Attention adjustment enters planning mainstream under Omnicom

Ad holding firm Omnicom’s media division, Omnicom Media Group will begin adjusting its measurement of media effectiveness based on consumer attention.

Why it matters

The news follows growing interest in attention adjustment, an idea formalised and extensively researched by Professor Karen Nelson-Field, CEO and Co-founder of Amplified Intelligence, with whom OMG is now working.

Effectively, Professor Nelson-Field’s idea is that impressions are not created equal and that attention adjustments should be employed as a tool for planners to make more effective work and use budgets more efficiently.

What’s happening

• Attention adjustment is an idea now filtering through to major global brands, reports AdAge.
• SC Johnson, makers of Windex and Pledge, is one of the first companies to talk about using this kind of data across major brands.
• Should attention adjustment grow in profile, Omnicom executives believe it may begin to impact upfront negotiations by affecting both the amounts of budget that brands will be willing to spend on low attention media and what media sellers will be able to boast if theirs is high attention inventory.
• This is because of further research into the impact that different levels of attention – through metrics like OTS, or opportunity to see - can have on building higher mental availability, which has been shown to have a significant impact on business results.

Key quote

“Attention to advertising is significantly and positively related to business outcomes. We know that attention to advertising brings benefits for brands beyond the short term. We see that attention and long-term advertising strength (ad decay) are related. The more active attention paid, the longer the brand stays in memory” – Professor Karen Nelson-Field, quoted in WARC.

Sourced from AdAge, WARC