Big Little ThingsOn attention
So lately we’ve been thinking about attention: how to get it, how to keep it, and how to respect it. Here’s the first bit of thinking about ways to go about getting it:
1. Stand out.
This is the most common way to get attention, probably because it’s easiest. It doesn’t take much: if everyone is wearing a red dress, you wear a blue one. Or if everyone is talking at a certain volume, you shout louder. While we think this kind of attention-getting is often really off-putting (”Ooh, look at ME!”) there is some value in it: it will get you noticed. Problem is, you’ll most likely be forgotten as soon as someone shows up wearing a purple dress and screaming louder than you. Which means you’ll have to put on a polka dot dress, hike it up past your ass cheeks, and sing through a megaphone. And still, you can be sure that someone will out-do you again before too long. Which leads me to note another concern: we now live in a super noisy world, and most people have had to become numb in order to deal with it. It’s probably best not to get caught up in this vicious cycle.
2. Be everywhere.
This is tactic is simple, but expensive. Eliminate all the competition for attention by occupying all the territory: take over all the ad space in the subway station, buy up all the Superbowl spots, or monopolize an entire magazine. Often this approach can be impossible for people to ignore, which makes it both effective and dangerous. It’ll get you 100% of their attention, and if you piss them off, 100% of their anger.
3. Be in the right place at the right time.
This one is most challenging, but perhaps also the most rewarding. The idea is to figure out what it is your audience wants to see in any given moment, and then give it to them. The idea is to tune into your audience so well that you’ll know where their attention will naturally fall. This way, you won’t actually need to call them over, or compete for their attention, or ask them to change their behavior in order to hear what you have to say. But it’s not enough just to be in someone’s line of sight. You have to meet their attention in a way that makes their day better. Seems obvious, but it’s really fucking hard to get right. You’ve either got to be a psychic or do a shitload of research. And then you’ve gotta be disciplined (and empathetic) enough not to use that research to create an all-out sales message. Because if they can sense the sell (and people are fucking smart, so you can bet they will), the love is lost.
