Livespot
Digitech
0
2025©
// Experience the magic of innovation
Category: Creative
Date: 08/18/2025

Which is More Important: What to Say, When to Say It, or Who to Say It To?

We are living in a time of information overload, where audiences across Africa and the world are saturated with messages competing for attention. This saturation creates mistrust, fatigue, and disengagement...

In today’s cultural landscape, the air is thick with voices. Every brand, creator, and movement has something to say. While very few cut through, the rest are reduced to background noise.

The prevailing problem is not that people are unwilling to listen; it is that they are tired of hearing words that are untrue, late, or misdirected. The real difference lies in how messages can be aligned across three essential levers: what to say, when to say it, and who to say it to. 

For brands and creators working across Africa, where culture is both deeply local and globally visible, understanding this balance has never been more urgent.

What to Say: The Weight of Truth

Every message begins with content, but not every message carries truth. What to say is about defining a position that feels real and valuable to the people listening. In Africa, where audiences have sharpened instincts for spotting performance or inauthenticity, shallow statements collapse almost instantly.

When Livespot designed the CACOVID campaign, the challenge was creating awareness about the pandemic in communities where fear, fatigue, and skepticism were already high. The campaign worked because it simplified the truth: protecting yourself meant protecting the people you loved. It was rooted in the fabric of everyday life, which made the message believable and urgent.

The lesson is simple but profound: what you say must belong to your audience. It cannot be borrowed jargon or lofty declarations. It must sound like something they already believe deep down, only now spoken back to them with clarity. Resonance is what sustains meaning, the bridge between expression and impact.

When to Say It: The Power of Timing

Culture is dynamic, not static. A message that is powerful today may be irrelevant tomorrow. Timing determines whether a message lands with urgency or irrelevance.

We recently had the honor of tellling the story of the reintroduction of 9mobile as T2.

The project mattered to all because it caught a generational moment. Young Nigerians were craving digital-first brands that reflected their lifestyle and energy, not just their utility. And we ensured the unveiling experience aligned with this longing. We captured the mood of a generation seeking freshness and digital-first connection.

Bad timing can make even the truest message invisible. The right timing can elevate an ordinary message into a cultural spark. Timing is the multiplier of meaning.

Who to Say It To: The Precision of Audience

A message without a community is a performance. In today’s fragmented world, resonance depends on reaching the right ones.

Few cultural movements capture this better than Detty December. Livespot has played a central role in shaping this phenomenon through experiences that cater directly to diaspora Africans returning home. These events work because they are designed for a specific community with specific needs, reconnection, celebration, and belonging.

That clarity of audience transforms the message from marketing into memory-making. The right “who” turns a campaign into culture because it ensures that the people who matter most feel truly seen.

Resonance at Its Highest: Integration

When messages fail, it is often because one of these three levers is missing. A brand may have the right words but release them too late. A creator may hit the cultural moment but miss the audience. A campaign may know its audience but lack authenticity.

Resonance at its highest is never fragmented. The CACOVID campaign resonated because its truth met the urgency of the moment and addressed the right audience. The T2 launch resonated because it understood the cultural timing and delivered a message designed for young digital natives. Detty December continues to resonate because it never dilutes its audience focus, even as it grows globally.

Integration is where impact happens.

Toward a Culture of Resonance

The question of what to say, when to say it, or who to say it to is not a contest. We need to ensure alignment. Culture will only be resonant when all three converge seamlessly.

For brands, creators, and communities shaping Africa’s future, the challenge is to speak in ways that matter. To choose words that hold truth. To deliver them at the moment of need. To direct them to the people who can carry them forward.

The opportunity lies in practicing cultural empathy: to speak truth, with sensitivity to the moment, directly to the people who matter. This is a blueprint for restoring trust and creating meaning in how culture moves forward.