You Don’t Have a Supply Problem. You Have an Attention Problem.
You may think social media marketing and online identity management is random, like reading a newspaper and finding something you like. It feels that way, but it is not. It is a deliberate and highly refined design based on what your brain responds to and how your attention is captured and held. Online environments are built around attention management. When you find yourself doom scrolling and losing track of time, that is not accidental. It is the result of systems designed to keep you engaged for as long as possible.
WHO IS THE PRODUCT
In that system, you are not simply the consumer. You are the product. Your attention, your behaviour, and your engagement are what is being measured, shaped, and ultimately monetised.
Once you understand how the world has shifted in this way, it becomes easier to see why products that are sitting in cellars, in tanks, or stacked in boxes in storerooms are not moving. The issue is not always the product, the quality, or even the market. The issue is visibility. If only you know about your product, then for the rest of the market it effectively does not exist.
I recently had a conversation with someone who said there is an excess of olive oil in the market. My response was that this is not entirely accurate. It is often a narrative we adopt to make sense of slow movement, when in reality the product is simply not being marketed effectively. I cannot buy something I am not aware of. Awareness is the first condition for any transaction to take place.
Repetition and Presence
In the current environment, awareness is not created through a single interaction. It is built through repetition and presence. If your olive oil is not appearing consistently, whether on a digital feed, in a retail environment, or within everyday conversations, it will not become a consideration at the point of purchase. The quality, the organic nature, and the craftsmanship behind the product only begin to matter once the product is visible and recognised.
People tend to believe that purchasing decisions are primarily rational, but in practice they are heavily influenced by familiarity. We choose what we have seen before, what feels known, and what has established a presence in our awareness over time. If your product is not part of that repeated exposure, it will be overlooked, regardless of its merit.
Products that remain in storage, whether in a cellar, a storeroom, or a warehouse, are not competing in the market. They are simply not present in the spaces where decisions are made. In contrast, products that consistently appear in front of the consumer build recognition and trust, and are therefore more likely to be selected.
The Landscape has Shifted
Ultimately, this comes down to attention. Not who has the best product, or who has invested the most effort, but who has secured a place in the consumer’s awareness. The landscape has shifted from product competition to attention competition. Those who understand and act on this shift are able to move their products, while those who do not remain unseen.
The decision, therefore, is not only about improving the product, but about ensuring it is visible in a world where attention determines outcome. To move forward. Let me access your online footprint, and together we can discuss options to move your products. Email me.