Southend Productions

🏆 ADDY Award Winner 🏆and continues to make its way through the awards circuit!

Attention is the new currency, and winning brands earn audience attention. 🎯

How are they doing it?

Instead of adding to the noise or just feeding the algorithm, they’re being strategic about developing branded entertainment with an audience-first mindset...not sales-first (or even brand-first).

Take (https://lnkd.in/ev4Kv2V2)

They’re not interrupting people with ads. They’re publishing stories, how-tos, and inspiration that actual humans choose to watch because it resonates, educates, and entertains.

What’s more valuable to me as a consumer?

Being interrupted mid-scroll with an ad I may (and probably don’t!) care about…?

Or being served a relatable piece of entertainment I choose to watch… and then inevitably subscribe for more?

Ads don’t earn attention.
Ads convert.

But you have to earn attention before you can convert it.

Why this matters: the average person is exposed to 4,000–10,000 ads a day, yet most notice fewer than 100 of them...and most of us remember only a tiny fraction of that. https://lnkd.in/eAsYsrXW

So how do we earn attention in 2026?

🎥 Emotional stories earn attention.
🌍 World-building earns attention.
💡 Values and meaning earn attention.
📘 Education earns attention.
🎬 Entertainment. Earns. Attention.

Give your audience a reason to lean in.
A reason to watch.
A reason to subscribe.

And once you have their attention...and your product or service isn’t crap (don’t sleep on this!)...trust and long-term loyalty aren’t far behind.

How are you earning your audience’s attention?

If you’re not sure where to start or want to build for what’s next, DM me! Let’s talk about it.

If you haven’t yet, check out REI Co-Op Studio’s latest short documentary film: https://lnkd.in/etcr9Fim