The Attention Council adds Havas, Dentsu, AB InBev, Electrolux and more new members

The Attention Council, which promotes measuring consumer attention to better align all stakeholders in media and advertising, has added new member, including: Dentsu Aegis, Havas and Horizon Media along with AB InBev, British Gas, Electrolux, Moet Hennessy and Reckitt Benckiser.

Media performance metrics, as well as the effectiveness of digital media, is increasingly being called into question, giving a bigger runway for adoption of the attention economy.

The Attention Council (TAC) is chaired by Professor Karen Nelson-Field, CEO of Amplified Intelligence, and Adelaide CEO Marc Guldimann, with support from founding members TVision’s Yan Liu, Avocet’s Ezra Pierce, and Lumen’s Mike Follett.

"At Dentsu, we believe it is critical to properly measure attention to understand the value of platforms relative to their impact. Therefore, we are seeking to create a consistent and standard value system for comparing media across all channels to drive more effectiveness for our clients," said Clive Record, head of global partnerships at Dentsu, adding that he’s encouraged to see momentum in attention metrics.

Record said: "I think part of the reason why we’ve reached this tipping point is because many have realized that being able to effectively measure the quality of what we’re planning and buying will help benefit all parts of the media ecosystem – from platforms, to agencies, and brands. Because ultimately we all want and value the same thing, which is a genuine opportunity to communicate with a consumer."

According to Neala Brown, global head of mx measurement at Havas Media Group, the network is joining TAC because it wants to understand the most "meaningful media" across channels, moments and brands that drive consumers to act.

"In addition to the measurement use case, we’re also looking to understand how attention can play a role in our planning process and help us make better decisions about how to invest. Is there a way to leverage the data to forecast against attention? We’d love to be in a position to do this," she said.

Havas, Brown said, first became intrigued with the attention economy because of the possibility of having its own in-market metric that it could use to optimize media confidently.

According to new TAC survey data, 45 percent of respondents from the media and ad tech industry are currently using attention metrics to evaluate media.

The research also revealed that 97 percent of media and ad tech industry respondents consider now, or would consider in the future, using attention metrics to guide media buying decisions, while 73 percent said within the next two years they think attention metrics will be a primary KPI for media

When asked if attention metrics will augment, replace - or neither augment or replace - existing metrics as primary KPIs, more than eight in 10 (82 percent) respondents said attention metrics would augment primary KPIs.