What’s the Score with Attention? NDA meets Adnami CEO Simon Kvist Gaulshoj and VP of Product Thomas From

You’ve been thinking a lot about attention metrics – why does the world need a new one?

Simon Kvist Gaulshøj (SKG): Well, that’s a good question. So, we all realise by now attention is a more accurate proxy for effectiveness than traditional metrics, which means we need to understand how much attention our advertising generates.

We realised that we needed to come up with our own solution, as high impact advertising as a media category is based on special formats, which for other attention vendors can be challenging to fully capture. With our own solution we can now provide accurate data on what “good looks like” for our clients, so they truly understand the value of high impact advertising. 

Can you elaborate a little on why now (in particular) is the right time for a new attention metric?

Thomas From (TF): We believe attention should be measured on all our campaigns, but we identified the lack of an easy, automated, accurate and affordable attention measurement for high impact campaigns. Our clients have requested this product for a while: a reliable and scalable proxy to measure attention on high impact campaigns to be able to evaluate and benchmark delivery. And that’s why we believe now is the right time to bring the Adnami Attention Score to market. 

Tell us a little bit about the Adnami Attention Score… 

TF: Current digital advertising metrics aren’t fit for purpose when it comes to measuring attention. The likes of impressions and viewability leave you with awkward questions like: Were my ads even seen? Were my ads actually registered? That’s unacceptable in today’s market, especially when attention is 7x better than viewability at predicting awareness, and 6x better at predicting recall, according to the IAB. Clearly, new metrics are required that anticipate and measure the human response to an ad.

The Adnami Attention Score supplies media buyers with attention measurement metrics that are accurate in near-real time. It provides advertisers with category and format benchmarks, allowing them to compare creative and campaign performance. 

We introduce two separate components: Attention Per Mille (APM), which measures ad effectiveness, and Effective Attention Per Mille (eAPM). The latter is better suited for media optimisation purposes, because it is based on total impressions. We produce the score via a hybrid model that combines eye tracking data and five signals: viewability, time in view, pixel coverage, format and engagement.

Together, these metrics form the Adnami Attention Score, and provide a predictive model that makes attention measurement accurate, benchmarkable and affordable. We’re bringing attention to the masses.

What are the benefits for your clients?

SKG: There are numerous benefits. APM can be used as an indicator of the quality of an ad’s performance, taking both creative quality and context into the equation. eAPM is an indicator of attention performance over a full campaign – all impressions. Our clients can use it to optimise their media plan and bidding strategies, for example.

But these metrics offer exciting possibilities in a wealth of other ways, too. One feature of our score is that it allows anyone to rank our high impact formats in terms of effectiveness in generating attention in a variety of categories. This is great for media buyers, who are intent on allocating budget more effectively and driving better business outcomes for their clients. 

The same can be said for publishers: they can understand the relative value that the formats are generating for their inventory, enabling them to set prices and negotiate. Publishers can rank sites and sections, and find new ways to package inventory and attention for prospective buyers. Whether our clients are a brand, publisher or advertiser, it all comes back to making digital advertising more effective, and driving better business outcomes.

What’s next for the Adnami Attention Score?

SKG: Well, the hard work is really just beginning and there’s so much we’re exploring with regard to the metrics and their potential uses. We’re hoping our clients are going to get creative with them. 

What we are working on at the moment is to leverage our predictive graphs in a dynamic optimisation context, i.e. dynamic bidding algorithms. Next up for us will be to expand our scope to also measure and optimise attention on standard display and video ads. 

Elsewhere, we’re considering speaking to various bodies and partners about standardising our metrics for wider industry use, and we’re also exploring using the data to fuel dynamic optimisation strategies. But that’s looking quite far down the road.

Also published in: New Digital Age