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Your ATTN Please || Saturday, 15 March

Your ATTN Please || Saturday, 15 March

March 15, 2025

Remember when a cardboard box was the best toy ever?

Ahhhh, the ideas that come to life when we’re bored. Fast-forward to today, and most of us are constantly cramming our brains with mind-numbing content designed to keep us scrolling. But if we never give our minds time to wander, what does that mean for our ability to be creative? Is the imagination as we know it…dead?

- Charlotte, Editor ♡

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MARKETING TODAY?

Advertisers make bank on women’s sports, Versace gets a new CD & The girls are beefing (still)

Advertisers upped women’s sports spend by triple digits in 2024.

If you’ve been paying attention, this shouldn't come as a surprise. Last year, the WNBA saw a meteoric rise in popularity, with brands like Barbie and Skims jumping in on the hype. And it seems this was only a small part of a larger trend. In 2024, advertisers spent more than $244m on TV campaigns for women’s sports. This yielded great results, with the average ad during a women’s sporting generating 40% more engagement than average.

According to Marketing Brew, ads from the WNBA Finals, which broke viewership records on ESPN, proved 18% more effective. College gymnastics ads were also 18% more effective than the average. And ads that ran during the US Open women’s singles final and semifinals were 20% more effective. However, it was lacrosse that generated the most engagement (which is crazy because who the hell is watching lacrosse????), with 25% more efficiency than average. Go girly pops.

Donatella steps down as Versace CD

After almost three decades as the main designer and Chief Creative Officer of the brand, the iconic Donatella Versace has bowed out of the role, welcoming Dario Vitale to take her place. The party-girl-turned designer took over the brand when her brother Gianni, the founder, was famously gunned down outside his Miami mansion in 1997. She has since carried the brand with grit and style.

While the matriarch transitions into an ambassador role, Dario Vitale, former MiuMiu designer, is taking charge of the family firm. For someone who has flown under the radar until the announcement, the man has done one hell of a brand run. After a short time at Bottega Veneta, he began a long stint at Miu Miu in 2010 under Miuccia Prada. During Vitale’s reign, we saw the label rise to fashion supremacy, both on the runway and on the stock exchange, with Miu Miu reporting a 93 per cent rise in retail sales for 2024. Will this appointment see an unprecedented comeback for Versace? We shall see.

The girls are fighting… still…

It’s hard in this day and age to know what’s real and what’s a marketing ploy. When Bhad Bhabie first dissed (absolutely slaughtered) Alabama Barker two weeks ago, I thought it might be the latter. But after Bhad Bhabie doubled down on yet another diss this morning, I know we’re smack bang in the middle of a rap beef.

Like, Biggie and Pac, if they had BBLS and wore lace fronts. Whether it’s manufactured or not, honestly, I don’t care. I sat with my popcorn and was highly entertained.

Anyway, that’s all folks!

DEEP DIVE

Where did all the imagination go?

“Squidward. We don’t need television. Not as long as we have our: Imaginaaaation.”

Arguably one of the most iconic episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants to this day is "Idiot Box" (Season 3). As hilarious as it is, it also teaches us a lesson about the power of imagination. When Squidward sees a large TV delivered to SpongeBob and Patrick, he's almost envious of the mindless entertainment they're about to indulge in.

That is, until the iconic duo discard the television and keep the box. Using nothing but their creativity, they embark on wild, elaborate adventures. Squidward, glued to his screen, can’t understand why they seem to be having more fun than he is.

The message here? True imagination doesn’t come from consuming content, but from the absence of things.

From contemplation, boredom, and the space to create something out of nothing. There’s a reason your best ideas come to you in the shower or while staring out of a train window. Behold: the magic of contemplation! It's something great creatives like David Lynch have always championed. Imagination doesn’t come from being overstimulated. It comes from boredom, from deep thinking, from letting your mind wander. Basically, a lack of stimulation.

But how do you nurture those qualities in a world that not only demands, but monetises our attention? Today, we’re served mind-numbing anti-cinema, designed for second-screen viewing. You've seen those kinds of films and shows—your Selling Sunsets, your Below Decks, and the like.

They're usually packaged the exact same way. There's simple, heavily-padded stories with one-dimensional characters, and waaaay too many drone shots. This kind of TV media is purpose-built to be half-watched while scrolling on your phone. It exists to match the shallow, repetitive content we often consume on social media. It’s an exhausting cycle that slowly kills true creativity and imagination. And the worst part? Our brains are adapting to it.

The neuroscience of attention

For years, neuroscientists have been waving red flags about the effect digital media has on the brain. That deep focus you need to imagine, create, and innovate? It's in direct opposition to how social media is designed. Every little notification gives us a dopamine hit, and we keep wanting more. Over time, this rewires our brains to expect instant gratification. This makes slower, effortful creative processes feel like a chore.

And then, there’s the Default Mode Network (DMN). That's the part of the brain that kicks in when we’re daydreaming, zoning out, or just sitting there existing. This is crucial for creativity because it allows different parts of the brain to make unexpected connections. So, every time we pick up our phones in a moment of stillness, we interrupt this process. Instead of creating new thoughts, we outsource our imagination to algorithms. Welp.

