Advertising has always been about striking the right balance between entertaining the audience and selling the product. At its core, a successful ad needs to catch our attention long enough to make us care about what’s being sold. Yet, over the years, the way brands approach this balance has evolved significantly—especially when it comes to future generations of consumers who are highly resistant to traditional, hard-sell tactics.

As consumer attention becomes more fragmented across social media, short-form content, and the demand for instant gratification, brands are facing a new challenge. It’s no longer enough to just entertain, nor is it sufficient to push a message about how great your product is. Advertising must be more nuanced, more authentic, and, most importantly, relevant to how the next generation consumes media.

A Changing Audience: From Broadcast to Social Media

Guinness is a brand that has managed to adapt to these changes in fascinating ways. Historically, Guinness ads were celebrated for their epic storytelling—think of the famous TV spots featuring slow-motion horses galloping through waves or poignant messages about good things coming to those who wait. These ads worked in a time when brands could afford to take up space on the TV and capture an audience’s undivided attention.

But today, things are different. Younger generations, especially Gen Z and Millennials, don’t consume media in the same way. They’re far more likely to be found on TikTok or Instagram than in front of the TV, and they value quick, relatable, and authentic content over highly produced and polished ads. The fact that 85% of ads fail to meet the attention threshold of 2.5 seconds (as pointed out by Karen Nelson-Field, founder of Amplified Intelligence) speaks to the difficulty of making an impression in today’s fast-paced media environment.

To address this, Guinness made a key shift in its advertising strategy, moving from a broadcast-first approach to a community-first model. By listening to its audience and adapting its messaging to fit their behaviour, Guinness was able to connect with younger consumers in a way that felt genuine. For example, Guinness embraced the social media trend of fans creating their own rituals around drinking the iconic beer, like the “tilt test” to see if a pint is poured correctly. Rather than maintaining a stiff, corporate image, Guinness allowed its brand to be part of the fun, welcoming user-generated content and engaging influencers to spread the message.

The Price of Blandness: Why Creativity and Boldness Matter

At the recent WARC Wrap-up event for Cannes Lions, a major topic of conversation was the crisis of effectiveness in advertising. A significant takeaway was how many brands are becoming bland in an effort to appeal to everyone. In what’s being called the “age of average,” the analysis revealed that 65% of brand assets tested had weak or no association with the brands that paid for them. Essentially, the message was clear: if your ad doesn’t stand out, it’s wasted.

The consequences of being dull in today’s market are serious. Research from the “cost of dull” project highlighted that brands that fail to evoke emotion could be missing out on billions. In fact, for U.S. brands, the financial penalty of dull advertising could be as high as $189 billion. The need to be creative, bold, and distinctive is no longer optional; it’s essential for survival. In an experiment, System1 showed a video of a cow chewing grass and found that 50% of UK ads performed worse than this simple, albeit boring, video. That’s a sobering reminder that being forgettable is one of the most expensive mistakes a brand can make.

Entertaining the Audience by Tapping Into What Matters to Them

One of the best examples of how far entertaining the audience can go comes from Cerave’s recent campaign featuring Michael Cera. The idea was rooted in something almost absurd: a rumour started circulating online that the actor Michael Cera was the brains behind Cerave’s skincare products. Rather than dismiss this bizarre piece of misinformation, Cerave leaned into it, creating a hilarious and nonsensical campaign with Cera himself.

The result? A lovable, absurd campaign that not only entertained its audience but also tapped into the humorous, meme-driven culture of the internet. This campaign showed that you don’t always have to be serious or even strictly product-focused to make an impact—sometimes, being entertaining in a way that aligns with your audience’s humour and culture can do more than any conventional ad.

This is the secret to Cerave’s success: they understood their audience and created a campaign that felt organic to the type of content people were already consuming and sharing online. Younger consumers, particularly Gen Z, value authenticity and creativity over slick, hyper-produced messages. Cerave showed that, even when the message is nonsensical, if it’s entertaining in the right way, it will resonate.

Authenticity is the Key to Connecting with Future Generations

As brands scramble to connect with younger consumers, one thing has become clear: authenticity is key. Millennials and Gen Z are savvy, they’ve grown up in a world of constant advertising, and they can spot a hard sell from a mile away. What they want are brands that feel real, that acknowledge their values and sense of humour, and that are willing to be vulnerable.

Guinness exemplifies this shift in its marketing strategy. By acknowledging that it couldn’t rely on the polished, traditional ads of the past, it embraced a more playful, relatable approach. The brand stopped trying to maintain a stiff image and started loosening its grip on perfection, which made the brand feel more accessible. This has led to a 27% increase in female drinkers and more widespread adoption among younger audiences.

Similarly, Cerave’s Michael Cera campaign embraced the spirit of its audience by tapping into internet humour in a way that felt genuine and in touch with what younger consumers find entertaining. The beauty of this strategy lies in how it aligns perfectly with today’s fast-moving, meme-fueled culture. It shows that even absurd entertainment can hit the mark, as long as the brand knows its audience.

Finding the Balance: Entertain, Sell, and Stay Real

Advertising is no longer just about finding the trade-off between entertaining the audience and selling a product; it’s about doing both in a way that feels real. Younger generations are quick to tune out anything that feels forced or overly corporate, which means brands need to be nimble, creative, and, most importantly, authentic.

By blending entertainment with a genuine understanding of what resonates with modern audiences, brands like Guinness and Cerave are showing that it’s possible to strike that balance. Whether it’s through quirky, user-driven social media campaigns or embracing internet culture with a self-deprecating sense of humour, the key is to make your audience feel like they’re part of the conversation, not just the target of a sales pitch. In the end, the brands that win are those that can make us laugh, think, and connect—all while staying true to who they are.