Measurement specialists TVision and Lumen Research this morning announced a new partnership to measure attention across TV and CTV, in UK and US markets.
As part of the project, TVision will develop a UK-based, opt-in panel to measure person-level TV engagement. This data will be combined with Lumen’s digital measurement platform to enable UK marketers to compare engagement across different types of media.
According to the duo, these findings can include determining the campaigns that best engage viewers, the media placements delivering optimal attention and opportunities to improve attention across platforms.
“We know that consumers interact with brands across multiple platforms, and it’s important and necessary to understand how those campaigns capture attention, and where to optimise for attention in order to impact upper and lower funnel metrics,” said TVision CEO Yan Liu. “Our partnership with Lumen is built on years of joint research and analysis and a shared commitment to helping brands utilise attention to improve outcomes.”
The UK panel represents TVision’s fourth market, the company noted, alongside India, Japan and the US. It allows the company to report on UK programming, advertising, attention, viewability and co-viewing at the same level of detail as it does in the US.
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The announcement comes at a time of intense focus on attention, as advertisers look for robust measurement metrics in an increasingly fragmented media marketplace – to the point that attention is being built into ad agencies’ buying processes. Dentsu for example has partnered with the pair on developing eye-tracking research for cross-platform planning purposes.
“It’s no secret that Dentsu is committed to attention so we’re delighted that Lumen and TVision – both already key partners in our Attention Economy programme – have joined forces to bring this TV measurement capability to the UK,” said Dentsu MD Katie Hartley. “It represents a milestone moment in our ability to understand the metrics that really matter.”
That said, precise definitions of what constitutes attention are still in flux, and academics can be sceptical about the industry’s reliance on eye-tracking measurement as a proxy for attention. Until marketers reach a stronger consensus on the nature of attention, its potential as currency is surely limited.
But for Dentsu, that widespread adoption is on the horizon – and investment in research and increasingly sophisticated tracking technology points towards a future where attention is a crucial segment on marketing radars.
“Advertising obviously has a greater impact if the audience is attentive,” said Lumen MD Mike Follett, “and with Lumen and TVision’s attention measurement suite, it is possible to understand the potential impact and optimise for improved engagement of both TV and digital audiences in the UK.”
