A missed campaign costs more than media spend. It costs time, production budget, and the market window a brand cannot get back. Across Asia, Blackbox has seen the same creative research failures repeat: testing happens too late, the tools are too blunt, and the questions measure the wrong things. This piece breaks down three common mistakes in creative testing and the sharper questions brands should be asking before campaigns go live.

Brands are speaking — but their customers are not always listening. In today’s attention economy, people are exposed to more messages across more channels than ever before, while at the same time filtering harder, trusting less, and gravitating toward interactions that feel authentic.

On 4 Sep 2025, Blackbox hosted the Brand Leaders Brunch: The Insight Disconnect, where 50 senior decision-makers came together to ask: In the attention economy, how do we keep research meaningful? Leading the discussion were Mansi Trivedi, who heads strategy and insights across APJ at Transmission; Jessalynn Chen, Managing Director of Labbrand Singapore with expertise in brand innovation and cultural fit; and David Black, founder and CEO of Blackbox Research. Together, they unpacked why attention isn’t really shrinking, why “trust” is too vague to act on, and why senior executives will never fill your survey — surfacing 7 key shifts every leader should know to turn feedback into genuine dialogue.