Harnessing Chaos in the Era of the Algorithm Harnessing Chaos in the Era of the Algorithm

The algorithm has flattened culture. Scroll through any social platform and the pattern of continual sameness is painfully clear. Social content, by and large, has become a polished loop of trends, transitions, and tropes, optimised not for originality, but for the algorithm.

And as every brand learns to play the algorithmic game, the feed becomes a blur where it’s increasingly difficult to stand out.

In our race to engineer engagement, we’ve sacrificed nuance. 

The algorithm doesn’t reward creative bravery, spontaneity, or surprise. It prizes consistency and repeatability. And while those metrics may look healthy in a dashboard, they can come at the cost of brand distinctiveness. And this matters. Kantar’s Connect data reveals that memorable, distinctive experiences are a primary driver in creating a strong brand.

HUMAN ATTENTION THRIVES ON THE UNEXPECTED
But here’s the paradox: tension, excitement, and instinctiveness are the hooks of human attention, the emotional ingredients that drive both virality and memory. Controlled chaos, those moments of planned unpredictability, tap directly into this human truth, and create spaces for spontaneity. A study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people prefer unscripted or unplanned action, because it makes entertainment feel more authentic, and there’s a wealth of research and hours of cult reality shows to back this up. 

So in a world where audiences are saturated with seamless, hyper-curated content, where unboxings and hauls play on repeat and content screams “ad” before you’ve even scrolled down to the caption, the real magic happens through the unexpected. When the plot takes an unexpected twist, when stories don’t feel like just another semi-scripted paid endorsement, and when there’s jeopardy and friction. 

The most talked-about cultural moments online aren’t crafted in content calendars. They’re often unfiltered, accidental, and real. And increasingly, the brands and creators who cut through aren’t the ones who polish, but the ones who react, riff, and reveal.  

Look at the recent ‘Coldplaygate’. Okay, this was an accidental incident that exposed private lives in public, but as a massive viral moment it tapped into human emotional levers that have kept people hooked like shock, suspense and fear. 

Of course, brands are creating standout work too. Blank Street convinced customers to get spontaneous tattoos in its pop-up parlour this summer to launch a new matcha drink, while also inviting influencers to co-create. And Burberry’s quintessentially English celebration of tea featured the brand’s talent partners, from Cole Palmer to Olivia Coleman, showing up in feeds like ad-lib, b-roll edits as they chatted naturally while making their favourite brew.  

A shot of the unexpected goes a long way to challenge the sea of sameness on our feeds, made even more authentic with real people, in real life and relatable situations. 

ENGINEERING CONTENT FOR UNPREDICTABILITY
The brands that win in the next era of content marketing will engineer for unpredictability, recognising that a certain level of chaos isn’t a threat to brand integrity, but a catalyst for cultural impact.

Senior marketers face a new imperative: to stop asking what the algorithm wants and start asking what people feel. In Wunderman Thompson’s report, The Age of Re-enchantment, 61% of people said they want brands to help them feel intense emotions.

It’s not about letting go of strategy. It’s about designing content for volatility and unpredictability, with intention.

To help guide the chaos injection, here are 3 insights that every brand can reference:

REAL-WORLD CONTEXT EQUALS REAL INFLUENCE
Bring  influencers into the real world, into live experiences, or spontaneous encounters to create friction. This will create content that feels alive: unique, responsive, and full of texture.

It’s not about abandoning digital. It’s about fuelling it differently.

Influencers who are placed in situations they can’t fully control create more human content. Because when you give up control, you allow for spontaneous moments that feel truly shared. This kind of content is not just more memorable, it’s more trustworthy. Audiences can smell the script – and they’re hungry for the authenticity that comes from the unscripted. 

TAKE CUES FROM MUSIC EXPERIENCES
Over the last year, DJ AG has exploded on TikTok with his raw, honest, paired back performances featuring underground UK artists playing outside McDonald’s in Kings Cross, London – armed simply with a Go-Pro, some decks and a mic. By unexpectedly throwing global icons like Will Smith, Ed Sheeran and Rita Ora into the mix, AG has created just the right level of chaos and spontaneity, connecting with his community, without the polish that usually accompanies these stars. 

The Cosa Nuestra pop-up Cafe, our recent work with Sony Music and Rauw Alejandro, followed this lead. We created a fan-first activation as an authentic expression of the Grammy-Award-winning artists’ latest release to land with his fans. No one expected Rauw to turn up. So when he made his cafe cameo, the audience went wild, generating tonnes of genuine reactions and emotionally-charged content, full of deeply personal encounters.

MAKE AUTHENTICITY EMOTIONAL NOT AESTHETIC
Influencer  marketing has been led by a pivot towards ‘authenticity’. But what that often means in practice is simply less polish: shaky handheld footage, lo-fi edits, stripped-back captions. That’s not authenticity, it’s aesthetic.

Real authenticity is emotional.  It comes from reaction, not production. And it often thrives in the messy, unpredictable margins – where creators respond in real time, and brands relinquish a little control in favour of real connection.

The future of social and influencer marketing isn’t just about reach, or alignment. It’s about resonance. And that starts with a new kind of brief; one that invites surprise, leans into spontaneity, and treats culture not as a commodity, but as a reason to co-create.