How to Tune In When Everyone's Tuning Out

We’ve reached a strange inflection point in marketing and innovation. On one hand, we’ve never seen more content, more campaigns, more personalization. On the other, no one’s paying attention.

Commercial messaging has become so relentless—and so uniformly polished—that most of us have learned to tune it out. Our brains protect us by scanning for utility and discarding the rest. Which leaves a hard question for anyone trying to reach customers, influence behavior, or build anything new: how do you get through?

The answer isn’t louder messaging. It’s deeper usefulness.

And the people most qualified to tell you what’s actually useful—what’s worth noticing, keeping, repeating—are your Catalytic Customers.

Why Utility Wins Now

People don’t have time for “brand stories” that don’t help them make a better decision. They don’t care about your mission statement unless it leads to something clearer, faster, or more effective in their real life. They’re not waiting to be inspired. They’re trying to get things done.

The shift is subtle but absolute: from persuasion to utility.

This doesn’t mean people don’t care about design, or values, or emotion. It means those things only work after you’ve cleared the utility bar. If you don’t help me solve something I care about, you’re irrelevant. If you do, I’m listening.

Catalytic Customers Care About Usefulness First

One of the most defining traits of Catalytic Customers—those highly engaged, experienced, constructively critical users who push categories forward—is that they’re relentlessly focused on what’s useful.

They spot dead weight fast. They notice where a tool makes their job easier—and where it breaks under real pressure. They’re quick to dismiss fluff, but they’ll tell everyone they know about a feature that saves them time, eliminates a workaround, or makes them feel more capable.

They’re not impressed by spin. They’re impressed by function.

Usefulness as the First Filter

Spend any time talking to these customers, and you’ll notice something: they don’t talk about “brand love.” They talk about flow, fit, clarity, and control.

They’ll tell you what they reach for first—and why. They’ll show you the hidden workarounds they’ve developed when your product comes up short. They’ll tell you which part of your message makes sense and which part doesn’t pass the sniff test.

They instinctively focus on the tools and ideas that make their work, or their life, measurably better. Not incrementally prettier. Better.

That’s your gold.

If You Want to Know What’s Useful, Ask Them

Here’s the practical part. You don’t need a massive research budget to start tuning into utility. You need to listen to the right people, ask the right questions, and stop settling for vague sentiment.

• Instead of “Do you like it?” ask “How does it help you do what you need to do?”

  
  

• Instead of “How would you describe our brand?” ask “What do you count on us for?”

  
  

• Instead of trying to “delight,” try reducing the need for workarounds.

  
  

If you’re building a roadmap, designing a message, or investing in a new initiative, test it with the customers who hold you to the highest standard of usefulness. They’ll cut through the noise for you. And when you get it right, they’ll amplify what works.

The Post-Commercial Advantage

We don’t need more marketing. We need more relevance.

Catalytic Customers are your most reliable source of signal in a world full of noise. They aren’t swayed by hype. They don’t waste time with the generic. But when something truly helps them move forward, they notice—and they spread the word.

In a post-commercial world, usefulness is your differentiation. And Catalytic Customers are your guide to it.