On June 7, 2023, attention economy experts came together in NYC to share case studies and participate in engaging discussions on the attention measurement landscape. Plus, attendees heard a recap of the issues debated at AUDIENCExSCIENCE and an update on Phase I of the ARF Attention Validation Initiative, an empirically based evaluation of the rapidly developing market for attention measurement and prediction.
Marc Guldimann of Adelaide interviewed Laurel Van Tassel on Anheuser-Busch InBev’s use of attention metrics. Laurel said she sympathized with those who spoke during panel discussion about viewability. When she was with GoupM she said they were buying on viewability and the CPMs were very expensive. When she arrived at ABI they split their strategy into finding new users and retention. Their focus on attention began with the need for retention. “We knew if we wanted to start attention testing, we wanted to leave our creative and data strategies the same and only have media be the variable that we’re optimizing against.”
TVision’s co-Founder & CEO Yan Lui gave a presentation about a linear regression study the company sponsored with Upwave to understand the relationship between attention and brand lift outcomes. They conducted the study from Q4 2019 – Q1 2022. One hundred large-scale analyses were performed across 43 different brands. Each was a high frequency campaign. TVIsion has camera-based computer devices in 5,000 homes (roughly 14,000 people) so they can track their TV and CTV viewing.
On June 7, 2023, attention economy experts came together in NYC to share case studies and participate in engaging discussions on the attention measurement landscape. Plus, attendees heard a recap of the issues debated at AUDIENCExSCIENCE and an update on Phase I of the ARF Attention Validation Initiative, an empirically based evaluation of the rapidly developing market for attention measurement and prediction.
Member Only AccessSean Wilkinson of Conviva outlined findings from their latest State of Streaming report (released Q2 2022). A lot of non-CTV activity is occurring, like TV casting from connected devices, which equates to missed opportunities. Still, the use of connected devices is going down and the trend is people buying and relying on smart TVs. Monetization in DTC relies on good data. With it, streaming providers can determine things like customer lifetime value, ARPU and subscriber retention rate. As such, he stressed the importance of standardizing measurement and audience resolution.
Tony Marlow at LG Ad Solutions unveiled findings from The Big Shift Study, an online survey conducted in September 2022 of 733 adults from the general U.S. population. CTV in the living room is near saturation, with 93% having access to a CTV there. One-third of streaming content discovery also takes place there. But not all streaming remains ubiquitous. In the last twelve months, one-third of respondents removed a subscription from their CTV service and a quarter have added an AVOD or FAST service. The study found a similar trend taking place over the next twelve months. Fears of economic inflation and a looming recession are pushing people to opt for free, ad-supported streaming services.
Yan Liu of TVision highlighted a fresh study to be published in a month or so, illustrating the relationship between attention and churn on SVOD and AVOD platforms. TVision partnered with Antenna who track audience trends and their impact on subscription rates, for the study. Cross-referencing Antenna’s 2021 churn data with TVision’s aggregated platform data (from Apple TV, Discovery+, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix Paramount and Peacock), they found an inverse correlation between the top 50 shows and the churn rate. As attention increases, churn decreases and vice-versa. The popularity of any one platform varies month-by-month, depending on what popular content has been released where. When a popular original debuts, viewers gravitate toward it. But low attention viewers drop off once they’ve finished the series. Churn is the norm and unfortunately not an easy issue to solve in the near-term. However, co-viewing and live CTV content like Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football lessen churn.
Jon Giegengack of Hub Entertainment and Wayne Goldstein of Sony Pictures uncovered facets of streaming that display a potential pendulum shift toward more familiar aspects of linear TV. For instance, consumers now want content aggregation and a bundling option to help find content across different platforms. This need for simplicity of use extends to the rise of smart TVs, lessening the number of remotes to manage or buttons to push. TV advertising has entered streaming in a big way. In an age of bingeability, appointment TV has also cropped up. Another adoption from linear, FAST is featuring more programs that help us enjoy our downtime, where we can retreat from the day, lean back and unwind, as opposed to the immersive programming that’s been a stalwart of streaming.
Tania Missad of Warner Bros. Discovery introduced the audience to their Video Now study, a 10-year project investigating the evolution of the viewing landscape, which includes the growth of streaming and further erosion of linear TV. The study found that people are now less willing to spend on streaming apps and other options due to frustration with rising costs. They also feel overwhelmed by the number of services. This is causing low and no cost options such as AVOD and FAST to flourish. Besides cost savings, viewers like that AVOD and FAST have large libraries of content to explore. What consumers want now is bundling discounts, improved content discovery including aggregating desirable content across different apps and more personalized recommendations. There’s also a growing interest in more diverse stories and international content.
On October 25, 2022, media and measurement experts shared the latest research-based insights about today’s media landscape at OTT 2022 held on the Warner Bros. Discovery Studio Lot in Burbank, CA. Attendees learned more about what viewers really want when it comes to FAST, AVOD and SVOD, and whether there are viable solutions for cross-platform measurement.