Stop Fishing Where the Fish Are

Because That’s How You Stay Average And Minimize Growth.

Everybody loves to say, “Fish where the fish are.”
It sounds smart. It sounds safe. It sounds like something you can defend in a budget meeting.

It’s also how brands trap themselves in mediocrity.

Here’s what rarely gets said out loud: the whole damn ocean is crowded.

If your brand is fighting over the same keywords, the same endcaps, the same shows, the same social placements as everyone else in your category. Congrats! You’ve built yourself a Times Square media plan.

It’s loud.
It’s expensive.
And it’s forgettable.

The Illusion of Safety

Most marketing plans are designed to feel defensible, not effective.

They chase scale where competitors already validated demand. They over-invest in channels that look “right” on a slide. They prioritize visibility over distinctiveness.

And because everyone else is doing the same thing, CPMs climb, attention drops, and performance plateaus while media agency convince themselves the problem is creative, or frequency, or timing.

It’s not.

The real issue is that you’re fishing in water that’s already been overfished.

Where Growth Actually Comes From

Real growth doesn’t come from the 80–90% of budget that follows category norms. It comes from the 10–20% (maybe more!) where you zig while your category zags.

That’s where brands stop competing on volume and start competing on meaning. Where they show up in places competitors either don’t see or don’t have the courage to try.

We’ve seen this play out again and again.

That’s how Technics found relevance with a new generation of golfers— not by chasing traditional audio enthusiasts, but by embedding itself inside modern golf culture.

That’s how Cadillac connected with ultra-affluent Asian drivers by leaning into cultural nuance instead of generic luxury tropes.

That’s how U.S. Army showed up credibly in high-school hoops culture— meeting young people where identity is formed, not where recruiters traditionally advertise.

And that’s how Hawaiian Punch reignited relevance by leaning into hip-hop communities rather than fighting for attention in the soda aisle.

None of these ideas came from asking, “Where is everyone else spending?” They came from asking, “Where does this brand belong—but no one expects it?”

Why Most Brands Never Find White Space

White space isn’t invisible. It’s just uncomfortable.

It doesn’t come with benchmarks. It doesn’t come with category case studies. It often sounds risky in a room full of spreadsheets.

So brands default to what’s familiar. What’s proven. What’s already crowded.

The irony? That “safe” choice is usually the riskiest one because it guarantees you’ll sound, look, and behave like everyone else.

The Left Off Madison POV

If your media plan looks like it lives in Times Square, don’t be surprised when people walk past without noticing.

Growth doesn’t come from shouting louder in crowded places.
It comes from showing up differently in the right ones.

Want growth in 2026?

Stop fishing where the fish are.
Get out of Times Square.
And go find the white space your competitors are too comfortable to ignore.