- News brand digital display ads get +40% more attention
- High-attention media plans boost market share by +12%
- News brands impact on campaign effectiveness has almost doubled since 2018
New report proves clear link between high-attention digital media and advertising effectiveness
High-attention media campaigns deliver significantly better business outcomes compared with low-attention campaigns, including a 17% uplift in brand effects and a 12% increase in market share growth.
A new in-depth study by Newsworks, Lumen and effectiveness expert Peter Field, found a clear link between attention and advertising effectiveness.
Ads in high-attention media, such as news brands and TV, are more visible, memorable and deliver on key business effects including profit.
The results, which combine data from the IPA Effectiveness Databank, Brand Metrics and Lumen, show that high-attention media campaigns achieve 58% more attentive seconds for every advertising pound spent.
Ads on news brand sites dramatically outperform non-news sites, with 40% more attention, while video ads gain 24% more attention, according to Lumen data.
Both display ads and video ads on news brand sites are viewed for longer – with average dwell time up 31% and 20% respectively – compared with non-news display ads.
This high attention to ads on digital news brands directly translates to brand uplifts when it comes to awareness (+11%), consideration (+23%) and action intent (+32%).
Despite the findings, industry investment is moving away from high-attention media in favour of pure play digital display and social media.
Jo Allan, CEO, Newsworks, said: “This project proves that quality, trusted journalism attracts focussed, deliberate attention every single day, which is hugely beneficial for advertisers.
“Frustratingly, high-attention media isn’t currently getting the investment it deserves. This report highlights how important high-attention media is in delivering profit, market share and long-term growth, which should be music to the ears of advertisers.”
Mike Follett, CEO, Lumen, noted: “News brands have been hugely powerful in achieving attention for advertisers for decades. We know that attention to advertising is a by-product of attention to the surrounding content. In this case, it boils down to the quality of news brand journalism and the time people spend with it.”
Peter Field, effectiveness expert, added: “This research uncovers an astonishing absurdity, that advertisers are shifting spend from high to low attention media. This doesn’t make commercial sense, and it needs to be fixed, fast.”
Read the full findings, which demonstrate why not all digital display is equal, the link between attention and brand uplifts, and how increasing investment in high-attention media would lead to increased effectiveness.
