We live our lives in motion. Not in the big, dramatic moments, but in the quiet transitions. The elevator ride. The coffee line. That weird pause between scrolling and actually engaging. These are the spaces where real connection happens.

Think about your last commute (if you don’t regularly commute, think about your last errand run). How many ads did you actually see? Probably none. And yet, you were likely surrounded by them.

That's because so much marketing screams for your attention, while the most effective marketing whispers right when you're most receptive. Which are the times you’re in transition whether it’s physical, digital or emotional.

It used to be you grabbed attention by screaming louder than your competition. But marketing by screaming doesn’t work so well now. Too much noise. Attention isn't grabbed, it’s earned. It's invited.

And invitation happens in the spaces in-between:

• The Morning Scroll: Those first 7.2 minutes after waking up when your brain is half-coffee, half-dream.

• Waiting Moments: Standing in line, elevator rides, waiting for the dentist or the DMV.

• Digital Transitions: That split-second between apps, between loading screens

During these moments we are actually primed. We're more open, less defensive. Our cognitive filters are down. We have heightened sensory awareness and more mental flexibility.

Think about such a moment for you. Maybe it was the first time you saw an Instagram story that felt like it was speaking directly to you? Not an ad. Just a perfectly timed, well-crafted post that made you pause. You stopped scrolling for a bit.

To design for these in-between moments you can’t interrupt. You have to be relevant. You need to feel like a natural extension of the transition. In other words, you need to match the moment.

It isn’t easy, but it’s likely the place your competition isn’t, increasing your opportunity to engage with your people. You have but a blink to make an impression and create a subtle connection.

To understand how, you need to map your customer transition moments and identify their emotional states. Then you design for minimal cognitive load creating fluid experiences. You can’t yell.

Do show respect. Ethics matter in these spaces. Don’t be manipulative. That might work short term, but it won’t earn you the loyalty that fuels a brand over time.

If you can genuinely show up in these in-between moments, you’ll won't just capture attention. You’ll create moments of genuine connection. And that is what modern marketing is all about.