The unspent currency of communication: Why the gift card problem is a warning sign for your comms strategy 

November 28, 2025

Every year, billions in gift cards go unspent. In the UK alone, 10% are never redeemed – real money lost to drawers, inboxes, and expired codes. Retailers call this breakage, and they even budget for it. 

Now think about your communications. How much of your leadership messages, campaigns, or internal updates actually get used? If the video isn’t watched, the email isn’t read, or the update prompts no action; that’s breakage too. And it’s costing more than you realise. 

A gift card only has value when redeemed. It’s the same with comms. You can craft the perfect message, but if it never lands, your effort becomes expired credit: work done, value lost. 

We see common issues: leadership comms lost in inboxes, campaigns that flatline after day two, videos that launch loudly and fade fast. Not because the content is poor, but because the delivery, timing, or relevance is off. 

Comms breakage quietly erodes trust and engagement. It shows up as low opens, skim-reads, and no follow-through; and the real cost is morale, misalignment, and the familiar “here we go again…” 

To avoid this, use audience insight to shape tone, format, and timing. Grab attention early by answering “why now?” and lead with value from the start. Motion, visuals, and platform-specific content help messages cut through, and a consistent cadence builds trust over time. 

Messages expire when they’re generic, badly timed, or hard to engage with. mcm keeps them fresh by making them personal, relevant, valuable, well-formatted, and rhythmic. Your audience is busy and overloaded, but they’re human. When something lands right, it gets redeemed. 

Keep messages fresh across your film, events, creative, and content. Treat your content like a gift, and make sure it gets opened.