ATTENTION IN CONTEXT’

Attention is everywhere. You can’t move for people claiming it’s the next big metric in advertising. There’s no doubt it’s crucial; no attention, no point in advertising. But what is attention, how does it work, how do you measure it (can you measure it?), and what do advertisers need to focus on in their media and creative to attract it?

This event opened up the discussion about this apparently simple, but actually rather complex and nuanced topic. It examined what we actually know, what we still don’t know, and where we should look next. There’s more to attention than meets the eye.

Giving attention a little attention

Award-winning cognitive scientist, Dr Ali Goode, outlined the findings from his recent investigation into the hot topic of attention. With input from world leading scientists, and demonstrations from research studies, Ali shared his thoughts about how the advertising industry’s view of attention needs to evolve. He also highlighted some implications for both creative development and measurement, spotlight areas where more understanding is needed, and raised several questions that the advertising industry needs to debate.

Panel and Q&A

Our expert panel got under the hood of attention in advertising in a lively debate with questions from the audience:

• Sam Gaunt, Media Strategy Director EMEA, GlaxoSmithKline
• Shazia Ginai, CEO, Neuro-Insight
• Katie Hartley, Managing Director – Product & Innovation, Dentsu Data Labs

Chaired by Matt Hill, Research & Planning Director, Thinkbox

5 ways to get attention

Clare Hutchinson, Deputy Chief Strategy Officer at VCCP, shared her top tips on commanding and retaining attention through best-in-class creative work.

Hosted by Chris Dunne, Head of Marketing, Thinkbox