The room at Kingston’s AC Hotel fell silent and attendees exchanged uneasy glances Thursday morning as a full-sized casket was wheeled to the front of the stage ahead of a presentation by Matthew Mitchell, creative director at Mystique Integrated Services. The audacious, unsettling opening was a metaphor for what he called the true death in marketing: being forgotten.

“What’s more expensive, a bold campaign or a forgotten brand?” Mitchell asked as he drove the point home, at the end of his presentation, that playing it safe is often the most expensive mistake a brand can make.

In the 40 minutes between that conclusion and his memorable opening at the IMPACT x Mystique marketing conference, Mitchell presented a compelling case for disruptive marketing that challenges convention and drives real impact.

He said the Jamaican marketing landscape is largely lacking in that regard.

“There are some billboards right now outside failing, and that’s a result of visuals like this,” Mitchell said, pointing to a stock photo of a family. “It’s really because we recycle the same ideas over and over again.

“We are producing more content than ever. We’re doing more campaigns, more assets, more media, but with just a little less impact,” Mitchell continued, adding “I wouldn’t say that we’re in a creativity crisis because there are a lot of creatives, [but] I would say we are in a distinctiveness crisis, a memory crisis.”

What’s worse is that the “distinctiveness crisis” is against the background of a consumer market where attention spans are shrinking, Mitchell said.

He cited research by the University of California, indicating that the average screen attention is 40 to 47 seconds (down from 2.5 minutes just over 20 years ago), and Microsoft which reported that digital content attention is six to 10 seconds. Additionally, Amplified Intelligence research indicates that the minimum threshold for active attention to impact memory is 2.5 seconds.

Pointing to the 60:40 split for effective marketing, favouring brand building vs brand activation, Mitchell said the problem in Jamaica is that “most brands are over-investing in activation”, with a goal to drive immediate customer interaction and sales.

Matthew Mitchell, creative director at Mystique Integrated Services, cites a Campari advertising campaign during his presentation at the IMPACT x Mystique marketing conference at the AC Hotel, Kingston on Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Photo: Karl McLarty)

However, he noted that alcoholic liquor brand Campari stands out in Jamaica for its brand building, with a goal to build awareness, emotional connection and long-term growth through bold campaigns that push the envelope.

“Campari is globally positioned as a premium brand, but locally it’s a different story, because you see, the real Campari man [in Jamaica]… is at the community bar… and he’s probably slapping up a calendar with a sexy girl on it,” Mitchell said, eliciting laughter from the audience.

“So, Campari really had to strike a balance between staying true to a global brand, but also being locally relevant,” he said.

Noting that emotional advertisements drive growth, he said Campari, through research on its core consumer in Jamaica, found that “desire” was the driving emotion.

“And then they used desire to rebuild their entire brand story,” Mitchell said, pointing to Campari’s “Red Passion” advertising campaign, featuring hardcore dancehall entertainer Valiant, as an example.

The promotion includes a ‘Win Your Passion’ initiative where, upon the purchase of a Campari product, consumers get a chance to win several ‘desire’-related prizes, including a vacation for two and carnival costumes.

The upshot, according to the Mystique creative director, is that the campaign has been an overwhelming success.

“They did all of this recipe, cook it up together, and Campari actually reported that they had a significant lift in sales because of this new direction, and staying in their lane, staying in desire,” Mitchell said.

He also cited Liquid Death, known for its “Murder Your Thirst” tagline, as another brand that has driven sales through bold campaigns.

In addition to campaigns being ignored, price sensitivity, internal mediocrity, cultural irrelevance and constant spend are among the cost of safe marketing, Mitchell told the audience.

“The data is clear, emotion drives growth, distinctiveness drives memory, and memory, once I remember you, we’re going to grow together,” he continued.

“So, when we choose safe work, we’re not just reducing risk, we’re reducing impact.”