Attention, the new advertising currency ?

Ad blocking, viewability: indicative trends

At the end of 2015 the 2 major topics in digital advertising were ? ad-blockers ? and ad ? viewability ?. These very issues were the signals of a new step of maturity for web users’ as well as brands’ expectations which, so far, seemed conflicting. Indeed, brands had to make sure they were viewed but an increasing number of web users wanted to limit, even avoid ad exposures considered as too invasive.

On one hand, publishers, struggling with continuous deflation of digital advertising CPM for the last 15 years, trying to stop revenues bleed, thus multiplying ad formats. Sometimes efficient in the short term, this behavior is feeding the ? ad phobia ? and doesn’t help maintaining the prices (CPM), especially for display ad.

On the other hand, a large majority of the audience is not allergic to advertising in itself but simply to a carpet bombing of intrusive, often untargeted advertising messages. Besides, at the top of the value chain, brands who gain digital expertise, request to pay for real and useful ad contacts and use (with programmatic and data activation) even more elaborate marketing tools.

Attention, the new advertising currency?

In this respect, ? the market for consumer attention (or ? eyeballs ?) has become so competitive that attention can be regarded as a currency ? Thales Teixeira says, from Harvard Business School. Yet, attention is a prerequisite for ad persuasion, thus ad efficiency. The Economist or Financial Times websites have nurtured this trend by recently offering their inventory to brands, charging them based on the time web users spent in front of their ads. In recent years, in the most dynamic digital advertising segment, web moguls like Facebook, Twitter or YouTube have charged brands only when their video ad had been displayed for more than X seconds, X parameters varying from one offer to another and being sometimes questionable.

Let’s bet that this trend is opening the 3d chapter of the digital advertising young history. After the 1st age where the classical media planning model was prevailing, the power of ad tech (rise of programmatic, tracking, data…) offered brands and agencies to truly enable an audience planning strategy on the web. Of course, beyond media selection, targeting the right audience will improve ROI and limit waste in ad spending. But the Grail remains reaching an engaged and attentive audience.

The fact that the ad is displayed doesn’t mean it is visible and furthermore viewed by a receptive consumer. The new frontier, the 3d chapter of advertising, may truly be the era of attention planning in which brands could ask for both ? cheese and desert ? being: targeted audience as well as attention.

This game changer also involves a switch for a currency that would meet these new expectations properly. CPM was paying a 1000 ad impressions delivered. The new currency (Cost Per Completed View, or even better, Cost Per Attention) will pay for advertising performance.

Attention focused strategy, the key factors of success:

But what are the key factors for such an approach and game changer?

• Adapting advertising creations to maximize attention and customer engagement: personalized ads (especially ? call-to-actions ?), story-telling, brand content.
• Relevant ad formats: efficient, viewable but still not too intrusive for the audience.
• Targeting: reasonable number of exposures, page’s context taken into consideration, web user’s behaviour history towards ads or such kind of creation.
• Monitoring together the following KPIs : viewability, completion,
• Adapting the programmatic chain to take the new currency into account.

Benefits for the ad ecosystem

Innovative ? ad tech ? players are starting to bring solutions to deal with the attention issue, supported by Big data expertise and algorithms able to empower ad performance.

The whole ad ecosystem can take advantage of this attention planning approach and switch of ad currency. Firstly, brands by paying more efficient ad contacts, delivering less but better. Secondly, agencies by renewing their creative vision and making the most of platforms, formats ad tech, having the ability to target or attract an audience and guarantee attention. Then, publishers by gaining a fair pay for their inventories and escaping the vicious circle of the “Christmas tree” and ad-overloaded pages. Last but not least, the web user advisedly targeted, living a better ad experience.