I have been raised in a generation in which everyone gets a medal. If you place fifth in a contest of four, your trophy is the same size and the first-place contestant. In this age of entitlement, we’ve created a society of young people who have an enlarged sense of their own importance and insatiable desire for attention. Consequently, there has been a large shift in economic commodities: The Attention Economy.

The attention economy is a newly recognized economic commodity where consumers receive services in exchange for their attention. Web-based mediums like news feed and search engines illustrate the attention economy by asking for consumer attention by showing advertisements. Capturing, managing and keeping customer attention is critical to a company’s growth and sustenance. Consider this concept of attention economy, this concept of “asking” for attention from your consumers. There is an underlying problem. The problem is that while companies are using valuable time and resources seeking attention, consumers are seeking attention as well. Enter social media.

People are conditioned to project their best selves on social media. Though there are some exceptions, people on social media sites spend a great deal of time and effort to perfect and project their digital identities. It is virtually the same concept as “keeping up with the Joneses”. This notion of projecting the ideal self through social media stems from the “Me” generation. Now, consider the reverse concept of attention economy. As an entrepreneur, instead of seeking consumer attention through advertising, I aim to give attention to consumers, consequentially receiving their attention, as well as the attention of their networks.

Recall the last time you were scrolling through your Facebook or Twitter feed. Are you more likely to stop and read a lengthy promotion from an organization you follow, or are you more likely to stop read your old high school classmate’s article in the newspaper, which he so readily shared with his social media network? I know I would be far more likely to examine the latter. This is the marketing approach I aim to take with my business.

My partner and I have devised a tagline and a plan for implementing this reverse attention economy advertising strategy. As we target health-conscious, adventurous, outdoor enthusiasts to purchase our organic beef jerky, we came up with the tagline “Share The Adventure”. We aim to encourage our patrons to share their pictures and adventure stories with us, which we will refine and publish on our blog site, as well as our Twitter and Facebook. Our first blog will include a memoir of a patron’s account of the Boston Marathon bombing, and his emotional, surreal return to run the marathon in 2014. We also plan to tell the back story of the organic beef supplier from which we obtain our product. These blogs will be included on our Twitter, Facebook and WordPress in the following month, with links to follow.

In sharing these stories, we hope that our patrons will cherish this attention, and thereby eagerly share it with their social media networks. In doing so, our consumers will inadvertently advertise for us and build our brand identity. We feel that consumers will really embrace our attention to their stories, and help us to create a strong external culture and social media presence.