The Attention-Effectiveness Connection

To ESOV and Beyond Part II

For advertising campaigns to be effective, they need to generate human attention. But in today’s complex digital landscape, how can you ensure your media choices will do just that? Agencies & Marketers joined attention expert Professor Karen Nelson-Field and advertising effectiveness guru Rob Brittain as they shared the findings of their world-first study that connects the metrics of attention to mental availability and business outcomes.

Drawing on the Advertising Council Australia’s effectiveness database, populated by Effie Award-winning campaigns, the study measured active and passive levels of attention to determine the relationships between creative strength, attention, media choice and marketing budget.

With a view to helping advertisers increase the certainty of return from their advertising investment, the findings reveal that:

● The competitive advantage delivered by strong creative is enhanced by investment into high-attention media platforms, with high-attention media supercharging the attention levels of great creative by up to 75%.

● The business impact of marketing campaign investment increases by 65% when strong creative is placed on high-attention media.

● Campaigns rated as ‘highly effective’ in driving business returns attracted close to 60% more active attention than campaigns rated much lower in effectiveness.

● Even at the top end of the effectiveness spectrum, strong creative holds attention by up to three times longer.

● Effie Award campaigns are major winners in attracting attention, delivering more than double the attention needed for marketing investment to be effective.

● ESOV remains a critical marketing planning metric. Positive ESOV improves the effectiveness of both lower- and higher-attention campaigns.