The industry is re-discovering the importance of “attention” 🙄 (it has always been one of the most basic concepts of marketing and advertising, if you asked me, but we know how the conversation in an ad tech driven digital advertising sector is shaped). And by the way, all my respect for those that are pushing for the concept to resurface! Are media owners taking the opportunity to lead in the debate and shape the narrative? And why is it important? Media owners have two customers in the first-party web: the audience and the advertiser. It is their responsibility to make sure that their audience is engaging with the content they create in the environment they own and manage. And advertising is part of that environment. Serving advertising on own environments also requires being responsible for the quality of the products and services advertised but also for the formats and their features. As well, it is media companies’ responsibility to prove the effectiveness of that engagement to their other customer, the advertiser. Nearly four years ago I was writing on Adexchanger that “The next 10 years of digital advertising are being decided right now, by browser engineers, the W3C and the IAB. And media owners are almost completely absent from the debate.” I was referring to innovation in media and advertising, in formats and features, and I still believe that a quote I used resonates very much in today’s landscape: “Executives read the same trade magazines, go to the same conferences, and talk to the same consultants. After a while, they all think alike. Innovators, by contrast, are contrarians. In their quest to upend industry rules, they learn how to distinguish ‘immutable laws’ from ‘ingrained beliefs.’” Link to the article on the comment below. It is frustrating to often close my posts on years-old articles by saying “it’s never too late”. But let's look at the half-full glass: imagine what a shame and a missed opportunity if it wasn’t the case! #media #advertising #strategy
I agree. I mostly look at things from the buy-side. I don't think attention should ever be a standard currency, because it will take that innovation away and become gamed. Each brand should set their own definition of attention. We had 'attention' 20 years ago with homepage takeovers and pop-ups. Attention can quite easily become mixed up with intrusiveness if we are not careful. I'm sure most will agree we don't want a return of those formats, so we will need to balance attention with relevance, respect to the consumer, and quality of the context from which the message is being displayed.
love this and would love your thoughts on the cost of inaction as well..
Attention has been a part of my narrative for years. I am so pleased this basic concept (!!) is being re-discovered…
Independent consultant - Senior advisor - Audience, advertising, media monetisation strategist
7mohttps://www.notjustadz.com/to-win-back-the-audience-digital-advertising-must-return-to-innovation-adexchanger/