The Branding of Fear: How ISIS & The Far-Right Market to Men (ft. Dr Stephen Herron)

This episode was recorded at the start of December 2025.

A recent surge in ISIS activity has reminded the world that Islamist extremism remains a potent and active threat. For many, the recent attack by ISIS felt like a shock - a ghost returning from the past. But as we discuss in this episode, these groups never went away; they just became harder to see.

In the fragmented, siloed landscape of modern social media, extremism of all kinds - from ISIS to the Far Right- exists side-by-side, competing for the same scarce commodity we are: Attention.

In this episode, Claire Coady and James Wickham sit down with Dr. Stephen Herron, a marketing and advertising expert at Queen’s University Belfast and White Hawk Marketing. Stephen specialises in deconstructing the sophisticated narratives and messaging strategies used to recruit young men into violent organisations.

We move beyond the politics to look at the marketing mechanics of terror. How do these groups build a "value proposition"? How do they co-opt mainstream brands as status signals? And in an attention economy designed to keep us scrolling, how do we spot the recruitment funnels hiding in plain sight?

What We Cover:

The Value Proposition of Terror: What are these groups actually offering young men? (Hint: It’s often about belonging, status, and purpose, not just ideology).

Marketing Funnels: How recruiters use standard marketing tactics to groom audiences.

Brand Hijacking: How luxury and sportswear brands get co-opted by extremist groups as signals of rank and status.

The Lesson: What legitimate brands and platforms can learn from the resilience of these networks.

Resources & Links

Connect with Dr. Stephen Herron:

Profile: linkedin.com/in/dr-stephen-herron-69a00440

Wild Hawk Marketing: https://bewildhawk.com/

Research: https://www.qub.ac.uk/Research/GRI/mitchell-institute/news/28052025-JihadiNarratives.html

Further Reading & References:

Meet the 85%: https://www.meetthe85.com/

Going Dark by Julia Ebner: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16591/9781526616791

Excellent episode of Derek Thompson’s podcast ‘Plain English’, with Adam Mastroiani, on cultural stagnation https://www.theringer.com/podcasts/plain-english-with-derek-thompson/2025/11/25/a-grand-unified-theory-of-cultural-stagnation

About The Show:

Can We Have Your Attention? is a podcast exploring the unseen forces that shape what we see, what we buy, and who we become. Hosted by Claire Coady and James Wickham, we dive into the mechanics of the Attention Economy to understand how value is created (and manipulated) in a distracted world.

Production Credits:

Hosted by: Claire Coady & James Wickham

Produced by: Phonogram https://www.phonogram.co.uk

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