After Attention

2023 saw the rapid rise and spread of the concept of attention in advertising. This manifested in a rush toward research vendors who can verify that an ad wasn’t just viewable but was viewed, fueled by agencies, clients, and media platforms who believe in fixing the broken pipes in the advertising ecosystem.  

The rise was in no small part instigated in 2022 by Dr. Karen Nelson-Field, Peter Field, and Rob Brittain’s “The Triple Jeopardy of Attention“ presentation at Cannes, in which Dr. Nelson-Field infamously revealed that 70% of all Media Rating Council-accredited advertising gets no meaningful attention from humans.  

What followed was a flurry of consternation: defining what attention is, how it can be effectively gauged in research settings and in real-world applications, what is the right metric for attention (index vs. volume vs. quality vs. shape), more revelations about the nature of attention and its relationship to key brand outcomes, proposed changes to advertising currencies…it was, and remains, a lot.  

Getting lost in that rush to reorganize around attention is the core principle that the original 70% data point was based on: Advertising that is viewed (eyes on ad) for less than 2.5 seconds cannot form any memory. Humans do not form lasting memories from things paid less attention to than that crucial threshold (and evolutionary biology says that’s likely a good thing).  

In the rush to adopt, codify, and extract all value from planning for and measuring attention, we lost sight of memory. That attention is most valuable because it is necessary for – and now the best proxy for – the ability to create and influence memories.  

Creating and influencing memory is and must remain the North Star for people who want their brands to grow.  

After all, humans may be made of stardust, but brands are made of memories (thank you, Dr. Jenni Romaniuk!) – and as Byron Sharp, John Dawes, and Kirsten Victory recently published, growing a brand means establishing a deep, broad, high-quality, frequently refreshed network of memories attached to that brand. 

Going a little deeper, if a brand is a network of memories, it’s significantly more resilient and valuable if that network is spread across the widest group of people possible (because memories decay, spreading those memories into more people makes the memory stronger). Think deeply about what network of people makes that strongest. Research says a wide group is best; I strongly believe that a higher-density group of people is better for creating timeless and memorable work. 

Second, when those memories are specifically attached to the moments when a person starts thinking about a need in a category, that brand will likely grow fastest. That’s the magic recipe for not just a strong brand, but a brand that will grow rapidly and outperform others in the category.  

That makes the job of building a brand very simple. Not easy, but exactly what to focus on is clear: 

1. Create work worthy of attention. Boring is a choice, and it’s expensive. 

2. Choose to connect with specific communities and points of culture. This will make the work more focused and interesting and will spark relevance. Culture matters. 

3. BUT: Don’t restrict. Write small; share broad. Be specific for creative; be broad for media reach.  

4. Help that work be found by putting it in high-attention moments and environments. 

5. Find a cheat code for attention that pulls people deeper into the brand. You remember things you’ve done more than things you’ve only seen. 

6. Land and expand. Refresh and extend how people come across your brand over time. That adds breadth to the memories you’re creating while keeping them fresh.  

All of this requires attention first. So if 2023 was all about getting the right amount of attention for attention, now that it’s there, 2024 should be the year of perfecting all the things that have to happen after you break into the 30% of ads getting meaningful attention. 

Here’s to deeper conversations to come about the best ways to add depth, breadth, and quality to memories about our brands.