Read Time: 1 min 50 secs

Hey — Ryan To here.

In today's edition:

The attention economy is dying…

Everyone is scaling AI influencers, copy-pasting viral formats, and cloning whatever worked last week

Ogilvy's 2026 report says "Social is entering a new phase where meaning, not attention, is the real competitive edge."

→ 41% of Americans are actively trying to cut screen time

→ 68% of consumers are concerned about how platforms handle their data

People aren't leaving the internet. They're rejecting content that waste time.

If your campaign brief starts with "we need this to go viral" or you're measuring success purely by impressions you're optimizing for the wrong thing.

Don’t start with the format, start with the persona.

If you’re a consumer brand or a creator that makes brand content….

Go down these 6 layers to survive the interest media algorithm’s:

Get obsessively specific about who you're talking to.

Not "25–34 female interested in wellness." Actual specificity:

Let me show two creators doing it right…first the tech bro:

Next a viral trend ‘we all know someone who looks like X’:

The more specific the person, the more everyone like her feels like you're talking directly to them.

This is the relationship dynamic you're creating with your viewer.

Authority — they look up to you for answers

Mentor — they trust you because you've lived it

Big brother/sister — they feel like they have an insider in their corner

Friend — they feel seen because you feel just like them

Most creators default to authority. The most loyal audiences are built on big brother/sister or friend — harder to fake, easier to trust.

Pick one and stay consistent.

Every hook, every edit, every format should serve one primary emotion:

→ Inspired — "I can do this too"

→ Validated — "someone finally said it"

→ Educated — "I didn't know that"

→ Entertained — "I have to send this"

→ Challenged — "wait, am I doing this wrong?"

Trying to hit all five lands on none. Your emotion is your brand's emotional signature.

Now you can talk format. UGC, founder story, talking head, vlog, podcast clip — pick whatever fits your emotion and platform.

But the vehicle alone isn't enough.

The question isn't what format. It's what only you can do inside that format.

→ Are you magnetic on camera?

→ Is your editing what people comment on?

→ Do you break down complex ideas better than anyone else?

The world, the relationships, the tone. That's not a format. That's a signature.

Ask yourself: If someone stripped your logo/face off your content, would your audience still know it was you?

Have a great day ❤️