Ads in big-screen streaming (CTV) receive nearly 80% of viewers ' attention, compared to only around 20% in conventional digital environments. That's according to research by Amplified and Video Futures Collective (VFC), an alliance of Australian streaming platforms, which took place over a six-month period in 300 households and tracked how people respond to CTV ads by measuring active and passive attention.
It measured attention using eye-tracking in the case of mobile devices (tracking where a user looks on the screen and determining whether they are watching a particular part of an ad and how their visual attention changes over time) and face-tracking in the case of CTV (using anonymised facial tracking to determine when and how long a person looks at the screen).
The results show a significant difference between an ad being "viewed" and actually being watched. Ads in streaming (CTV) are watched intently for an average of 79% of their length, while in conventional digital environments it is only around 20%. For example, a streaming ad on CTV attracts 65.8% more active attention than an ad on mobile YouTube. Only cinema performed better than streaming, by less than 6% (see comparison table below).
The table compares active viewer attention for 15-second ads in streaming video on CTV (Connected TV) versus other media platforms in Australia. Benchmark = CTV streaming video. Other platforms are shown as a percentage difference to it: positive value = platform has less active attention than streaming (i.e. streaming has a better result), negative value = platform has more active attention than streaming; Source: Amplified, VFCThe study also showed that attention for social media advertising drops dramatically. In the case of a 15-second spot, it drops from 75% to 25% in the first four seconds and drops to single digits by the end. In contrast, in streaming, attention remains consistently high throughout.
Attention is also affected by genre and time of day. Comedies (81%) and documentaries (67%) had the highest active attention. Evening prime time had active attention up to 69%.
"The short attention span of audiences is not a problem for people, but the environment in which they watch content," said Toby Dewar of VFC and Foxtel Media. He said social networks, by their structure, force users to skip to the next video, while streaming offers content that viewers voluntarily choose and watch in a focused way, including advertising.
Bec Brooks of Amplified adds that the results could fundamentally change the way advertisers approach video content creation. "It turns out that the streaming space allows even longer ads to hold attention. It opens the door to stronger stories and creative that leverages the full length of the message," she thinks.
The VFC says the study is intended to serve as a new frame of reference for planning video campaigns in Australia and to confirm the growing importance of streaming as one of the most effective environments for video advertising.
Source: mediaguru.cz