The War on Business as Usual: The Pentagon, Brands, and the War for Attention

Claire Coady and James Wickham discuss the Department of Defence/Department of War rebrand and its fights with partners and suppliers. In September, Pete Hegseth suggested the U.S. military was being weakened by forces within - forces the Department would fight. How far will it go in that fight?

If the US public doesn't want a war overseas, then is the war on business as usual - and are suppliers exposed?

Plus, if political campaigning is harder in an overheated attention economy, and picking fights with business becomes more common, how can business prepare?

This episode recaps Claire’s Substack post ‘Weaponised Brands in the War for Attention’: https://open.substack.com/pub/attentionscarcity/p/weaponised-brands-in-the-war-for

The attention economy is harder to navigate - especially for political campaigns. More in ‘The Age of Attention Scarcity’: https://open.substack.com/pub/attentionscarcity/p/the-age-of-attention-scarcity

Also:

Gallup, 5 March: 1/3 of Americans say US defence isn’t strong enough https://news.gallup.com/poll/702767/americans-views-nation-global-image-power.aspx

Band names are a strong, identifiable “message” in a two-second world - System1 Group & TikTok: https://system1group.com/creative-effectiveness-tiktok 

Save your sanity and stay informed - introducing The Scroll, Scream, and Stop: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/clairecoady_were-back-on-the-latest-episode-of-can-activity-7449795220747137024-vR4I

On the history of the term “war fighters”: https://angrystaffofficer.com/2022/04/11/whats-in-a-name-the-problem-with-warfighter/ 

Can We Have Your Attention? is a podcast exploring the unseen forces that shape what we see, what we buy, and who we become. Hosted by Claire Coady and James Wickham, we dive into the mechanics of the Attention Economy to understand how value is created (and manipulated) in a distracted world.

Production Credits:

• Hosted by: Claire Coady & James Wickham
• Produced by: Phonogram https://www.phonogram.co.uk in conjunction with The Attention Practice https://www.theattentionpractice.com 
• Find out more on our website https://canwehaveyourattention.com 
• Got a story for us? Email us: [email protected] 

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