Improving Purpose-Driven Ads
GfK studies suggest that “innovation and creativity” are needed to make purpose-driven ads as effective or more effective than “mainstream” ads.
attention
Augmented Reality, Neuroscience & Measuring Audience Engagement
This study used neuroscience-based methods to explore if AR experiences—content as well as ads —provide more immersive engagement than other media.
Track the Success: TV vs. Other Video Advertising Platforms
This presentation described the findings of a major ethnographic study (conducted in Germany, Austria and Switzerland) that compared the impact of video advertising on various platforms: TV, BVOD (VOD provided by commercial broadcasters), YouTube and Facebook. The study used eye-tracking devices to assess attention to ads and unaided recall as impact measure.
Concurrent Track Panel Discussions: ATTENTION MEASURES
These presenters were all true believers in the value of attention. Their key takeaways from the presentations in this track were:
- Attention is “ready for prime time,” as Marc Guldimann (Adelaide) put it. It has risen to prominence in the industry’s agenda and expects it to spread into media mix modeling and programmatic. Attention, he believes, should free the industry from “invasive” attribution practices by giving advertisers confidence in the quality of the media they are buying.
- Jon Waite (Havas) was encouraged to see attention move from theory to practice for optimizing campaigns. He believes that the focus on attention would encourage publishers to improve experiences on the web, which, in turn, would lead to better results for brands.
- Mike Follett (Lumen) cautioned that there was still much to learn about attention in different contexts, flighting, frequency, differences between B-to-B and B-to-C, the role of creative and long-term effects. What he found interesting in Joanne Leong’s presentation (to which he contributed) is the possibility of developing models that can predict attention for any campaign.
- Publishers have come up with innovative formats to optimize for attention on television, according to Kelsey Hanlon (TVision).
There was some disagreement among the panelists about the prospects for an attention currency. Marc saw it as an “obvious next step.” Mike regarded attention as more of a buy-side “trading tool.” Jon said that it will become a key planning metric for Havas.
Quantifying the Value of Meaningful Media
Havas and Teads reported on eye-tracking research that they did with Lumen on a number of websites on both desktop and mobile. They then analyzed a number of factors related to attention to digital display and video ads including ad format, demographics, category of the site’s domain, type of content on the site and characteristics of the publisher environment. The research generally confirmed their hypothesis that deeper engagement with content, with lower scroll speeds, led to longer amounts of time that ads are in view and greater attention to those ads. Ads on Teads publishers’ sites, in particular, garner greater attention than other digital ads, and Teads’ formats garner more attention than standard ads in the same category, particularly for display. This research has helped Havas to quantify the value of their inventory to optimize planning for attention and develop a curated approach to programmatic. They refer to this approach as the “Havas Meaningful Market Place.”
Attention Everywhere
The NBA tested an attention metric for digital media ad placements developed by Adelaide–called the AU–to increase tune-in to the NBA Finals and to improve its brand metrics. They leveraged the AUs of their CTV and digital placements to optimize a large campaign across CTV, digital, social, and OOH with over two billion video impressions. They also used the AUs, which they obtain in near real-time, to adjust those placements in-flight. They found that AUs lifted their KPIs and will incorporate them into their media mix models. Adelaide is also working with TVision to get AUs for linear television by daypart and genre. Their tune-in data was provided by SambaTV.
Dentsu’s Attention Economy Project: From Theory to Practice
Dentsu conducted multi-phase research on visual attention to advertising in the U.S. and U.K. across channels, platforms, formats and devices. For digital ads, they worked with Lumen, and for television ads, they worked with TVision. There were two components to the research–exploring how much attention consumers pay to advertising “in the wild” and exploring attention to ads in a structured design with forced exposure to pre-selected ads for varying amounts of time. They learned that, for example, uplift in outcomes was stronger for viewing of four seconds of a six-second ad than for four seconds of a 20-second ad. This research has provided Dentsu with an extensive data set on attention and an understanding of the drivers of attention that can be applied to future plans.
THE LAST WORD
The three speakers reflected on the themes that had emerged on Day 1 of the AUDIENCExSCIENCE Conference, particularly Evan Shapiro’s opening keynote:
- The day gave Elizabeth Tarpinian (Unilever) the impression that we are in the middle of a technology and digital revolution with lingering consumer trust issues. Marketers need to establish stronger emotional connections to consumers. Attention continues to be a challenge.
- The continuous disruption in the industry can feel unsettling, and brands need to find consistency with a “unified voice.”
- Vas Bakopoulos reflected that he saw a mix of high-level big-picture strategic content, such as generational change, and practical issues, like attention.
- The first day, Stephen DiMarco said, was about a “war for attention,” a “war for measurement,” and a “war for” whether creative or media is more important. To him, “everything seems to come down to a paradox,” and, as Radha Subramanyam said, in a paradox, the opportunity is in finding innovation in embracing the gray.
- The more we work together as industry, the better off we all will be.
The Future of Attention Measurement
Horst Stipp, ARF’s EVP, moderated a panel discussion with the speakers from the second half of the event. He asked panelists if they found new insights or surprises in the presentations and discussions, if there is room for improvement in attention measures and “what’s next”, specifically if attention measures should become currency. Here are edited highlights from their conversation.
Evaluating the Drivers of Attention Across Media and Creative
According to Britt Cushing of OMD, we need to make sure that creative and media “sit hand in glove” as everyone battles for attention in a sea of clutter that is diluting effectiveness. Sixty-five percent of media impact actually comes from the creative. OMD has been looking at attention for planning through years of empirical testing (across 25 brands, 10 categories and seven different markets). They found that attention drives mental availability and is fundamental for brand growth. In this presentation Britt discussed OMD’s approach to leveraging attention from planning to activation to garner competitive advantages for brands.