You Are Who You Engage With
How Shallow Marketing Gets Rewarded - And What Jakarta Is Quietly Teaching Us About That..
I’m not a marketer.
But I’ve spent the last decade moving through the same conversations they do - just from a different side of the table.
Across Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta, I’ve sold into markets that breathe differently.
Each one has its rhythm.
It’s buyer psychology.
It’s pressure points.
But if there’s one market where the noise is loudest - it’s Jakarta.
Campaigns are big.
Activations are louder.
And urgency? Almost like a pressure cooker.
Marketers there don’t need motivation - they need oxygen.
And in that kind of environment, I’ve started asking one uncomfortable question:
“Was this campaign even necessary?”
The Noise Behind the Numbers
When a brand posts a carousel showing stacks of cash, a celebrity ambassador, or a cinematic ad that screams luxury - it goes viral.
But not all noise looks luxurious.
Sometimes, it’s just wall-to-wall product pushes.
No story. No context. No problem solved.
Just endless posts saying “Buy this,” “New drop,” or “Flash deal.”
It’s loud in a different way - it’s loud in fatigue.
People scroll past it not because it offends, but because it’s invisible.
Forgettable.
It’s just another ad…
So whether it’s flexing too hard or selling too shallow - the result is the same:
The campaign gets attention, but not alignment.
It becomes activity, not strategy.
Engagement Is a Mirror
Most people think engagement is innocent.
But it’s not.
Every like, share, comment - even passive watch time - is a signal.
It tells marketing teams:
“This works.”
“Make more of this.”
“The market wants this.”
So brands follow the metrics.
Even if those metrics aren’t grounded in trust or truth.
And in a market like Jakarta?
It amplifies this behavior.
The stakes are high.
The fear of being “left out” of the next viral wave is real.
I’ve heard it over and over from marketers there:
“Boss wants numbers.”
“We need impressions.”
“We can’t lose out to Brand X.”
And so… the campaign becomes a performance.
A flex. A race. A risk.
Not for the buyer.
But for the brand’s internal scoreboard.
Cheap Marketing vs. Good Marketing
Let’s define this clearly:
Cheap marketing isn’t about budget.
It’s about intent and respect for the audience.
It’s the kind of marketing that:
Leads with flash instead of clarity
Hooks with FOMO instead of value
Seduces with lifestyle instead of solving real problems
Entertains but never empowers
Now compare that to good marketing - what we wish more brands would deliver.
Cheap marketing creates noise.
Good marketing creates narrative.
One’s about ego.
The other’s about empathy.
Why Jakarta?
This are the realisations from my experiences in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta
Singapore is structured. Predictable. Polished.
Kuala Lumpur is fast-evolving. Connected.
But Jakarta?
Jakarta moves with intensity.
It’s bold, reactive, unapologetically competitive.
It’s a city where the traffic slows, but business rarely does.
Where marketing decisions often happen in rooms full of urgency - and sometimes ego.
Where brand awareness isn’t just desired - it’s fought for.
In Jakarta, the default mindset is:
“If we’re not making noise, we’re invisible.”
And that mentality fuels a very specific kind of marketing:
Loud launches
Influencer drops
Endless discounts
Celebrity-backed stunts
All of this is built not just to grab attention - but to outdo the last brand that did something loud.
That’s why I center this piece around Jakarta.
Because if you want to understand how buyer behavior rewards noise.
And how brands become slaves to that cycle.
So, there’s no better lens than Jakarta.
The Jakarta Lesson
Jakarta isn’t doing anything wrong.
It’s just reflecting what the system rewards.
It’s the market where the pressure is loudest.
And because of that, marketing becomes a race to stay seen.
Over the past 10 years, I’ve sold side-by-side with marketers.
Sat in the same war rooms. Debriefed after campaigns.
Heard what they really say when the numbers impress - but the impact doesn’t land.
And as a seller, I can feel the gap.
Leads come in hot, but cold on intent.
Buyers recognize the brand, but not the offer.
Everyone’s heard the campaign - but no one remembers the value.
What Buyers Reward, Brands Repeat
We love blaming marketers.
We even laugh at sellers who come across as too polished or too scripted.
But the truth?
It’s the buyer who shapes the system.
If we reward flash, brands will chase flash.
If we reward insight, brands will fight to earn attention the right way.
So the next time you roll your eyes at an overproduced ad or cringe campaign, ask yourself:
“Am I part of the problem?”
Because marketers are following the numbers.
And the numbers come from us.
Look at Your Feed
I’ve been in this game long enough to know when a campaign creates true lift - and when it just creates buzz.
I’ve heard too many marketers say, “This isn’t what we wanted to run - but it’s what we knew would trend.”
That should concern all of us.
Because if we keep chasing campaigns that flex louder than they connect…
We’re not building brand loyalty.
We’re just exhausting our audience.
You are what you engage with.
And right now, the feed is showing us exactly who we are.
In another piece, I’ll explore how this same pattern plays out when global celebrities are flown in to sell products to a market that just wants to be understood.
But for now, I’ll leave you with this:
If you're a marketer:
“Would I still run this campaign if I wasn’t chasing likes?”
And if you're a buyer:
“Is this the kind of brand I want to reward?”
Thing is - you may not be the marketer.
But you are the market.
Signing off for 84 Musing,
Sufi Rafa’ee
