Pay Attention to the Attention Council

The key players are Lumen the eyetracking business based in London TVision based in New York and specializing in measuring inTVroom presence Avocet a Londonbased DSP focused on exploring time spent with digital ads Adelaide rather confusingly in New York which combines factors to arrive at what it terms quotattention unitsquot and Amplified Intelligence founder and CEO Karen NelsonField a professor of media innovation at University of Adelaide in Australia whose technologically advanced approach measures numerous factors contributing to attention across multiple screens in multiple markets So that39s the UK US and Australia all representedThe council39s objectives state quotTo promote the use of attention metrics to create incentives that align all stakeholders in the media and advertising ecosystemquotRecently the council attracted Diageo Mars and Microsoft as members and seems confident that other advertisers will join the group This is another good example of advertisers39 involvement in research into media audience understandingAmong agencies Dentsu Aegis has undertaken a major project called The Attention Economy which seems to be using Amplified Intelligence although one wouldn39t immediately know of its involvement from the literatureIt may be that I39m being over cynical but although Dentsu Aegis39 work is certainly interesting and based on robust measures the real test will be when a planner uses the attention metrics in the plan only for the buyer to ignore the findings on the basis that a better deal can be struck elsewhereAttention to advertising has always been an issue After all if you don39t notice something it really doesn39t matter how many gross impressions are delivered If it hasn39t been noticed it may as well not have been there although the average buyer doesn39t seem to have gotten that particular memoThe whole topic used to be a matter of discussion and debate as well as some fun conference papers I once saw the wellknown media director of a fullservice agency light a hidden firecracker on stage to make a point about the need for attentionBut discussion and debate aren39t the same as widespread use Currency measures have never really concerned themselves with attention with the media vendors believing that the biggest gross numbers were most important and that any filters or weightings reducing those numbers were to be avoided at all costs How little things changeProxy measures existed first in break something that TVision says is indeed desirable righthand page front half of the book and so on These and others did come with a premium but not any research justificationAs with many planning metrics attention became a line in a deal quotWe can throw in somany first righthand pages in return for a larger share of the print budgetquot That sort of thingEveryone accepted that premium slotspositions were a good thing but no one knew how good and therefore what additional value or benefit was on offerAll that was then when choice was limited quality was a matter for trade press articles and conference speeches and bottomline CPM was really all that the advertisers and their auditors cared aboutToday we have massive media choice and so the penny is dropping that understanding and quantifying the benefits of screen A over screen B or of slot C over slot D is important It39s clearly absurd to think that an impression is an impression is an impression especially if we are somehow seeking to compare a 30second TV ad or a 60second cinema commercial with a two or threesecond online videoWe need to know far more than we do now about these elements if we are to offer rounded advice to our advertisers This is why the work of Professor NelsonField and her Attention Council colleagues is importantI have a sense that this time attention measurements will stick especially if the impetus comes from advertisers and their muchwelcomed involvement in the media processDon39t stop now Read more on ad industry issues and trends from Brian Jacobs in The Cog BlogClick 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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Pay Attention to the Attention Council

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Brian Jacobs

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Pay Attention to the Attention Council

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