Your ATTN Please || Monday, 13 October

Walk down your local high street and tell me what you see.

If you live out in the boonies, maybe nothing’s changed in the last 30 years (bless). But for everyone else, I’ll bet your high street looks a whole lot like you’ve just stepped into the algorithm. You’ve got signs saying “We have the viral ice cream/ gummies/ mascara” shouting at you from every side. Window displays feature pastel colours and sans-serif fonts (lit with a ring light, of course). Now, online culture doesn’t just influence the real world. There’s literally no distinction between the two.

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

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WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MARKETING TODAY?

IG isn’t listening to you (they say), Discord ads really work & OpenAI becomes search gatekeeper

The Head of Instagram swears the app isn’t listening to you. But here’s what it is doing.

Mosseri said listening to your microphone would not only be a “gross violation of privacy” (yeah because Meta notoriously cares about user privacy lmfao.) But apparently we would also notice if they were doing this because “you would actually see a little light at the top of the screen letting you know that the mic was on," he said.

Instagram does, however, have other mechanisms in place to serve targeted ads. "We actually do work with advertisers who share information with us about who was on their website to try to target those people with ads," he said.

Sounds sus and very non-specific but okkkkk. I can never really tell with this guy tbh. I have every reason not to like someone so high up in Meta, but maybe the fact that he's kinda hot makes me second guess that. Anyway. 

Discord puts proof behind its ad pitch with first measurement push.

The platform has shared the results of its first-ever ad measurement test, and so far, so good. Partnering with AppsFlyer and game studio Second Dinner, Discord promoted Marvel Snap through in-app “Quests,” which reward players for completing small tasks.

The campaign pulled in over 15 million impressions, with 99% of users finishing the quests and the game’s cost per install dropping by 30%. Now, Discord’s planning to roll out more measurement tools and new ad formats (like “Arena Quests”). Looks like Discord makes ads that people actually want to interact with. And now, it can prove it.

Publishers with AI licensing deals have 7X the click through rate.

Publishers who’ve struck licensing deals with OpenAI are seeing way more traffic… about seven times higher CTRs than those who haven’t, according to a new State of the Bots report.

That’s raising eyebrows, with experts warning that as AI tools become the main way people search and browse, the companies behind them (like OpenAI) are becoming powerful gatekeepers.

Basically, they’ll decide who gets visibility, audience reach, and revenue. The takeaway? If you’ve got a deal, you’re in the money - and the feed. If you don’t, you’re probably not getting seen (or paid) anytime soon. Welp.

-Sophie Randell, Writer

Hey, do you like YAP?

If so, why not share it with a friend? The more we grow this thing, the more resources we can put into making it awesome for you. Even if every subscriber invites just 1 person to YAP, we’ll meet our growth goal for 2025. So, you in?

DEEP DIVE

Cindy! The internet is leaking!! From feed to front window (how the internet has colonised the corner store)

The line between online culture and physical commerce has officially dissolved.

Have you ever had the eerie feeling that you just accidentally stepped inside the algorithm like some kind of sci-fi teen drama?

I have. Let me explain.

My usual route to the gym is a colourful one. Mostly because it takes me down Karangahape Road, notoriously Auckland’s “red light” and LGBTQI+ district. There are the usual characters, some a little scary, most of them vibrant and fun.

There's always some sort of a spectacle, and I admit I rather enjoy the experience.

It’s been my route for many years, and I’ve grown to love the zany characters and independent retailers scattered along it.

Recently, I’ve noticed a new addition. The line of usual convenience stores whose windows all of a sudden look like ad pop-ups. Not literal ones, but signs shouting “We sell the viral chocolate from Dubai!” and “Try the TikTok peach ice cream!”

You know, the one that looks like a peach, tastes like a peach and is aggressively photogenic. Even the fried chicken ice cream was there, which kind of felt like a bit someone forgot to end, if I’m fair.

I kind of stopped and stared for a second. Because I realised something in that moment.

The real world is giving For You Page. The internet is leaking.

Once upon a time, stores sold products because there was a demand. People wanted them. This is beginning to change, and stores have begun selling products because people saw them. The demand comes not from need, but from recognition: “oh that’s that thing from TikTok.”

The convenience store has almost become a content farm, curating viral novelties with the same logic as an algorithm: high turnover, visual chaos, emotional bait. It’s the physicalisation of virality.

This inversion, where online hype creates real-world value, marks a strange cultural shift. The product no longer leads the conversation; it is the conversation. Retailers aren’t responding to consumer demand. They’re responding to the internet’s demand: what’s hot this week, what’s screenshot-worthy, what might get someone to stop scrolling long enough to buy something in person.

What makes this moment so uncanny is that physical spaces have adopted the internet’s aesthetic code.

Everywhere you go, you can feel the algorithm at work: stacked cans in pastel gradients, chaotic fonts, sugary packaging designed to look good on camera. Even the lighting feels like ring-light warm. It’s overstimulating, kitschy and performative - deliberately so.

