• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 25, 2023

Omnicom's OMD and Teads Monday will release results of a neuroscience study focused on understanding attention metrics used in the ad industry, including a new set of measurement tools for analyzing ad attention.

This study, conducted in March 2023 in partnership with RK Neuroconsulting and Offerwise, analyzed video ads in Latin America. Kimberly-Clark participated in the research. 

“Attention is not just a technical metric,” said Juan Nino, CEO at OMD LATAM. “It’s a human metric."

The research team used technology to measure human behavior. That’s the challenge, he said.  

The study, which used real campaigns from clients, relied on neuroscience research to discover how the environment of different platforms -- including news websites via Teads and three leading social-media platforms -- influenced levels of attention in viewers.

“We need to develop the metrics with a responsible mindset,” Nino said. “We need to understand and study each platform carefully if we want to be successful in using this metric in the media plan.”

OMD is exploring this metric based on pilots across select campaigns to determine how to use attention in media and campaigns.

Analyzing the attention patterns in a Huggies campaign from more than 1,400 participants across Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, Teads and OMD unveiled insights aimed at assisting brands in optimizing marketing investments through strategic audience attention metrics.

“When my agency first brought this to my attention, I wanted to put it in every brief,” said Sergio Valcarel, intelligence hub director in Latin America at Kimberly-Clark. “I needed to understand how this would impact my business. When we first started on this journey, we talked about the theory of attention. This is the first step.”

Cau Stefani, research and insights manager Latam at Teads, described the three measurements, key performance indicators (KPIs), that emerged from the research.

The concept of the "Micro Attentional Moment" uses advanced eye-tracking software and measures “the fleeting instance when the brain absorbs visual content” to gauge visual engagement between ads and the contextual surroundings.

The study introduced "Attention Coefficient K” to measure the quality of attention by distinguishing between focused attention and distractions from the environment, underscoring the role that attention quality plays in shaping ad recall. 

The study also explored the "Attention Loss Factor," which quantifies the attention an ad loses to its surroundings, as well as “Scroll Speed,” or the speed at which a user scrolls through the content. 

Key findings from the study included platform variation. The study revealed significant attention variations across platforms, with Teads generating 74% ad recall -- the highest of all platforms. This compared with 70% for one social-media platform, 53% for the second, and 51% for the third.

The study also underscored the importance of creative optimization and ensuring that attention is captured on average during the first 2 seconds of an ad. The research indicated that creative optimization directly impacts the campaign's memorability, with the potential to attract 30% attention to a brand on an ongoing basis.

Understanding the loss of attention also is important. Some 46% of attention is drawn away by the environment, presenting a unique challenge and an equally unique opportunity for advertisers to capture the remaining 54% more effectively.

The study also highlighted the speed at which people scroll on mobile phone screens, and the research measured this movement. The dimensions of a mobile phone screen measure approximately 15 cm, while the typical user tends to scroll at a relatively brisk pace of 4.7 cm per second, implying that in a high-scroll speed environment, users tend to miss about one-third of the mobile phone screen.

By understanding that a slower scroll speed corresponds to increased engagement with content, Teads was able to achieve a scroll speed of around 2.2 cm per second.

When comparing platforms, Teads and one major social-media platform demonstrated similar scroll speeds, with each registering around 2 and 2.2 cm per second, respectively.

Another leading social-media platform had a scroll speed of 5.6, while the last platform measured at 6.3 — more than two-and-a-half times and nearly three times faster than Teads, respectively.

This data emphasizes Teads' ability to facilitate user interaction through a measured scrolling experience that fosters meaningful content engagement.