The Attention Economy Is Broken. Here’s How Brands Are Breaking Through.

August 5th, 2026

Do you ever regret the amount of time you spend online. 87% of people say yes. From social media addictions to consistent screentime at work, everyone’s eyes are glued to our screens while lack of attention spans and increasing digital burnout have been spreading worldwide (SOURCE: Human Clarity Institute).

Yet we still scroll. Without a proper balance between digital life and real life, audiences are losing mental energy, and they are feeling depleted rather than restored. Half of people reporting exhaustion and only 11% feel more energized after digital activity (SOURCE: Human Clarity Institute).

Experiencing media IRL restores that balance. Tangible, authentic media goes against the grain of normalized digital overconsumption. Creating moments for audiences to experience in the real-world are paramount to breaking the cycle of digital fatigue.

Reaching audiences IRL pushes engagement and cultivates a space that motivates them to look up from their phones and experience something energizing rather than draining.

Here are some great recent creative executions showcasing the importance of generating memorable moments with IRL media.

Wells Fargo Brings It Back to the Neighborhood

Nashville cultivates Southern hospitality, and Wells Fargo did the same with a campaign to reinforce the importance of being involved in your hometown. Through playing with their own name, Wells Fargo created the tagline "Well-come" to both greet its audience but also introduce them to the bank as a support system for their community.

This execution links how meeting IRL, whether at the Wells Fargo branch advertised, and by looking at the billboard, impacts audiences differently than on digital. The creative anchors Wells Fargo's iconic wordmark, with a nod to Nashville's iconic hospitality.

AI Becomes Self-Aware – Or At Least Its Ads Do

On its launch, Cognition AI posted several billboards across San Francisco about Devin, its fully autonomous agentic software engineer that “loves the tasks you don’t.” For some, Devin didn’t live up to its ambitious early promise. But a lot can change in a year.

Cognition’s latest billboards were posted with the tagline “Remember Devin? It’s actually good now,” acknowledging the disappointment early users may have felt while inviting them to take a fresh look at its much-improved agentic AI product.


This engagement strategy keeps audiences interested by putting the ad in the context of the brand’s existing relationship with the audience. With that specificity, campaigns with a narrow audience  – like software developers – can resonate deeply.


Ads like these are meant to generate conversation. And coming across this board in real life brings an additional sense of credibility that would not have been perceived the same way if it were a mobile advertisement. IRL media’s physical presence creates both immediate impact and lasting brand recall.

Summer's Hottest Couple: The Villa + Transit Shelters

Peacock brought audiences to the Love Island villa with four unique bus shelters spanning West Hollywood. By recreating iconic show locales like Casa and Soul Ties, Love Island viewers discovered an interactive experience that could not exist on a screen. The campaign even included sand on the ground to evoke the show’s Fiji backdrop.

In high-traffic neighborhoods, an eye-catching, immersive IRL ad format like West Hollywood’s bus shelters can not only reinforce the brand, but give audiences a reason to look away from addictive digital media. IRL media gives people the chance to experience the advertiser in an unexpected way.


Love Island’s most devoted audience, Gen Z experiences the most digital fatigue out of any generation, with 81% wanting to disconnect from their devices more easily (SOURCE: EMARKETER). For a phenomenon like Love Island, IRL media is about letting the audience feel like they can step into the show’s world.

For Indeed, The Job Is Breaking Through

Individuals experiencing unemployment are among the group most likely to face prolonged screen exposure, thus compounding with that digital fatigue to create a lower overall well-being (SOURCE: OECD). Job recruitment site Indeed took to Times Square in New York City to deliver an important message; "jobs need people." Indeed focuses on reaching hiring decision makers in one of the highest-traffic tourist attractions in the world.

Indeed’s campaign works to remind that jobs need people just as much as people need them. The upside-down framing and emotional, positive messaging are meant to stand out.

Brands have to stand out amid digital media addiction. Finding a way to break through and appeal to audiences IRL creates community on a different scale. IRL media can inspire audiences’ anticipation for a product or immerse them in the product itself.

Campaigns that catch people’s attention, appeal to current trends, and showcase new ideas can take people away from the endless scroll and engage them in something real.

Contact OUTFRONT todayto meet audiences where tangible media matters most.

Author: Sydney Weiss and Jade Ilas, Marketing Interns @ OUTFRONT

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