Tap Into Audience Intent During Moments of Mass Attention

AI-powered real-time targeting starts with leveraging attention peaks during viral moments and understanding the deeper signals those moments reveal. Smart advertisers can leverage those moments into campaigns that are done in a way that’s timely, relevant, and grounded in intent. 

 

Every month brings a fresh wave of viral moments from pop culture to sporting events and more. Three that are currently making headlines include Sydney Sweeney’s “Good Jeans” campaign, Coldplay’s now-infamous kiss cam moment, and the rising attention around Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson. Each sparked engagement for very different reasons, but all offer insight into how audiences engage in real-time. 

 

 

A Viral Moment To Learn From: Sydney Sweeney for American Eagle 

 

The most recent example is Sydney Sweeney’s “Good Jeans” campaign with American Eagle. 

 

The retailer’s denim campaign collaboration with the actress drew massive amounts of online conversations not just around the ad, but around Sweeney’s past headlines, political rumors, and broader cultural debates. 

 

What IntentKey Saw 

 

While most were just catching wind of the controversy, Inuvo’s IntentKey AI was already mapping the conversation in real time and documenting it in the Trending Data tab on the IntentKey Platform. It didn’t just detect Sydney Sweeney as a trending concept. It identified the full network of related signals through concepts that added context and complexity, including: 

 

• Anyone But You (the film she starred in) 

• Glen Powell (her co-star, also trending) 

• American Eagle Outfitters 

• Jeans 

• Republican 

• Eugenics 

• Controversy 

 

 

As seen in the image above, IntentKey saw a sharp drop in sentiment starting July 23 — the day the ad campaign launched. Not only that, but audience size saw a significant spike. For marketers, this is the moment pay attention to and learn from. 

 

What You Can Do With It 

 

For most brands, leveraging this specific moment might not make sense, but for a competing clothing retailer or denim brand who is savvy, this unlocks the opportunity to get in front of a highly-engaged audience. By combining an IntentKey AI-powered audience with creative strategy, they could capitalize quickly by reaching them with clever or alternative narratives. The key is speed and audience alignment. 

 

Coldplay’s Kiss Cam Scandal: Another Case in Point 

 

Earlier this summer, a Coldplay concert clip of a kiss-cam moment turned into a viral workplace scandal involving two tech executives. The internet couldn’t look away. 

 

Some brands leaned in with jokes. Others stayed silent. But IntentKey clients had an advantage — the ability to activate in real time and get in front of highly engaged audiences that were actively consuming Coldplay-related content as the story unfolded. 

 

Let’s use a paper towel brand as an example this time. While the moment had nothing to do with their category directly, there was still an opportunity. 

 

• Step 1: Using the IntentKey Platform, the brand could build an AI-powered audience model around concepts like Coldplay, workplace scandal, viral kiss cam, and celebrity news in seconds— capturing the full ecosystem of interest surrounding the event.

 

• Step 2: From there, they could develop messaging tailored to that mindset — something like “For life’s unexpected messes — we’ve got you covered” — and serve it to the most relevant users. 

 

The brand doesn’t need to say a word publicly or insert itself into the controversy. It simply shows up in the right places, at the right time, with a message that feels timely and clever, all powered by real-time AI-driven intent signals. 

 

Another Moment Worth Watching: Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson Go Viral 

 

Not every moment of mass attention is charged with controversy. Sometimes, it’s driven by nostalgia, pop culture buzz, and unexpected Hollywood pairings that capture the internet’s attention. 

 

That’s exactly what happened when Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson began making headlines following the early August release of their new film, The Naked Gun. The unexpected on-screen chemistry sparked a wave of press appearances and audience engagement. Through IntentKey, we saw a spike in audience size and uncovered the concepts surrounding Pamela Anderson, including: 

 

• Liam Neeson 

• The Naked Gun 

• Baywatch 

• The Last Showgirl 

• Late Night with Seth Meyers 

• Comedy 

• Film 

 

These moments again reveal opportunities to meet people where their attention already is, from Baywatch fans to late night talk shows, IntentKey uncovers opportunities to get in front of engaged audiences. 

 

Why This Approach Is Different 

 

Most audience targeting solutions still rely on static segments, cookies, or basic contextual targeting. That means their understanding of audience behavior is limited to predefined interests or keywords that may no longer reflect how people actually think or feel. We go beyond contextual with: 

 

• Audience model refreshes every 5 minutes 

• Adaptive targeting to trending concepts and sentiment 

• Real-time intent shifts mid-flight based on actual consumer behavior 

 

IntentKey analyzes 110+ billion URLs across the open web, adding over 1 million new ones daily to capture real-time human behavior, sentiment, and attention.

 

It’s a new way to seize the moment and move past caring WHO the audience is and instead revealing the concepts behind WHY they care. 

 

Be Ready When It Counts 

 

In a world where cultural moments, conversations, and interests evolve by the hour, relevance isn’t static, and your audience models and targeting approach shouldn’t be either. Instead of relying on outdated segments or fixed data points, our AI lets you build fully custom models defined by your goals and refreshed every five minutes. These models adapt in real time to reflect what your audience is engaging with — whether it’s a seasonal trend, a viral headline, or a subtle shift in sentiment. Paired with granular location data that pinpoints where engagement is strongest, you get hyper-relevant targeting to the right people, in the right place, at exactly the right time. 

 

And that’s how modern brands show up. Strategically. Responsively. On time. 

 

To contact our team about leveraging IntentKey technology click here.

 

To build your own custom model in seconds on the IntentKey Platform click here.