Attention is easy. Brand building is harder.

Photo: Prof Joseph Sekhampu, Chief director of the NWU Business School

A provocative campaign can dominate the conversation without strengthening the brand behind it.

NWU marketing expert Prof. Roland Goldberg examines what the Sydney Sweeney advertising controversy teaches organisations about attention, trust and meaningful exposure.

In an advertising environment shaped by crowded feeds and shrinking attention spans, visibility is often treated as the ultimate measure of success.

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A campaign that attracts millions of views, generates headlines and provokes widespread debate can appear to have achieved its purpose.

But attention and brand impact are not the same thing. That distinction sits at the heart of Prof. Roland Goldberg’s analysis of a controversial campaign featuring American actress Sydney Sweeney.

The advertisements were created for Novig, an online sports prediction market in which Sweeney holds an equity stake.

Featuring suggestive imagery under the tagline “Just Sports”, the campaign rapidly attracted attention.

It also prompted criticism from female athletes and accusations that it reduced women’s sport to a decorative role.

For Novig, a relatively unknown business competing with larger platforms such as Kalshi, Polymarket and Robinhood, the campaign delivered immediate visibility.

Reported figures pointed to tens of millions of views and a sharp rise in brand mentions.

From that perspective, the campaign succeeded in introducing the Novig name to a much larger audience.

Yet Prof. Goldberg, warns that exposure alone should not be confused with effective brand building.

“Attention is the easy part. Attention is not brand building.”

When audiences remember the advertisement, but not the brand

The real test of advertising is not simply whether people noticed it.

It is whether the campaign helped audiences understand, remember or trust the organisation behind it.

Prof. Goldberg refers to a meta-analysis by Wirtz and colleagues that combined 78 studies.

The research found that sexual content could improve people’s recollection of an advertisement without necessarily improving their memory of the brand.

It had almost no effect on purchasing intention, while attitudes towards the advertised brand tended to become more negative.

Responses also differed according to gender.

Men generally responded more positively to sexualised advertising, while women tended to react strongly against it.

These findings reveal a costly risk for marketers: the most memorable element of an advertisement may overshadow the product it is intended to promote.

Audiences may remember the celebrity, the controversy or the imagery while remaining unable to identify the company or explain what it offers.

In that situation, the campaign has generated attention without creating meaningful brand value.

A mismatch between image and purpose

Prof. Goldberg indicated that Novig’s central strategic problem is the disconnect between the identity presented in the campaign and the nature of its product.

The platform operates in an industry where consumer trust is especially important.

It positions itself as a regulated exchange with no house margin, does not limit winners and restricts participation to people aged 21 and older.

However, its national introduction focused on provocation rather than these product characteristics.

The campaign therefore did little to establish the credibility or differentiation that a new entrant in the betting market may need.

This offers a broader lesson for organisations: effective advertising should express something distinctive and relevant about the brand. Prof. Goldberg proposes a simple test.

If the logo were removed, would audiences still know which organisation created the advertisement?

If the answer is no, the campaign may be building recognition for its celebrity partner rather than for the brand itself.

The athletes who reshaped the conversation

The campaign also appears to have misjudged an increasingly influential audience.

Women’s elite sport is expected to generate approximately $3 billion in revenue during 2026, while sponsorship investment continues to grow.

Against this backdrop of rapid professionalisation, Novig’s portrayal of women in sport drew a forceful response from female athletes.

Rather than limiting their reaction to criticism, athletes published short videos showing themselves training and competing. Their message was direct: this is what women in sport look like.

Prof. Goldberg regards these posts as a spontaneous counter-campaign created by the people on whom the sporting industry depends.

Their authentic depictions of skill, discipline and competition proved more compelling than a multimillion-dollar campaign built around celebrity and shock value.

The athletes demonstrated that credibility does not always require the largest budget.

Purposeful communication, grounded in lived experience and connected to an audience’s values, can carry greater impact.

A lesson for South African marketers

The controversy has particular relevance in South Africa, where advertising is self-regulated through the Advertising Regulatory Board and reputational damage can spread quickly.

Betting brands also operate amid serious concern about gambling advertising and its exposure to young people.

For marketers, the lesson extends beyond the use of sexualised content.

It is about the strategic discipline required to ensure that creative execution supports the brand’s purpose.

Strong advertising should do more than make people look.

It should help audiences understand what the organisation represents, why its offering matters and why it deserves their confidence.

Controversy may deliver rapid exposure, but attention that weakens trust can become an expensive form of fame.

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