With Focus on Attention Metrics, TRG Forms Brand Performance Group

Dallas-based ad agency TRG is reorganizing its experts in paid social, programmatic, Google/YouTube, and content strategy into a new team called the Brand Performance Marketing (BFM).  

This team will identify “attention-rich” opportunities for brands that balance long-term brand-building and short-term sales objectives.  

According to the agency, rather than competing for a slice of the budget pie or debating YouTube vs. TikTok, this team focuses on what these platforms have in common: opportunities to earn people’s attention. 

The reorganization is designed to align with how the agency sees ad spending patterns changing, with more dollars increasingly flowing through just a handful of platforms: Google/YouTube, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, and Amazon. The BPM team has experts in those platforms and programmatic advertising.  

The group is led by Scott Luther, who has been named Head of Connections Strategy & Brand Performance Marketing. A 12-year veteran of the agency, Luther was previously head of digital strategy.

“People are not one-dimensional,” says Luther. They do not use media any one particular way and are only rarely on a linear path to purchase. Most importantly, people aren’t always rational and consistent – we cannot expect a simple, logical plan to work every time.” 

Capturing attention and motivating people to act “requires heart and magic,” said Luther. “The way we connect with people through our campaigns must be multifaceted – rich with insights into how humans actually live, work, connect, and unwind. We need to treat their attention as preciously as they do, so our approach to brand performance is all about balance: attention and action, broad and targeted, short- and long-term growth.” The agency says the BPM team is among the industry’s early adopters of so-called “human attention metrics,” exploring partnerships with platforms like Amplified Intelligence, System1, Adelaide, Integral Ad Science, and others.