Prolific North Live 2025 | Trendsetters Stage

Embryo’s Tom Hemingway, Head of Digital PR, and Shona Worsman, Content Lead, urged marketers to rethink how they show up online in an era where “search isn’t something people do anymore, it’s something constantly happening.”

Their talk, Earned Everywhere: Building Brands in a Culture of Infinite Scroll, explored how attention, trust and visibility now play out across TikTok, Reddit, ChatGPT and Amazon, not just Google. Each one shapes intent in a different way: emotional, conversational or proof-led and the best brands adapt their storytelling to fit.

Attention is now the scarcest resource in marketing, and earning it looks very different to even a year ago. 

“We scroll more, click less, and expect instant answers,” said Tom. “Visibility depends on trust, clarity and cultural relevance, not just rankings.”

The pair challenged brands to stop creating content in silos and start thinking in loops.

“The problem isn’t that brands don’t create enough content,” added Hemingway. “It’s that too much of it lives in isolation. The brands winning attention are the ones making their ideas work harder across the channels their audiences actually live in. Understand where your target audience actually spends their time.” 

Shona added: “Know what’s on your audience’s mind before they do. Spot the moments that matter to them, the events that impact their lifestyles, trends that they’re likely to embrace, and how all of those aspects shape what they search for.”

The session outlined five key elements shaping Embryo’s “Earned Everywhere” philosophy:

Culture sparks content.
It all starts with spotting the small moments, movements and micro-trends audiences already care about.

Speed meets creativity.
Brands that move fast when insight, emotion and timing align, own the conversation before others join it. 

Insight is everywhere.
Marketers were urged to look solely beyond dashboards and use every tool available, from social listening and trend monitoring to search data, cultural language shifts and internal expertise.

Repurpose smartly.
“Don’t create more for the sake of it,” said Tom. “Repurpose what works across PR, and social to keep your brand visible in every feed.”

AI amplifies trust.
Every earned mention, citation and expert quote now feeds the algorithms that decide what content to surface, making PR a vital part of that trusted discoverability process.

Embryo warned that as algorithms deliver more zero-click answers, brands can’t rely on web traffic to tell their story, and with search journeys no longer being linear, users drop in and out of their search journey at different stages. 

“Zero-click means zero patience. The brands that listen early, act fast and refine as they go will own the moments that matter most. Building a credible and trustworthy brand is essential for true discovery today”