Is Your Ad An Attention Magnet?

Marketing teams are combining talent and tools to produce campaign creatives that are memorable and hit the metrics. It’s an arms race to develop compelling and engaging ads, and it’s an idea that is spreading like wildfire as companies realize ad creatives are the source of their competitive advantage.

But are they?

My interview with attention measurement pioneer and thought leader Dr. Karen Nelson-Field PhD flies in the face of everything I have heard over the past months about the power of the ad creative. The research she has produced with her team at Amplified Intelligence, where she is the founder and CEO, shows that ad creative is actually near the bottom of the hierarchy of factors that influence audience and outcomes.

It comes as no surprise that marketers also need to nail audience context (showing the right creative to the right person at the right time).

But the shocker is the pivotal importance of the ad format and the platform.

Success isn’t just about aligning marketing with your audience. It’s about placing the right message on the right devices through the right ad formats. The type of ad format matters, and so does the platform.

We’re back to the medium is the message, and the medium (platform) can either enhance advertising or detract from it. Platforms that have our undivided attention are in the winners’ circle. Platforms with highly distracting feeds, allowing people to scroll, flip and swipe, can be much more problematic.

Karen’s big reveal: Games are an environment where marketers can get our undivided and sustained attention.

It’s why Karen is the focus of my upcoming podcast, a voice in my upcoming book and much more. I’m excited to weave her research and findings into my content – and I’ll share both here.

People switch in and out of levels of attention, and it’s up to the marketer to come up with the right mix of platforms to ensure an ad just isn’t in view of the individual. The end game isn’t about capturing passive attention; it’s about winning active attention. And you’re on your way to accomplishing that when you start to grasp the relationship between advertising messages, ad formats and platforms.