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- Your ATTN Please | Saturday, 9 August
Your ATTN Please | Saturday, 9 August
In today’s media landscape, rarely anything makes sense.
Everything’s so fragmented and shaky that by the time you think of a “stable” idea or product, the window of opportunity’s already sped off into the ether. It’s the harsh reality of launching new products today: you’re flinging into the void, just hoping ANYTHING will stick. It’s all to do with The Cold Start Problem, but there’s no easy way around it - you need a survival guide to navigate this kind of darkness.
- Devin Pike, Guest Editor 💜
Wanna hang out IRL?
You're invited to Lectures After Dark, hosted by The Attention Seeker team. This event's all about getting a bunch of marketers in a room, listening to a thought-provoking talk, and having a casual chat with some cool people. If you're in Auckland, we'd love to see you there on 14 August. $20pp (free drink included 👀)
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MARKETING TODAY?
100K ChatGPT convos found on Google, TeaOnHer springs leaks & Apple gives Trump a circular statue
Nearly 100,000 ChatGPT Conversations were searchable on Google.
If my GPT conversations were leaked, you’d see me going between crashing out about my calorie deficit and asking how much protein is in a Supreme Crunch Wrap (it’s 15 grams for anyone curious). However, I know many users utilise the chatbot for a lot less... trivial matters, like non-disclosure agreements, confidential contracts, even relationship issues. Such things would be classed as sensitive – they’re also just some of the nearly 100,000 conversations scraped by a researcher from GPT’s index that appeared in Google search results.
According to OpenAI, these conversations were made available during a short experiment by the company, allowing users to make their conversations discoverable by search engines. But it’s not clear if those users actually understood when opting in that their chats would become publicly available. Same song and dance, really: AI, privacy and data risks. Round and round we go.
As if the Tea app data nightmare wasn’t enough – it’s rival app for men, TeaOnHer, is now leaking users’ personal data and driver’s licenses.
This story is so messy, we've surpassed Love Island's spectacle. You would've seen me reporting on it as it’s unfolded over the last few weeks. I assumed it would've ended with a class action lawsuit, but no, because... men. Let's recap: it all starts with Tea, the viral app allowing women to post about men they date, similar to the “are we dating the same guy” networks on FB. As we know, Tea had its database exposed, revealing over 72,000 images, including thousands of selfies and photo IDs submitted for account verification, as well as 1 million private messages. Not the best look for an app designed for women's safety.
But, that’s not the story today. It seems men were so offended by such an app they've taken it upon themselves to create a rebuttal: TeaOnHer, which is now ranked #2 among lifestyle apps on iOS. However, TechCrunch has found that anyone can access data belonging to TeaOnHer app users, including usernames, email addresses, driver’s licenses and selfies uploaded to TeaOnHer. Images of these driver’s licenses are publicly accessible web addresses, allowing anyone with the links to access them using their web browser. Welp... idk, something about learning from others mistakes and not repeating them.
Apple made a 24k gold and glass statue for Donald Trump
This can’t be the same Trump that just said he wanted to “end Big Tech’s assault on free speech”. Wait, hold up... no, yup, it is.
At a White House press conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook presented a gift to the US president: a “unique” piece of glass from iPhone glass manufacturer Corning that’s set in a 24-karat gold base. It’s giving mixed messages... and tackiness.
-Sophie Randell, Writer
DEEP DIVE
Launching into the void: a step-by-step survival guide for new product chaos
Listen, I’m not a business owner. I’ve never played around in the retail space, or executed a product launch end-to-end.
But I’d put my money on the idea that, in todays fragmented media landscape – it’s f*cking hard. I’d liken it to handing out party invites at a train station during rush hour. Except the train is speeding away, while half your audience is already on a different platform. Yeowch.
Working for months and years on a brand, only to finally hit publish and receive a symphony of crickets and a couple pity likes before the timeline goes back to slop, brain rot memes and the 40,000 other things stealing my audience’s attention would send me on a generational crash-out.
But here’s the thing - it’s not your fault. Hell, it’s not even your product’s fault.
It’s the brutal reality of something called The Cold Start Problem. It's basically when you have no customers, no reviews or brand gravity, and you're screaming into a fragmented media hellscape that rewards familiarity - not newness. So no, you’re not doing it wrong. It really is this hard, but it’s not impossible. So long as you stop thinking of your launch as merely a moment and start thinking of it as the start of a momentum machine. From what I’ve gathered from the current state of the internet, allow me to guide you through this survival map.
Step 1: it’s not an announcement, it’s an invitation.
We must retire the fact that launch day is going to be a mic drop moment. It is (unfortunately) not Beyoncé at the Superbowl. It’s you on a Tuesday, asking strangers to care. And well, have you looked around recently? By and large, strangers do not care. A successful launch is less about posting your Big Reveal™ and more about starting a conversation. That means:
Answering real questions your audience is already asking
Positioning your product in the middle of a problem that already exists
Speaking in a way that doesn’t sound like it came from the internal comms Slack channel
You’re not delivering a sermon. You’re sliding into the group chat and coyly saying, “hey. i made a thing. can I show you?”
Step 2: warm up your audience before you drop the news.
