That’s Entertainment: How to Cut Through in a Social-First World

We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The rock: The competition for consumer attention has never been more intense. With social driving cultural conversation, brands are no longer up just against each other – they’re competing against every entertainment giant, publishing channel, creator, and even their own audiences. Any billy-no-followers can go viral and drown out your marketing message before you’ve even said half price.

The hard place: Attention spans have never been harder to retain. In a multi-media, social-first landscape, younger generations are developing new states of attention, where rapid content switching and multitasking are the norm, and all eyes turn to the smallest screen. Script writers are even being briefed on ‘second screen’ narratives, designed for viewers who are using their phone while watching TV.

Overwhelming? Absolutely. But these are the realities of modern day consumption and between the crevices of our rock and hard place, a light beam of opportunity presents itself. By embracing creativity and evolving with our audiences, we have the opportunity to genuinely entertain. And the more people watch, share, and engage, the more we can drive brand growth.

At Uncovered, we believe that brands must entertain, not interrupt. And we’ve seen how putting creativity first doesn’t just earn attention, it drives serious results.

Here’s four considerations to cut through on social:

1) The power of culture and trends:

Social defines cultural conversation – so it’s paramount that brands have their finger on the pulse of culture and trends, as well as harnessing community and listening to their audiences. Duo Lingo popping up at a Charli XCX show last year was a great example. In peak brat summer, Duo Lingo’s audience were loving that the brand’s signature owl was brat green. Next, an on-the-ground Duo Lingo team appear in the crowd at the Sweat tour, wearing the green owl masks. Cue a tidal wave of UGC content and the Brat Queen herself even calling out “Duo Lingo” from the stage. A real world reactive moment, founded in audience insight. Another example is KFC’s Oil Up campaign, which won Uncovered x KFC ‘Greatest Creative’ at the 2024 TikTok Ad Awards, after driving 10M organic views. Oil Up was an emerging Gen Z trend and the KFC audience were asking ‘admin’ to oil up in the comments section. So we did – but with our own topspin of originality and distinctiveness; high production, thumb-stopping visuals, and total absurdity. This not only drove huge numbers, but showed our audience that we’re listening, and we get it.

2) Why ATL and social need to work in harmony:

Copy and pasting your TVC onto social isn’t going to land. Social-first content needs to respect platform best practices – real people, real world, and a platform native aesthetic. For ATL campaigns like Peugeot Intergalactic and British Airways ’A British Original, we’ve shown how translating TVC or OOH campaigns into social native formats boosts effectiveness.

3) Delivering brand fluency authentically:

Your brand codes matter – but they can’t come at the cost of the scroll. The trick is weaving your fluent devices into content so seamlessly that they become part of the entertainment itself. It’s about saliency without shouting. At Uncovered, we consider every aspect of ownable brand assets to naturally integrate into content; from colour palette, to product and pack, to sonic fluency.

4) The rise of creators vs influencers

With the shift in algorithms, point and wave product films have had their day. Social rewards those who make and create engaging, compelling content, and there’s an abundance of creative talent across all verticals – an untapped goldmine of storytelling potential. Whether it’s food meets fashion or auto meets art, creators can help to bring our brands to life in unexpected ways, and social proof products with the modern day word of mouth.

In summary; social has become the new home of entertainment. But that’s also created a battleground for attention, and whether you’re a brand, a creator or an everyday user, entertainment is our most valuable currency. By adopting an entertainment-first mindset and making content people want to watch, we can drive mass reach, grow engaged communities, and transform business results.