Hey attention crash-testers—
Ever walked into a meeting with five priorities? Congratulations, you have zero.
Brands are burning out. Not because of lack of ambition — but because they can’t sit still. One quarter it’s Gen Z. The next it’s TikTok. Then it’s sustainability. Now it’s AI. And don’t forget NFTs, because someone’s cousin made a million with a pixelated llama.
We’re not iterating. We’re twitching.
And like a sleep-deprived intern juggling Slack, Zoom, and a boss yelling “BE MORE DISRUPTIVE,” brands are living through a full-blown attention crisis.
The result? Customers feel it. Employees drown in it. Strategy dies because of it.
The Corporate ADHD Epidemic
Let me tell you a story. A few years ago, I was consulting for a mid-sized fashion brand in Berlin. They called us in because “they wanted to rebrand.”
Classic.
But by week two, they weren’t sure if the priority was expanding their menswear line, launching a podcast, building a Roblox activation, or going full vegan.
I remember asking the CEO in a workshop, “What’s the one thing your customers come to you for?”
He paused. Looked around. Then said: “Aesthetics?”
It was a question.
This is how it always starts: with a loss of focus disguised as opportunity.
Their Instagram became a random mess of half-baked campaigns. They launched a capsule collection no one understood. Eventually, their loyal base started drifting. They weren’t angry — just… confused. Within 12 months, revenue was down 23%.
This is what happens when you confuse busyness with progress. When you chase everything, you dilute everything.
The Illusion of Agility
Corporate ADHD hides behind words like “agile” and “fast-moving.” But real agility isn’t about reacting to every trend. It’s about knowing when not to.
A 2023 Deloitte report found that only 17% of brands that adopted “rapid pivot” strategies post-Covid saw long-term growth. The rest either plateaued or regressed. Why? Because in most cases, the pivot wasn’t rooted in strategy — it was panic rebranded as responsiveness.
Take CNN+. Remember that streaming service? Neither does anyone else. It launched in 2022. Died in 2022.
Why? Because CNN tried to play Netflix without understanding their own audience’s media habits. They mistook the content boom for a license to diversify, instead of asking the obvious: Do people want more CNN… or better CNN?
Case Study: Oatly’s Focused Weirdness
Now, let’s flip it.
Oatly is weird. Purposefully so. You might think of them as just “the oat milk brand with the loud packaging.” But behind the chaos is ruthless focus.
Their tone is eccentric, but consistent. Their messaging — from TV spots to carton sides — always reinforces the same identity: irreverent, plant-based, anti-corporate.
In 2020, they had a 70% market share in Sweden’s alt-milk category. Globally? They became a symbol of how to be everywhere without being everything.
Even when expanding into Asia, they didn’t dilute. Same fonts. Same humor. Same activist edge. That coherence makes them recognizable — and trustworthy. You don’t need to love oat milk to know what Oatly stands for.
That’s strategic focus. Not rigidity. Not sameness. Focus with personality.
Saying No
In 2022, I was working with a startup in the food tech scene — a scrappy team of twelve, great product, good energy. They’d just closed a decent seed round and were drunk on potential. At our kickoff meeting, the founder burst in late, phone still glued to his ear, and launched into a monologue:
“We want to expand into Germany, open a pop-up in London, relaunch the website, hire a Head of Brand, start a podcast, and explore a metaverse experience — oh, and maybe do something with NFTs.”
I remember blinking, sipping my lukewarm espresso, and saying, “Pick one. Then we’ll talk.”
They weren’t thrilled. They paused the project. I think the CMO even rolled his eyes.
Three months later, I got an email. Subject line: “We should’ve listened.”
The campaigns had flopped. Social was a ghost town. Developers were building two unfinished landing pages at once. Everyone was exhausted. They’d burned through half the budget, chasing noise over clarity.
It was a classic case of cognitive overload disguised as ambition. And saying no wasn’t just advice — it was the only act of strategic mercy I could offer.
Focus isn’t sexy. But it’s the only thing that scales.
Symptoms of Corporate ADHD
- You’re launching five things and maintaining none
- Your team is burned out but directionless
- You’re on every social platform — but with no strategy
- Quarterly goals shift monthly
- No one can articulate your brand’s core narrative in one sentence
According to a 2024 PwC survey, 64% of marketing leaders say their biggest struggle is “too many simultaneous priorities.”
So How Do You Treat It?
Here’s the checklist. Stick it to your office wall:
- Define what you don’t do — Strategy is subtraction.
- Audit your narrative every quarter — Are you still telling the same story?
- Build fewer things, but finish them — Launch less. Land more.
- Reward long-term KPIs — Not just engagement spikes.
- Make ‘no’ a default option — Kill ideas fast. Before they become projects.
I’ll leave you with this.
A few years back, while consulting for a lifestyle brand drowning in half-launched projects, I remember sitting in a dim-lit boardroom covered with sticky notes. The walls screamed potential. But none of it stuck. Each note represented a “priority” — which, by definition, meant none really were. The founder looked at me, wide-eyed, and asked: “So… which one do you think we should go all in on?”
I replied: “Which one would still matter if TikTok disappeared tomorrow?”
Silence.
That’s what focus sounds like.
In a business culture that rewards noise, focus is an act of rebellion. It means resisting the dopamine hit of constant novelty. It means building something — slowly, consistently — until it matters. And it means having the courage to stay boring long enough for your audience to trust you.
Because customers don’t leave because you’re boring. They leave because you’ve lost the plot.
Until next time, stay grounded.
Alex
If your brand feels overwhelmed by too many ideas and zero clarity, we can help. At Kredo Marketing, we turn chaos into strategy — and ambition into results. Let’s talk before your audience drifts away.
