Dentsu and A+E Team to Guarantee Attention by Tracking Eye Movement

How the Study Got StartedquotOur clients are continually looking for different ways to measure campaigns in the marketplace and making linear TV as smart as it can be beyond the traditional behaviors that we havequot explained Cara Lewis executive vice president head of US investment dentsu39s AmplifiquotThe buy was part of our Q4 Budweiser video campaign but in a year of great changes like 2020 was we had to guarantee our investment drove the highest possible impactquot said Paolo Provinciali head of US media AnheuserBusch quotTo do so we went back to the basics and focused on people39s changing media consumption behavior The assumption was that if we could run a campaign that could be seen by a higher number of people and capture a higher share of attention it could drive higher brand equity and subsequently impact consumer behavior For this purpose we partnered with AE to guarantee our buy against people being present in the room when our ads were airing increasing our chance to drive meaningful impact with our investmentquotAccording to Lewis quotAnheuserBusch has a partnership with the TVision data that we used for this test They asked us to propose a partnership with networks to guarantee on viewability data that they have TVision has eye tracking devices in 5000 householdsquot AE stepped forward to be the first network to guarantee on viewability eye tracking impression data which can register exactly when eyes are on screen for at least two secondsThe Impact of the PandemicAs for timing quotI think the pandemic slowed us downquot stated Lewis because the project hit a pause during COVID quotWe were on this path of auditing how to get there and talking to the vendors It then took a bit of a back seat But then overall we just picked up right where we left offquot she noted and added that it may have impacted adding other networks to the studyFor Provinciali quotThe challenges were twofold The first was technical integrating the TVision data into the dentsu planning tool and into the AE serving stack to optimize the buy inflight The second was to align on commercial terms that could drive benefits for both the buy and sell side The approach was that more attentive inventory should command a higher price because of its higher quality We can all agree on the fact that if no one is in the room when your ad is airing there39s no chance it will drive an impact on your audience and therefore higher viewability and attention limits the amount of 39wasted39 impressions allowing the investment to go further This allows us to gain an efficiency that can be shared in commercial terms between the advertiser and the networkquotRoseann Montenes vice president precision performance ad sales partnerships AE shared that quotEven as we were noticing the ratings erosion we were still able to get positive results out of the campaign We were able to see a lift once we optimized against AnheuserBusch39s historical data through TVision We were still able to see improvement against every single network in our portfolio Even in this challenging time we were able to find positive resultsquotquotThere were a ton of challengesquot she admitted quotTo be very transparent Cara and I started this conversation in March 2020 and we started to go down this path to figure out the feasibility We had to validate that the panel even if small could give us a good statistical representation and stability in the data to achieve the results that we were looking to accomplishquotBut AE is known for driving innovation and the opportunity to test case as Montenes explainedamp160quotGuaranteeing against metrics that mean the most to our clients really interested usquot she continued The risk was worth it and now the study is in its second wave and the partners are trading on this currency quotIt39s proven especially to us at AE Networks that we really do believe that finding different metrics to guarantee off of is something that drives partnerships even further Now next time when Cara has an opportunity with a different metric that she wants to guarantee off of my hope is we will be one of the first ones she comes to with itquotSuccessful ExecutionAs a result of the study AE was able to establish a new baseline and new benchmark with the agency According to Montenes quotIf you think about the way we traditionally do business we have had a starting point and for years we traded off of CPMs But now all of a sudden we were trading off of a new metric So it took a lot of time to come up with that new benchmark and that new confidence level in guaranteeing off of a viewability scorequot Her team analyzed historical information and attributed the new data to AnheuserBusch specifically They were then able to come up with a new scoring metric that could lead to tracking towards a guarantee quotWe went to the highest potential possible so we could push our boundaries to overperform and overdeliver for this first campaignquot she saidquotGRPs are important But there is obviously waste in the impressions that we are buying So to make sure that the impressions are more viewable and that is by using this data was the main part of the structure of the campaign as well as making sure that the data was viable so that we could then build it out across the ecosystemquot Lewis statedProvinciali noted that quotWhat made it work was the collaborative approach between the Buy and Sell Side All advertisers can deploy an arbitrage strategy that allows them to secure highattention and lowCPM inventory because inventory is not currently priced considering viewability and attention in the linear TV space But what took this partnership to the next level was the ability to identify a common goal align incentives for all parties involved and work through the process that allowed for greater lift and consistencyquotDelivering Results on the KPIsAmong the KPIs for the campaign quotthere were fourquot Lewis explainedamp160quotOne was to use the pilot approach with an agreeable network The next was to establish proof of performance between viewability and ROI or effectiveness The third was to improve the value based on reduced cost per viewable impression And finally we needed to create a likeminded client counsel who were willing to support us We39ve been having a lot of client conversations across the dentsu clients many of whom have said they want to see how the test goesquot In addition it was important to be able to build it out and make it scalable across the media landscape especially within linear TVThe fourth quarter result according to AE was a 76 lift There has been a second campaign in first quarter and they are in discussion for a third campaign for second quarter quotWe want to show our clients that it is a viable way to guaranteequot Lewis saidquotWe were the first to announce three years ago that we would guarantee on business outcomesquot Montenes statedamp160quotWe are not slowing down in the space We are going to continue to make sure that we are talking to the right audiences at the right time at the right places Next steps for us and AnheuserBusch are to continue to do everything we can to help them as well as our other clients risequotProvinciali agreesamp160quotWe plan to continue and scale the partnership with AE but also engage other networks and advertisers that want to test attention buying as this is definitely not a zerosum gamequot he concluded quotThe collaborative nature of the approach allows all sides to benefit from the value created through this new way of trading media It also marginally reduces the tension caused by the current pricing inflation we are experiencing in the marketplace Finally the consumercentric approach allows us to identify the formats and programming that capture a greater degree of attention and inherently improve the watching experience Ultimately this will benefit the overall industry and allow us to contrast some of the consumption shifts and ratings trends we are currently seeingquotClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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Dentsu and A+E Team to Guarantee Attention by Tracking Eye Movement

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Charlene Weisler

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