Ignore / Nancy Harhut

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen (the term is to be loosely applied),

Welcome to those new to Serendipity. As always, the premises of these essays can be found in the provenance email. (In short, it's five minutes of your life that would be more fruitful if you spent it reading the back of a cereal box or an Ikea instruction manual.)

It has been said that we have begun what is known in marketing as the “Great Ignore.” Perhaps ironically, it is also true that people in marketing made up that term. If we put aside that there is a chance it could be a very creative ploy for being ineffective at marketing, I tend to agree that given the sheer volume of ‘stuff’ that is now being created by people and robots, most of it will largely be ignored.

I, for one, am so glad that the rest of society has finally reached the saturation point with digital consumption, as I peaked some time ago. I do worry that the return to quality over quantity is a journey that I will have to begrudgingly drag my children on as I ceremonially burn their phones whilst TikTok reels play.

Back to business for a second. Talking to growth or GTM pros, I can see that they all have access to the same tools, playbooks, and signals, and they are all smashing the same people with variations of the same messages. No wonder people are tired. The result is now that for many companies, growth has slowed. What worked before is not working anymore. No more systematic, outsourced, AI-driven growth that was so predictable.

Cue creativity.

I love that amidst the prospect of being ignored, the antidote is a timeless principle that, whilst difficult, is my favorite thing to practice and explore: creativity. More time and resources will now be rightfully allocated to the research and creation of the ‘stuff.’ Pour the whiskey, light the cigars, and get out the crayons and stickers again, my fellow marketers. We are up to bat again!   

Moving on.


This month’s ‘Serendipitous moment’:

Following April's feature, Dante Disparte will be featured in an early 2025 edition of Success Magazine. I am sure their talented array of writers will do a fantastic job of sharing Dante’s story with the world, so please head to the newsstands and pick up your copy. Yes, that's still a thing, and it's way more fun than reading it online.

Moving on, on.


This month, I would like to introduce you to a shining star who will never be ignored: Nancy Harhut.

Nancy Harhut

Nancy Harhut is an internationally acclaimed speaker, bestselling author, creative director, and partner at HBT Marketing. Her expertise and use of social psychology have won her the plaudits of other marketers worldwide. In her book Using Behavioral Science in Marketing, she details how marketers can improve their effectiveness by supercharging their art with science.  

Unlike most of her male counterpart marketing superstars, Nancy is humble, approachable, kind, and grounded. Try ignoring those traits.

I have literally read hundreds of marketing books, and this is one of the absolute best for anyone in business or creative roles, demonstrated by the fact that my wife bought this book, and I stole it from her bookshelf. Coincidentally, when I read the book, Stephanie was taking a social psychology class at Harvard, and when I would bring up the concepts at the dinner table for the first time in my life, she would say things like, “Maybe you're not such a neanderthal after all” and “Where did you read that, your coloring books don’t use words like that?”

Point being - go immediately buy and read the book here.

Follow or connect with Nancy here.

Book her to speak at your next company event here.

Lastly, thank you so much for reading Serendipity and to all the people who have connected to the person in focus, stalked them on LinkedIn, or even bought their books. I truly believe serendipitous moments can amount to life-changing events.

Thank you for spending five semi-pointless minutes a month with me.