods themselves. But a little peek behind the curtain? That’s the new social currency. In the era of automation, proving your humanity isn’t cringe, it’s a competitive advantage. So go ahead and drop the receipts.

-Sophie, Writer

TREND PLUG

The butterfly effect is crazy

Today's trend is for when you're feeling a little nostalgic. A little mushy, if you will.

Because we all have those moments when it hits us—we are where we are today because of little choices we've made in the past, not knowing how big the impact would be on our lives. Maybe it was choosing a job that led to you meeting a life-long friend or sitting next to someone in class who ended up being your bestie. Set to Lorde's 2013 hit "Ribs," this sound is your chance to reflect on what's led you to the life you have now.

How you can jump on this trend:

Start with some b-roll footage of you look at the camera. Then, add OST along the lines of, "the butterfly effect is crazy because what if [insert thing that changed the course of your life]." If you want, you can then add footage of the result of that choice. Or you can leave the outcome implied, just adding the trending sound!

A few ideas to get you started:

• If you hadn't been laid off...(you would have never started your business)

• If you'd never left that toxic workplace...(you would have never found your dream job)

• If you didn’t take a chance on hiring someone...(your business would have never become what it is today)

- Charlotte, Editor ♡

FOR THE GROUP CHAT

😲WTF: The education system is changing
✨Daily inspo: everything will fall into space
😊Soooo satisfying: immaculate knife asmr
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight: Korean cucumber salad

TODAY ON THE YAP PODCAST

Want even more “YAP”ing? Check out the full podcast here.

ASK THE EDITOR

I've just started on LinkedIn. What's the best way to build my network? - Perry

Hey Perry!

If I were you, I'd start by connecting with people in your industry. Try to send 10 connection requests every day to begin building up your network. The next thing I'd do is comment on other people's posts. Look for posts that already have other people having conversations about your industry in the comments. When you comment, your response will show up in your network's feeds, so it's a good way to start getting your name out there.

Another advantage of commenting on other people's posts is you get to see what conversations are happening around your industry right now. You can use that information as inspiration for your own posts, which will mean you'll know what you're writing about is relevant right now. The more time you spend interacting with people on the platform, the faster you'll grow your network.

- Charlotte, Editor ♡

Not going viral yet?

We get it. Creating content that does numbers is harder than it looks. But doing those big numbers is the fastest way to grow your brand. So if you’re tired of throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks, you’re in luck. Because making our clients go viral is kinda what we do every single day.

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