Modern marketing is drowning in abundance yet starving in depth. Brands have more tools, more data, and more platforms than ever before- but less meaning. What was once an art of persuasion, vision, and human connection has too often collapsed into vanity metrics, algorithm-chasing, and campaigns designed to be scrolled past rather than remembered.
The result is a slow erosion- not a sudden collapse, but a dearth. A famine of originality hidden beneath an oversupply of tools and noise. As Henry Ford reminded us, had he asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. True marketing has always been about seeing beyond the obvious. The question now is: will marketers rediscover that clarity, or continue feeding the dearth?
Let ' s dive deeper.
The Billboard That Broke the Silence:“ Sleep with Whitney.”
That was the massive billboard towering over Nairobi traffic one Monday morning. For a split second, I froze. Surely, this had to be another risqué campaign by an upcoming condom brand- or maybe a cheeky night club. Instead, as I looked closer, it was nothing of the sort. It was an ad by a renowned furniture store, unveiling a new set of beds named after people: Whitney, Kelvin, Diana, Mark.
The shock value was obvious. It got people talking. For the brand, maybe that was the point. But days later, LinkedIn was on fire, with Kenya’ s“ learned fellows” dissecting it word by word. These were not trolls or anonymous voices- the conversation was driven by CMO’ s, corporate leaders, and middle-class consumers- the very segment with buying power. Suddenly, the campaign shifted from“ viral” to“ tone-deaf.”
The problem? It was personalized, yes, but was it culturally correct? Did it consider Nairobi’ s social fabric, our collective memory of billboard campaigns that shaped city culture, or the way Kenyan audiences respond to cheeky wordplay?
This is the state of modern marketing today. A dearth not in resources, creativity, or technology- we’ ve never had more tools at our disposal. The dearth is in relevance, cultural empathy, and depth. We’ ve confused attention with resonance. We’ ve mistaken noise for connection.
The Whitney billboard is just one example. Across Africa and the globe, we’ ve seen brands stumble because they prioritized provocation over purpose. Remember Pepsi’ s infamous Kendall Jenner ad? A tone-deaf attempt to tap into the spirit of protest culture, trivializing real struggles into a 30-second soda moment. Or closer home, a beer brand that ran a campaign suggesting“ real men drink this beer”- igniting a storm of criticism for outdated gender stereotypes.
These missteps are not isolated. They point to a deeper problem: the hollowing out of marketing. In the rush to stand out, brands are losing the ability to stand for something. Most are chasing clicks, likes, and retweets instead of building meaning.
The Whitney billboard became more than just an ad- it became a mirror. A mirror reflecting the larger crisis of marketing in our age: a discipline rich in tools but poor in thought, high on noise but low on cultural and human empathy.
This article is about that crisis- the dearth in modern marketing. From the giants like Ogilvy and Apple who mastered the craft, to African innovators rewriting the playbook, we’ ll journey through what went wrong, what we can learn, and how we might return to marketing that truly matters.
Because here’ s the truth: in the long run, it’ s not about shouting the loudest. It’ s about being remembered for the right reasons and building a sustainable pool of loyal customers.
Anatomy of the Dearth in Marketing
The astute marketer is familiar with these interconnected missteps that have led to a gradual erosion in modern marketing. It ' s a slow dearth.
The dearth didn’ t arrive as a sudden collapse; it crept in, subtle and silent. A foreseen but ignored strategy that has succumbed to the recent abundance of tools and vanity metrics. First, the shift from storytelling to shock value, where narratives that once built legacies were abandoned for stunts that trend and fade. Then the rise of performance marketing, where short-term clicks eclipsed the long game of brand building. Add to this an era of algorithm-driven desperation, where brands chase platform approval instead of audience connection. Finally, the illusion of engagement- metrics that glitter on dashboards but rarely translate into meaning, trust, or loyalty.
Each of these missteps didn’ t just weaken marketing; together, they produced a famine of strategy in an age of abundance.
This is the anatomy of the dearth.
The Culture of Noise- When Marketing Becomes Clutter
Marketing, at its core, has always been about human connection. Stories have been the bridge between product and person, brand and belief. From cave paintings to Coca-Cola’ s " Share a Coke " campaign, storytelling has always been the most effective way to inspire action, loyalty, and memory. But something shifted. Today, we find ourselves bombarded with ads that lean less on story and more on shock.
In the age of digital saturation, brands are no longer fighting for attention- they are clawing for survival in a marketplace where every scroll, swipe, and second counts. The result is what I call the culture of noise: endless campaigns that are loud, intrusive, and often meaningless. Instead of drawing consumers closer, modern marketing strategies have created a wall of resistance.
The problem starts with the consumer ' s attention span in the current digital age: As Rory Sutherland( Ogilvy Vice Chairman) says:“ The problem with marketing is not attention- it’ s relevance. People will watch a 3-hour film or read a 600-page book if they care. But if they don’ t care, they won’ t give you 3 seconds.
The Modern Consumer’ s Attention Span
• 8 seconds( often cited): Microsoft’ s study claimed humans had an average attention span of 8 seconds- shorter than a goldfish. While this has been debated, the insight holds: attention is shrinking in fragmented digital spaces.
• 3-5 seconds on ads: On platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, you have 3-5 seconds to hook before a user scrolls away.
• 47 % stop watching after 3 seconds if not engaged( Facebook Ad data).
• Long-form isn’ t dead: Paradoxically, long-form content( like podcasts, essays, or YouTube explainers) thrives when the subject resonates. Joe Rogan podcasts run 3 hours; TikTok microlessons hook in 15 seconds. The difference? Relevance and storytelling.
What This Means for Marketers
» The Hook Window: First 3-5 seconds decide whether a consumer stays.
» Micro vs. Deep Attention: Consumers juggle micro-moments