Sreyoshi Maitra, Executive Vice President of Analítica, Kantar India, disagrees with one of the most common beliefs in retail; more visibility doesn’t necessarily mean more attention, he says.
For years, many brands have tried to stand out by filling stores with exhibitions, promotional messages and visuals, based on the logic that more visibility translates to a greater chance of engaging with the buyer. However, Maitra argues that people do not walk around a store observing everything around them; they follow a routine they have built over time to shop quickly and efficiently.
From the perspective of Tomilli, this reflection is especially relevant because it focuses on something that is often overlooked; attention as a limited resource. When a brand adds too much stimuli, it doesn’t necessarily generate more interest. The buyer arrives with specific objectives and seeks to reduce mental effort during the purchase. Therefore, the real opportunity is not to multiply messages, but to understand how people move within the commercial space and appear at the exact moment when a decision can be influenced.
The interesting thing is that this approach transcends retail and can be applied to virtually any marketing strategy. Maitra recalls that the most effective brands are not the ones that scream the most, but the ones that manage to be relevant when the consumer is ready to act. In an information-saturated context, simplicity becomes a competitive advantage.Rather than designing to attract attention, brands should design to facilitate decisions, reduce friction and accompany people’s behavior.
Key takeaways from Sreyoshi Maitra’s analysis:
- Shoppers follow routines at stores and rarely explore.
- More visibility doesn’t necessarily generate more attention; advertising can become visual and cognitive noise.
- Real attention is gained by aligning with actual consumer behavior, not increasing the volume of messages.
- Buyers are looking to complete a task, not to admire flashy displays or designs.
- Secondary locations work best when they reduce effort and appear at strategic moments along the route.
- Simplicity is usually more effective than overstimulation.
- Competitive advantage lies in understanding how people make decisions and designing experiences that facilitate that process.
Source: Kantar, article by Sreyoshi Maitra, The Myth of More: why extra disruption makes shoppers notice less (2026).