SCARIFICATION, INFOBESITY & ATTENTION ECONOMY

Nigeria, just like other nations, is clearly a victim of what the futurist, Alvin Toffler described as “Future Shock,” a bestselling book he wrote in 1970. Future Shock hypothesized how change overwhelms people, how the acceleration in technological change would decelerate cognitive focus and human civility.

 

Unfortunately, recent events in the country lend credence to the theory of the Future Shock: 

From the Aisha Buhari and Governor Ayo Fayose’s cold war, to the “we beg to differ” drama that featured the same Ayo Fayose and Zenith Bank. Also, from the current absurdities in Abia state, to the shaming episode of the Nigerian lawmakers who couldn’t control their libidos in faraway U.S., amongst others, these events are indices of poor decisions made at varying points. 

 

Poor decisions speak to deficit in leadership, bane of our national malaise. 

 

According to Mark Ritson, an Adjunct Professor of Marketing at Melbourne Business School: “90% of world problems originated from poor decisions. Poor decisions, however, are part consequences of infobesity, a crime perpetuated by brands today.”

 

Infobesity is a term for information overload, and it’s largely constituted by the competitive pursuit of various sales pitches and brands’ share of voices.

 

Of course, brands thrive on share of voices, and it all began from the concept of scarification. Scarifying means, etching or burnings done on the human skin for body modification. The human body, according to Levi-Strauss (1963), is a surface waiting for the imprintation of culture. So scarification was cultural, and it included our local tribal mark, which was a form of identity during the wars.

 

Fast-forward to 1931 when Neil McElroy invented the concept of “brand managers,” known then as “brand men,” propagation of brands’ share of voices replaced the mere symbolisms of the scarification era. However, with today’s explosion of information technology, brands’ share of voices have not only cluttered mainstream channels, they’ve now, unfortunately contributed largely to the problem of infobesity.

Information in the cyberspace is not only abundant, but also overflowing. In fact, we are drowning in it and more keeps coming at us on the daily.

 

From the barrage of email spams and email notifications that daily interrupt productivity, to the unending instant messages, tweets, pings, pokes, posts, reposts, chat-rooms, SMS blast, Facebook updates amongst others, and the intrusion of various brand messages on these platforms, including all manner of news and reportage, coupled with the trauma that comes with everyday life in Nigeria, there’s little to what the average human brain can take.

 

Suffice it to say that Infobesity aids the theory of the Future Shock, its pertinent to state that: “in an information-rich world, the wealth of information means the dearth of something else, a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes, … which of course is: Attention.” (Herbert A. Simon, 1971).

Economies are governed by scarcity.

 

Attention, at least the kind we care about is an intrinsically scarce resource, yet been paid qualitative attention is very desirable. This combination makes attention the potential driving force of a very intense economy. 

Attention expends time. Time is money; therefore, attention is money. When attention is enthralling, the mind is strongly influenced, and loyalty is almost certainly secured. 

 

In this full-fledged attention economy, the task is: how do we break through the clutter of infobesity and then attract the right attention we need for our brands?

 

Entertainment. This remains the most viable currency in buying attention.

 

According to sir John Hegarty, “the word “consumer” is old-fashion and almost demeaning… when you change the word “consumer” to “Audience,” you begin to alter the terms of engagement. Audiences seek to be entertained.”

 

In an attention economy, money might not necessarily fade in value; it will just loose importance just as noble titles have over the past few centuries. What will certainly remain relevant and break through the web of infobesity is content. 

 

The more entertaining the content, the more attention it would earn.

 

 

 

 

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