With the sheer volume of content, why is it becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to be remembered?

Content is everywhere, but attention isn't.

Never before have businesses produced so much content. AI, design tools, and digital platforms have made publishing so easy that there are virtually no barriers. Statista estimates that hundreds of millions of new pieces of content are uploaded daily across global digital platforms.

Yet, at the same time, the average user attention span continues to shorten. People scroll faster, forget faster, and stop less often. This creates a stark paradox: content is increasing exponentially, but retention is decreasing arithmetically.

The problem isn't a lack of content.

In many organizations, when communication effectiveness declines, the first reflex is to "do more": more articles, more videos, more formats, more budget. Content becomes the default solution to every problem.

However, WARC reports show that more than half of marketing content doesn't create a clear impact on the brand or revenue. This doesn't mean the content is technically poor. The problem lies in the fact that the content is created without a sufficiently clear strategic axis.

Businesses don't lack things to say. They lack clear reasons to say them.

When content becomes "noise" instead of a "signal"

A less-discussed consequence of mass content production is "brand noise." Consumers are exposed to a lot of information, but they can't connect that information to a specific brand, or understand what that brand represents.

NielsenIQ has pointed out that the majority of consumers don't remember the brands behind the content they watch daily, even if they encounter that content frequently. The content is watched, but the brands fade away.

Here, the problem isn't just "too much content," but that the content lacks a meaningful axis to connect with.

A deeper layer of the problem: soulless content.

Beneath the story of quantity lies a more subtle, yet increasingly common, issue: soulless content.

Soulless content isn't necessarily wrong or bad. On the contrary, it's often very "right": the right format, the right trend, the right length, the right algorithm. But it lacks something crucial: a stance and depth of thought.

This type of content has several familiar characteristics. It can be created by anyone, for any brand. If you remove the logo, it's difficult to recognize who's behind it. It says the same things everyone says, in the same familiar way, and therefore leaves no unique mark.

The explosion of AI has made this phenomenon even more apparent. When content can be created quickly, cheaply, and almost infinitely, the "form" is no longer a competitive advantage. What remains – and is the rarest – is the soul of the content: perspective, argument, the deliberate choice of what to say and what to keep.

Where does the soul of content come from?

The soul of content doesn't come from flowery words or superficial emotions. It comes from the underlying strategy and mindset.

When a brand clearly knows:

what it believes in,

what it doesn't pursue,

what it wants to be remembered for in the long term, even very short content carries weight. Conversely, when a brand doesn't know who it is, even the most polished content easily becomes empty.

BCG once pointed out that brands with consistent and clear messaging across multiple channels have significantly higher recognition and trust than brands with fragmented communications. This consistency isn't about repeating a slogan, but about maintaining a consistent mindset throughout all content.

The silent shift: from content production to content direction

In many large organizations, a silent shift is underway. Content is no longer seen as a purely output, but is re-evaluated within the brand's strategic framework.

Instead of asking "What should I post this week?", the question is gradually becoming: "What role is this content playing in the brand journey?" "Is it building awareness, strengthening trust, or just filling up the posting schedule?"

McKinsey once noted that businesses with content systems built on a clear strategic foundation are not only more effective in communication, but also significantly reduce wasted resources. Content, in this context, is not about "doing enough," but about doing it right.

Less content, but more soulful.

Some brands, after reviewing their content systems, have chosen a counter-trend: reducing output, increasing selectivity. When the number of posts decreases, but each piece of content originates from the same strategic axis, brand recall increases.

This reveals a crucial truth: soul cannot be mass-produced. It requires time, consistency, and a sufficiently solid foundation of thought.

Ultimately, content isn't lacking – what's lacking is strategic support.

In a world where anyone can publish, the competitive advantage isn't about saying more or faster. The advantage lies in speaking purposefully, speaking from a clear standpoint, and having the patience to build meaning over time.

Content without soul is often noisy but quickly forgotten. Content with soul is usually less, but lingers longer in the reader's mind.

And the line between those two types of content isn't about tools or budget, but about the strategy behind the words.

CONTENTA CONSULTING