Newsworks’ attention research not only charts the swing away from high-attention media in recent years in favour of shiny new platforms but offers a few simple solutions to boost any campaign's effectiveness.
I, like many others, wanted to work in advertising because of the big, bold, funny, relevant ads that the industry holds in such high esteem. The campaigns that were impactful, both culturally and commercially.
But over the past 10 years, the industry has moved away from high-attention, impactful media.
Now, this isn’t to say that low-attention media efficiencies shouldn’t be part of a media mix. Finding the balance is the art of great media planning, and every category and campaign is unique. But the trend away from high-attention media (68% in 2015 to 30% in 2025) to low-attention media (32% in 2015 to 70% in 2025) has those that care about commercially effective advertising worried.
Because the reality is that high-attention media is what drives long-term effectiveness. Newsworks’ new study proves it.
Measuring high-attention media effects
Partnering with Lumen and effectiveness expert Peter Field, attention data (attentive seconds per thousand impressions) was combined with the gold mine of the IPA Databank case studies, from 2016 onwards, to define a baseline for high-attention media’s contribution to business effectiveness.
Pound for pound, high-attention media plans boost market share growth by 12% versus low-attention plans.
The industry is making mistakes in the quest for effectiveness, yet the solutions are remarkably simple: identify and increase the levels of investment into hot spots of attention and replace low-attention digital inventory with those with high attention to get significant boosts to effectiveness.
Digital news brands are a brilliant place to start. Why? Because attention to ads is always a by-product of the attention that is given to the surrounding content. Quality, trusted journalism gets attention and ads benefit.
In fact, when added to a low-attention campaign, digital news brands contribute to:
- 64% uplift to brand effects that build mental availability
- 50% uplift to business outcomes
- 89% to profit
If the solution is so simple, why isn’t it already happening?
Quality inventory that works harder
If news brands’ digital inventory continues to be measured and classed with the long tail of digital, then their power isn’t being captured. Not all digital display is equal. As part of this study, campaign measurement company Brand Metrics found that the attention digital news brands achieve contributes to uplifts right across the purchase journey, particularly in consideration (+23%) and action intent (+32%).
If a news brand’s CPM is higher, it is because it is quality inventory that works harder. If recalculated based on the attention achieved, then news brands’ return on investment offers advertisers better value for money.
If news brands receive only low levels of digital impressions, their impact won’t be captured in econometric modelling. Lumen’s database found 73% of campaigns included only 20% or fewer impressions with news brands. Yet median conversion rates doubled when impressions went from 10%-20% impressions to 20-50% and tripled at their peak of over 50% of impressions.
A similar pattern was found in the IPA Databank analysis. Campaigns with higher-than-average levels of digital investment into news brands saw a 23% uplift in business effects, including profit, than lower-than-average investment levels. To deliver significant effectiveness growth, news brands’ share of the digital plan should be greater than 10% of media investment.
Yet, the reality is far from that. Estimates suggest that digital news brand investment is as low as 4% share of media investment.
What advertisers can do
These three simple steps, which cost advertisers almost nothing, could dramatically impact a campaign's effectiveness:
- Don’t treat all digital display as equal. Plan and measure high-quality digital inventory differently to that of the long programmatic tail.
- Invest more heavily in the hot spots of attention online to get their full benefit.
- Remove word blocking against news brand journalism that prevents ads from benefiting from high-attention content in brand-safe, regulated environments.
The evidence uncovered in this study builds on the wealth of evidence that already exists to give greater confidence to planners to invest at higher levels in high-attention media, both offline and online.
It also explains why news brands' impact on campaign effectiveness has almost doubled since before 2018. Not only are marketers using news brands more wisely for brand building, but if campaigns generally are increasingly of low quality and low attention, then the addition of high-attention media, like news brands, makes a massive contribution to a campaign’s success.
Find the full report here.
Source: warc.com