Insights from Nebo

For years, marketing has been obsessed with attention.

We want more impressions. More clicks. More reach. More ways to interrupt someone in the middle of whatever they were actually trying to do.

But attention is not the same thing as connection. And today, the difference matters more than ever.

Let’s take it back now, y’all. To a time when Destiny’s Child just broke up and everyone was over-plucking their eyebrows — all really tragic stuff. Carrie Underwood won American Idol, YouTube launched and Dancing with the Stars aired for the first time.

It is 2026. Your refrigerator can suggest dinner. Your watch knows you slept badly. An AI assistant can research a product, compare prices and make a purchase before you have finished deciding whether you even want it.

Somewhere, a marketing dashboard records all of this as user activity.

That word, user, has followed technology for decades. It once described someone operating a computer, back when doing so was a distinct enough activity to warrant its own label. Today, nearly everyone encounters digital technology constantly, often without consciously “using” anything at all.

“Where else would you rather be than right here, right now?”

This iconic quote, originally uttered by legendary Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy, is still screamed by over 60,000 fans at every home game. It’s a line that immediately unifies the crowd, reminding us we’re all here for the exact same reason. They are words that fans long to hear from March to August — a battle cry signaling that football season is finally upon us.

Stepping on a crunchy leaf on the ground may indicate to some that fall is approaching. For Gilmore Girls fans, hitting play on the pilot episode is the official start of fall. For 26 years, the town of Stars Hollow has dominated screens. The cozy New England town with its warm aesthetic, charm, and “coffee, coffee, coffee” has swept the pop-culture scene — and the marketing scene. 

There’s a reason why Hulu and Gilmore Girls posted this on Instagram - because September 1 truly only means one thing.

To say that the only certainty right now is uncertainty seems like one of the biggest understatements I’ve ever made. AI, tariffs, war, inflation, political strife, and more make the current economic environment very challenging for most organizations.

And when tough times hit, we tend to see organizations start pressing familiar levers to get through the challenges. Marketing and advertising budgets get cut, yet the financial goals stay the same. People are asked to do more, but with less. And most of the time, that is not possible.