The Death of Traditional Advertising: Why Your Brand Needs to Think Like Netflix

Insights from Favoured’s Founder Andy Willers on the DesignRush Podcast about how the attention economy is reshaping marketing forever.

The rules of marketing have fundamentally changed, and most brands are still playing by the old playbook. That’s the key message from a recent episode of the DesignRush Podcast, where our CEO Andy Willers broke down why traditional advertising isn’t just less effective than it used to be – it’s practically irrelevant.

In his conversation with host Kia Johnson, Andy explained how your brand isn’t competing with other brands anymore. You’re competing with Netflix for Thursday night attention, with TikTok creators for the morning commute scroll, and with every piece of entertainment content fighting for those precious moments of human focus.

The New Battlefield: Entertainment vs. Advertising

We’ve entered the attention economy, where time is the most finite resource and entertainment is the currency. Brands like Duolingo didn’t become cultural phenomena by creating better language-learning ads. They became viral by creating content that people actually want to consume.

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But here’s where Andy sees most brands getting it wrong: they think viral content equals business success. Views don’t automatically translate to revenue, and attention without strategy is just expensive entertainment.

The brands winning right now – Ryanair’s Twitter presence, Durex’s cultural commentary, and Snag Tights’ community-building – understand that entertainment is the delivery mechanism, not the end goal. They use engagement to build relationships, and relationships to drive conversions.

The Viral Trap: Why Entertainment Alone Isn’t Enough

And let’s not forget the viral trap. Going viral feels incredible – the notifications, the shares, the sudden surge in followers. But viral moments are just sparks. Without a strategic system to capture and convert that attention, you’re essentially running very expensive entertainment that benefits everyone except your bottom line.

The winning formula for 2026 combines two critical elements:

Entertainment value that competes with real entertainment platforms
Clear value communication that converts attention into revenue

Why B2B Can’t Ignore This Shift

“But we’re B2B – our audience is different.” Your B2B audience doesn’t switch into robot mode when they log onto LinkedIn. They’re the same humans who binge Netflix, scroll TikTok, and crave engaging content.

The difference isn’t that B2B audiences want boring content. It’s that they want engaging content within their niche. A procurement manager still appreciates wit, personality, and genuine value. They just want it delivered in a context that’s relevant to their professional world.

The Founder Advantage: Authenticity at Scale

One of the strategies Andy highlighted as particularly effective is founder-led content. Why? Because founders have something that polished brand accounts often lack – genuine passion and authentic perspective. When a founder shares their real thoughts, challenges, and insights, it cuts through the noise in ways that corporate content simply can’t.

This doesn’t mean every piece of content needs to come from the founder, but having that authentic voice as part of your content strategy provides a level of relatability and trust that’s incredibly hard to manufacture.

Converting Attention Into Revenue: The 2026 Playbook

Brands dominating in 2026 will understand that cultural relevance isn’t optional; it’s essential for survival. This means having a point of view, moving at the speed of culture, and consistently giving value back to your community.

But cultural relevance without business focus is just expensive brand theatre. Andy’s approach balances entertainment with clear value propositions, ensuring that every piece of engaging content has a strategic purpose in your conversion ecosystem.

Here’s what this looks like in practice:

Entertainment draws them in – content that’s genuinely worth consuming
Value keeps them engaged – insights, solutions, or experiences that improve their lives
Strategy converts them – clear pathways from attention to action

The Future of Marketing is Already Here

The shift from traditional advertising to entertainment-driven marketing isn’t coming; it’s already happened. The brands still relying solely on traditional advertising formats are competing for yesterday’s attention patterns in today’s entertainment-saturated world.

The question isn’t whether your brand needs to evolve; it’s whether you’ll adapt fast enough to thrive in the attention economy.

Want to dive deeper into these insights? Listen to the full conversation between Andy Willers and Kia Johnson on the DesignRush Podcast: “Viral vs Revenue | Why Most Creators Get This Wrong.” Andy breaks down exactly how brands like Durex, Snapfish, and Snag Tights are combining performance marketing with creative storytelling – and why attention without strategy leads to wasted growth.

Watch the full episode on YouTube