The shop isn’t trying to look like a shop anymore. It’s trying to look like content.

It’s the same reason restaurants add “TikTok-famous” to menus, or makeup brands have “As seen on YouTube” displays. They’re not selling food or cosmetics, but entry into the culture of recognition. The new form of aspiration isn’t ownership—it’s participation.

The idea of “online vs offline” used to make sense. Now, it’s laughably outdated.

Turning off your phone isn’t enough when the algorithm literally follows you into the street.

It’s not even dystopian anymore; it’s banal. We expect the internet to shape what’s on the shelves, what’s in the window, what’s on our plate. The feedback loop between digital and physical has become so tight, it’s impossible to tell which side starts first. Did the trend come from the brand, or from a creator who reverse-engineered the brand’s aesthetic? Does it even matter?

In a sense, culture has flattened into one continuous scroll—an omnichannel attention economy where “the feed” isn’t confined to your device—it is the world around you.

Anyone else feel a little hot under the collar all of a sudden? Like the walls are closing in? Just me? Okay coolcoolcool.

There’s something funny and also deeply eerie about buying “viral” things in real life. Maybe it’s due to the fact that you’re participating in a shared performance of recognition. You’re buying the thing everyone else already saw, just to see it yourself.

It’s retail as replication.

And that replication is precisely what the internet rewards: sameness, speed, visibility. The more we mirror what’s trending, the more legible we become to each other and to the algorithm. That’s how you go viral. That’s how you fit in.

It’s also why walking down K Road can feel like walking through a browser tab. The internet has colonised the physical world’s sensory space, and we’ve all quietly accepted that this is what culture looks like now.

If you’re in marketing, this should set off both alarm bells and light bulbs.

The success of viral retail shows that digital culture has become the main pipeline of cultural meaning. But the question isn’t whether the internet drives purchase behaviour, it’s how to use that dynamic responsibly.

The opportunity lies in creating feedback loops between online and offline that feel intentional, not opportunistic:

• Make virality tactile. If your product goes viral, find ways for it to exist physically: through events, pop-ups, or packaging that rewards participation.

• Don’t chase trend velocity. Just because something’s “viral” doesn’t mean it’s sustainable. Build for rewatchability, not fleeting novelty.

• Anchor hype in habit. The best brands turn moments into rituals. Give people a reason to come back once the novelty fades. I can promise you no one is making that fried chicken ice cream a part of their regular diet.

The trick isn’t to escape the algorithm. It’s to humanise your place inside it.

I try not to get existential about such things. I also try to accept the concept of dystopia as a part of our current timeline. And maybe the real dystopia isn’t actually that the internet has spilled into the real world, but more so that the real world has started trying to look like it belongs online.

And maybe that’s the next frontier of branding—not how to stand out in the feed, but how to make real life feel worth looking at again.

Food for thought x

-Sophie Randell, Writer

TREND PLUG

My own betrayal list

Hi fellow certified crashouts.

Today's sound comes from none other than Kanye (I know, I know), who allegedly dropped a classic tweet and delete “list of betrayals”: a list compiling everyone who’s ever wronged him. The list includes Kim, LeBron, HIS OWN DAUGHTER NORTH?? (and it somehow gets even worse). Whether it was real or not didn’t matter. The internet took the concept and said, “same.”

Now creators are using the majestic Runaway piano intro to drop their own “betrayal lists.” These are essentially chaotic, petty, and deeply personal callouts that range from “front camera” to “my Pilates instructor for correcting my form when I was about to rest.”

How you can jump on this trend:

Using the sound, post a photo with the caption: “Kanye inspired me to release my own betrayal list.” Then show your “list,” which should be a screenshot of it typed out on your notes app.

A few ideas to get you started:

• Meta Business Suite

• Slack/Teams notifications at 6:01pm

• My laptop when I open Premiere Pro

- abdel khalil, brand & marketing executive

FOR THE GROUP CHAT

😂Yap’s funniest home videos: Shook that off like a CHAMP
❤How wholesome: Russ Westbrook KNEW the secret
😊Soooo satisfying: Insanely Dirty Carpet Clean
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight: Chicken Noodle Soup

ASK THE EDITOR

Do I need a separate strategy for TikTok and Instagram or can I just post my content everywhere? - Sierra

Hey Sierra!

Every platform does have its own audience and culture, so content that does well one place may or may not perform as well somewhere else. That's why many big brands have platform-specific strategies, with different content going on each one. But for smaller brands that don't have the resources to do that, there's no downside to posting your videos everywhere and seeing what happens.

So if you're already creating content for TikTok, go ahead and try posting it on Reels, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube shorts. You may find an entirely new audience just by repurposing your content. Just make sure you're interacting with your audience when you do get engagement on those new platforms.

- Charlotte Ellis, 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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