Dropping a product with zero pre-launch build-up is like throwing a party without telling anyone the date, then wondering why no one shows up. You need to create context before you ask for attention. Start building buzz before you have anything to sell:
Share your “why” and the pain points that sparked this
Tease what’s coming through behind-the-scenes or “early leak” style content
Use polls, questions, and insider invites to make people feel part of it
This is the pre-party. The champagne isn’t flowing yet, but the playlist’s on and people are texting “what’s the dress code?” That’s what you want.
Step 3: treat launch day like act one, not the climax.
Obviously, your launch moment matters. I’m not a buzzkill. But it doesn’t matter because it’s the main event, it matters because it’s the start of the show, baby! And you have to make it count by crafting a tight, emotionally resonant story:
Give your audience one clear action to take: sign up, join early, watch this, share it
Use urgency without being cringe: “we’re live” is boring; “this solves the thing that’s been ruining your week” is quite the opposite.
Also - repetition ≠ desperation. Most people don’t see your first or second post. Say it again in different ways across different platforms. It's not oversharing, it's distribution.
Step 4 (and likely the hardest step): earn trust, fast.
Unfortunately, you can’t avoid the part where people ask: “who tf are you?” So, meet them there:
Show them the faces behind the product. People resonate with people, not faceless brands.
Share your test users’ experiences, even if it’s just your aunt and your best friend.
Uce UGC, beta feedback and the “messy middle” content to show this thing is actually real.
If you don’t have proof just yet, make vulnerability your proof. Being transparent is about what you're building, but also what you’re learning and fixing. People trust that kind of authenticity.
Step 5: build your amplification loop.
One post or email won’t save you. To launch properly in the cold start era, you need systems that multiply your reach:
Repurpose the hell out of every asset. No, I mean every freaking one. (turn your launch post into a video, a story, a thread, an FAQ) the world is your content oyster.
Activate creators and community. no one shares brand content like someone who feels part of it
Treat newsletters, podcasts, and niche forums like your PR team. Feed them material to help tell your story for you
You don’t need to go viral. You need to be unignorable in the right pockets of the internet.
Finally, Step 6: don’t ghost after the first dopamine hit.
This is about momentum. You can’t have it die in the first week. Keep the attention while you've got it:
Share early wins and customer love
Release content that deepens the story (origin story, process, learnings)
Build mini-moments: features, updates, limited drops
Keep talking like a person, not a PR rep
Think of your launch like a pilot episode. You’ve got their attention, but you still have to earn the next episode.
The bad news is no one’s waiting for you. The good news? They might if you make it worth their time!
The internet rewards connection more than effort. That’s the painful part about launching: you can do everything “right” and still get crickets. But don’t let that shake you. Your job isn’t to go viral, it's to be noticed by the right people. To show up in the chaos with something real and talk about it in a way that makes people feel something.
You’ve got this x
-Sophie Randell, Writer
TREND PLUG
Just found out I'm chopped and also unc
It's hard realising you're old and/or not "with it" - it's even harder when younger people tell you so in slang you're not cool enough to get.
TikTok user @rileyhardwick experienced this recently when he chaperoned TJ (a possible a younger brother) to prom and brought up Danny Phantom, a cartoon that ended 18 years ago. As this alleged dinosaur told his followers:
Just to translate for all you oldheads out there (don't worry, I had to Google these myself):
"Chopped" is slang for ugly, unattractive etc.
"Unc" is short for "uncle" and is slang for someone seen as older or out of touch.
Fortunately for this poor soul, he's not alone; tens of thousands have grabbed the sound of his despair and applied to their own situations where they felt old, uncool, or even worse - BOTH.
Because whether you're getting backhanded compliments for looking "realistic" or learning your art skills aren't "impressive" for your age, we've all had to deal with the horrible realisation that young people don't think we're as cool as we think we are.
How you can jump on this trend:
Take this sound, film yourself lip-syncing with the audio and add onscreen text describing a situation where you realised just how lame and/or unattractive you may be.
The main thing is to keep the camera on yourself, but see if you can use outfits, props and locations to give some context to your story!
A few ideas to get you started:
"When the social media intern laughs at me for using Facebook regularly"
"Being told the trend you suggested for the company socials is 'too old' (it came out last month)"
"Learning you're one of the oldest people in the office (you just turned 27)"
- Devin Pike, Copywriter 💜
FOR THE GROUP CHAT
😲WTF: The Man Who Can’t Die?!
✨Daily inspo: live every minute ✨
😊Soooo satisfying: Dominos falling
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight: Crispy chicken burger folded wrap
TODAY ON THE YAP PODCAST
Want even more “YAP”ing? Check out the full podcast here.
ASK THE EDITOR
I'm just starting to get my graphic design side hustle on social media. How many platforms do I need to be on? - Tara
Hey Tara!
If you're just getting started, I would choose 1-2 platforms to focus on to start! Think about where your audience spends time online and make sure that's where you are, too.
Whatever platforms you choose, go all in by networking and creating a community there. The more you do this, the more you'll know what people are looking for on the platform. This will help you create relevant content for your target audience.
You can absolutely add other platforms in the future, and there's no reason you can't repurpose your content everywhere. But it's easier to focus on nailing 1-2 first rather than spreading yourself too thin and not doing enough on any of them.
- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡
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