The Attention Council June 2020 Summit Recap

The third Attention Council event — TAC June Summit (technically the July Summit for our colleagues in Australia) was our first digital-only event. Over 170 individuals representing brands, agencies, publishers, and researchers gathered online for Council updates and information and discussion.

Mike Follet, Managing Director at Lumen, emceed the event, starting with a brief history of TAC, and a warm welcome to new members:

• Les Binet, Binet Consulting LTD
• Neala Brown, Havas Media Group
• Ryan Cooney, LVMH
• Stuart McDonald, British Gas
• John Perella, Tesco
• Paolo Provinciali, AB InBev
• Joel Stanley, Electrolux
• Jonathan Waite, Dentsu Aegis Network
• Donnie Williams, Horizon Media

Next up, Mike introduced fellow TAC founding member Dr. Karen Nelson-Field, CEO of Amplified Intelligence, who offered a quick update on her recent work. “The industry is rallying around impression reform,” and “human attention as a measure of effectiveness is fast becoming an accepted unit of trade,” Dr. Nelson-Field noted. She then presented information on the release of two recent publications — a guide from WARC and her new book, “The Attention Economy and How Media Works.”

In February, WARC invited Dr. Nelson-Field to serve as guest editor for the upcoming, “The WARC Guide: Planning for Attention,” which saw a release in early June. The Guide has so far received considerable interest, with papers contributed by heavy-hitters from Mars, GSK, Ipsos, Spotify, Dentsu, Attention Capital, and other industry leaders. Designed around four themes — “The value of attention,” “Attention as a measure,” “How brands are using attention to drive ROI,” and “Quality attention improves the ecosystem” — the Guide is available for download for WARC members.

Karen also hosted a Cannes Lions Live session where she presented additional content and context around the Guide. The Lions Live session is free to view and available here (registration required).

Support from ARF, Karen noted, has also been outstanding: “ARF has shown a lot of interest in the change that’s been happening right now, which is very exciting for our industry.”

Next up was the TAC Panel, moderated by Yan Liu, CEO at TVision, and featuring a conversation with TAC members Stacy Chagnon from Microsoft, Paolo Provinciali from AB InBev, Jonatahan Waite from DAN, and founding member Ezra Pierce from Avocet. Stacy summed up much of the ensuing discussion, noting that most legacy metrics measure quantity, but not quality, necessitating the search for a better unit of measure: “How do we create the best opportunity for our advertising to have impact.”

Yan guided the discussion around the value of attention data, how each panelist is using attention metrics in practice, and what the future holds for attention within the marketing industry. If we can track outcomes, is there a need for attention measurement, and if we can track attention, do we really need attribution? And more broadly — will attention serve as a currency?

Yan then passed the webinar over to Marc Guldimann, CEO at Adelaide. Marc introduced Jerry Daykin, EMEA Media Director at GSK. Marc and Jerry had a spirited conversation about the quality of media and its effect on the advertising ecosystem. A media veteran and an active and outspoken member of several not-for-profit organizations with the industry such as Outvertising, the Conscious Advertising Network, and the WFA, Jerry offered insight into how to bring greater simplicity and accountability to digital advertising — using attention to help prioritize quality environments. “You need to think about your spend as an investment,” he told Marc, “and it’s an investment both in your brands but also the internet around them and what you want to create.”

Prior to the event, attendees had taken a survey on attention metrics. The results are available here.

Mike Follett then returned to lead a question and answer session, asking TAC members questions from both audience members and his own on topics such as attention’s role in brand building and long-term ROI.

About TAC

The Attention Council brings together a combination of ad industry professionals, academics, technology vendors, and marketers to form thought-leadership around the attention economy.

TAC promotes the ethical use of attention metrics to create incentives that align all stakeholders in the media and advertising ecosystem. Research from TAC members has proven that low-clutter, high-attention and consumer-friendly experiences deliver the most effective impact for brands.