Finding a human compass through ‘The Overwhelm’
Opinion
In the final part of this series, Mindscope’s CEO believes that the route out of overwhelm isn’t another layer of tech or a tweak to the funnel. It’s returning to human behaviour as an organising principle.
You’re told daily to “jump on culture” or that “attention spans are shrinking.” Both ideas dominate media and marketing debates – and both are widely misunderstood.
Culture has become shorthand for building on whatever’s trending that week, but there’s a vast difference between short-term fads and real cultural shifts. The former dilute brands.
The notion of a shrinking attention span has become an excuse for fragmented campaigns that seek to be louder, bolder, and more in-your-face, rather than to grow in resonance and build on meaningful audience signals.
Neither myth helps marketers or consumers. Both add to the sense of overwhelm on each side.
This article is adapted from a talk I gave at a Media Futures Market, hosted event at the Dutch Embassy in London, where we explored how marketers can navigate “The Overwhelm.”
The funnel is dead
One of the biggest myths to debunk is the linear funnel—awareness, interest, consideration, purchase: a neat sequence beloved by PowerPoint slides. Real human behaviour doesn’t look like that. It’s circular, iterative, messy. We try, we compare, we pause, we return, we abandon. Decisions are made in loops, shortcuts, and triggers – not straight lines.
Yet much UK ad spend is still mapped to outdated funnels that assume tidy progression. The result? Media plans that overvalue the wrong KPIs while overlooking the messy, context-driven nature of human decisions. Too often, we underestimate the prompts, rituals, and environments that can trigger immediate purchase – even at the first point of discovery.
The funnel also underplays the growth of communities and the consumer’s new bargaining power through the creator economy – where awareness-to-purchase can happen in seconds. It’s often a recipe for wasted budgets and fatigued teams chasing audiences rather than attracting them.
Marketer overwhelm
That fatigue is real. Media leaders face more channels, more formats, and more dashboards than ever. Add in tech stacks that promise efficiency but often deliver duplication, and you have teams drowning in optimisation targets.
What happens in this environment? People stop optimising for consumers and start optimising for peers. Which campaign looks smartest in the review? Which dashboard looks neatest? Which work will win industry approval? The compass shifts away from lived behaviour and towards professional approval.
Peer recognition is important, and celebrating great work is part of the industry’s lifeblood. But too often, the consumer—the actual point of interest—is forgotten.
Even LinkedIn has drifted from what once made it inspiring: sharp, consumer-first insight. Bringing that spark back must be a mission.
The human compass
The route out of overwhelm isn’t another layer of tech or a tweak to the funnel. It’s returning to human behaviour as our organising principle. What do people value? How do they navigate daily contexts? What shortcuts, identities, and rituals shape their decisions?
Take the so-called “shrinking attention span.” In reality, attention isn’t vanishing – it’s filtering. Consumers, bombarded with stimuli, have developed sharper, faster filters. They spot irrelevance in a second. But when something aligns with their values or lived experience, they engage deeply. It’s not that they lack attention; it’s that they’re selective with it.
This is the essence of the ‘Human Compass’: using psychology and lived experience as the anchor for strategy. Instead of asking, “How do we keep attention for eight seconds?” the better question is, “How do we earn a place in people’s filters?”
Culture done right
The same principle applies to culture. Too often, brands treat culture as a gimmick: a TikTok dance, a meme, a surface-level co-sign. These quick dopamine hits may look good in a case study, but they rarely build equity.
Behavioural science shows culture is less about novelty and more about shared meaning. Rituals, values, and identity markers shape behaviour far more powerfully than fleeting moments. That’s where brands can connect. Align with rituals: how people eat, travel, celebrate, decompress. Honour values in ways that go beyond slogans. Tap identities authentically, not opportunistically.
For UK advertisers, that means shifting spend away from chasing viral sparks and toward embedding in everyday rhythms. This requires tuning in daily, not occasionally. It’s less about hijacking culture and more about becoming part of it.
Takeaway for media leaders
The promise here is both philosophical and practical. By integrating media and creative around human behaviour, we reduce waste. Campaigns stop chasing phantom funnels and start resonating where choices are actually made, with messaging that matches the medium and the moment.
Friction is cut, because consumers encounter brands in contexts that make sense. Over time, brands develop DNA rooted in relevance rather than novelty—the kind that drives real growth.
In a world of overwhelm, both marketers and consumers want simplicity. The funnel won’t provide it. Gimmicks won’t provide it. A better consumer understanding—a ‘Human Compass’—will. It’s time to tune back into the consumer.
Lea Karam is the CEO and founder of Mindscope.