We are living in the attention economy, and breaking through the noise and creating scroll-stopping content is becoming increasingly difficult, especially for social impact organizations. So where do you start? Eric Ressler and Will Wiseman joined together recently to discuss some of the key challenges, opportunities, and strategies to create social change through the lens of design, marketing, and communications.

During the conversation, Eric touches on what exactly what a social impact organization is and how important it is for social impact organizations to understand the importance of the attention economy.

What is the attention economy?

Psychologist and Nobel Laureate Herbert A. Simon, coined the term “attention economy” which brought forth the idea that a surplus of information often ends up limiting what we are able to perceive thereby causing an attention deficit effect.

Every day, people become more and more inundated with information and requests. Leveraging and capturing the attention of an audience, therefore, becomes increasingly difficult, but all the more crucial for companies to address if they hope to succeed in the current market.

Eric notes that brands often resort to tactics like poverty porn which can lead to apathy and increased negativity, so brands need to capture the attention of an audience in a way that is authentic and hopeful. Will’s organization, Climatize has aimed to combat the negativity by offering good, positive news and has seen great feedback and over 100k views by bringing content that is informative, real, but also gives people a way to take action and feel good.

Thoughtfully crafted content can create change.

Eric notes that brands often carry a negative connotation largely due to their desire to capture attention solely for profit, but when cultivated with intention and thought beyond the external (e.g. colors, logos, fonts), companies have the potential to be an impact multiplier, build awareness, inspire, and create action. Authenticity and doing what you say are the foundation for branding. The reality is that people are becoming increasingly aware of tactics like greenwashing and can see through marketing campaigns versus an organization that actually makes a positive impact.

Be sure to watch the recording to hear the full explanation as well as information on the starvation cycle, why social impact organizations should invest in their digital strategy and platforms, and the rise and role video content is playing in the current day and age.

About Eric and Will

Eric Ressler is the Founder & Creative Director at Cosmic, a social impact creative agency. Cosmic empowers social impact organizations to catalyze real-world change by helping them nail their impact story, build brand awareness, and inspire action.

Will Wiseman is the CEO and co-founder of Climatize, a FinTech startup that aims to empower everybody to invest in building renewable energy projects with as little as their spare pocket change.