The rise of frictionless content

It’s no coincidence that everything piece of media feels increasingly dumbed down. The social media ecosystem rewards speed, digestibility, and shareability over depth. Even creators with brilliant ideas are forced to package them in ways that fit the algorithm. This often means simplifying them to the point where they lose all nuance.

The result is a culture that prioritises reaction over reflection. Speed over substance. Engagement over genuine creative exploration. The consequences go beyond just art and entertainment. As media critic Delores McElroy, host of Filmsuck podcast and lecturer at UC Berkeley’s film and media department puts it:

“Our attention spans are being radically shortened. I am concerned because we need that capacity to read, and to think deeply over a sustained period of time about any given issue or concern. We are deprived of time to contemplate in our lives when contemplation is what we need the most to even begin to understand our rapidly changing world.”

The creators keeping imagination alive

Despite all this, there are still creators fighting against the tide. With enough digging, you can find artists who force us to slow down, engage, and actually think. Take my fave: Kitty Lever, a theatrical model and content creator. Her whimsical, surreal videos cut through the monotony of the digital landscape. She leans into the bizarre, the absurd, and the unexpected. She's constantly reminding us of what online creativity could and should look like.

Other artists in this space include:

Jane Schoenbrun – A filmmaker with credits like We’re All Going to the World’s Fair and I Saw the TV Glow. Her work's all about tapping into the eerie, liminal spaces of internet culture. She forces us to ponder what happens when digital immersion replaces real-life experiences.
Jenny Odell – The author of the bestseller book How to Do Nothing. In it, she makes a strong case for reclaiming our attention as an act of resistance against the attention economy.
People reviving "slow content" – Independent filmmakers. Long-form essayists. The resurgence of physical zines. These are all signs that some people are actively pushing back against the flattening of creativity.

How do we reclaim imagination?

So, what can we do? Ditching social media entirely isn’t realistic for most of us, but we can be more intentional about how we use it.

Practice “attention hygiene.” Be mindful of when and how you consume content. Even small blocks of uninterrupted offline thinking can help restore focus.
Embrace boredom. Resist the urge to fill every idle moment with scrolling. Let your brain wander. You might surprise yourself.
Seek out slow content. Read long-form articles and watch thoughtful films. Train your brain to engage deeply again.
Create without sharing immediately. Social media tricks us into thinking everything needs to be posted instantly. Try making something—writing, drawing, brainstorming—without the pressure of immediate validation.

Imagination isn’t dead. But if we don’t fight for it—if we don’t make space for contemplation, for depth, for creative friction—it very well could be. And that’s a world far less interesting to live in. So, what will you do to keep yours alive?

-Sophie, Writer

TREND PLUG

Imagine hearing AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" right before crashing out

If you've never heard AC/DC's headbanger "Thunderstruck" before, then consider us shocked (zing!).

Many humans naturally share the same reaction to certain noises. You know, fear when alarms blare or drunken overconfidence when the first notes of "Mr Brightside" play. Similarly, when Angus Young's iconic guitar riff and rising vocal chants signal the start of Thunderstruck, everyone's adrenaline starts bubbling up.

Maybe it's a guy being rude to you or you're prepping for the night-out to end all night-outs. AC/DC perfectly captures the beast we all have within us when we skip the flight-or-flight stage and move straight towards violent and/or chaotic action.

How you can jump on this trend:

Grab the song using this sound. Put the camera on yourself and/or your situation and add text describing why you're about to go all out. Start with something like "The sound that plays in my head when..." or "How it feels..." Bonus points if you can show the intrusive thoughts winning through your facial expressions. Make us all a lil bit scared of you - even from the other side of the screen.

A few ideas to get you started:

The sound that plays in my head when everyone but me is asked if they want anything from the café
How it feels seeing Kathy from sales leave the kitchen with the last donut you were gonna take
The song I hear when I make a joke at lunch and nobody reacts, but someone repeats it and everyone laughs

-Devin, Copywriter

FOR THE GROUP CHAT

😲WTF: THEY. HAD. ONE. JOB.
✨Daily inspo: i love me some mel robbins
😊Soooo satisfying: Clear wave!
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight: BUSSING Chicken & Rice Soup

TODAY ON THE YAP PODCAST

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

ASK THE EDITOR

How do I start marketing for niche leads? I’m looking for leads as a fine art gallery specialising in Indigenous art. -Natasha

Hey Natasha,

My advice is to start by networking in the circles of people that are in your niche. Go to in-person events where your target audience is and build brand awareness that way first. I wouldn't worry about social media until you've exhausted every avenue you can find to connect with people in real life.

Once you're at that point, then you can begin creating content to build your audience on socials. I'd make content that appeals to a broad audience, not just people within your niche. This will help you find audiences you don't even know exist. To make your content widely relatable, you'll need to find a way to share content with a human truth anyone can connect with. But for now, start with in-person networking and take that as far as you can!