Is Attention the New Ad Currency?

Q] What are some of the biggest shifts you’re seeing in client demands today, and how is your agency adapting to meet those expectations?
Navin: Clients are increasingly prioritising attention metrics due to fragmented consumer behaviour and diverse media consumption. They seek integrated strategies aligning media with business goals. We’re investing in tools like Architect for media-neutral planning and WPP Open to unify creative, production, and media. After years of fragmentation, the industry is shifting back to full-service agency models, now powered by AI for a more cohesive approach.

Averill: To meet client demands for integrated, outcome-driven strategies, we’ve enhanced media planning with intelligence and automation. Architect, our media simulator, creates detailed plans in under 15 minutes, optimising investments through rapid scenario testing. It leverages WPP’s Audience Origin panel, which tracks consumer behaviour across 78 countries, including an 80,000-sample study in India. WPP Open integrates creative, production, and media, using AI models like Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT for audience research, creative testing, and campaign optimisation. These innovations are transforming brand marketing.

Q] EssenceMediacom has been at the forefront of media transformation. What are your top priorities for the agency’s growth in South Asia over the next 2-3 years?
Navin: Despite being just two years old, we are already a top global agency, ranked #1 worldwide and among the top three in India. As the youngest media agency in India, our ambitious team is driving rapid growth. Over the next few years, we aim to expand client relationships, win new business, and diversify into next-gen services like attention planning, first-party data, AI-driven solutions, and Dynamic Content Optimisation (DCO). Our goal is to future-proof the agency, evolving towards a Media 2030 framework that will shape the future of media planning and execution.

Q] What was the core objective or industry challenge that led to the development of emAttention Architect?
Navin: Media consumption is evolving rapidly, with growing choices and extreme fragmentation. A key global discussion revolves around attention metrics—how impressions across TV, Digital, Radio, and Cinema compare in impact. Since this debate is gaining momentum, we felt the need to assess media effectiveness in India. While all media contribute positively, their impact varies, making it essential to determine which impressions drive the strongest results. To address this, we consolidated media impressions, partnered with a strong data provider, and conducted in-depth research. This isn’t just theoretical—our methodology has been tested with clients, delivering real results and validating our approach. With proven success, we are now ready to scale this data-driven solution for a broader market.

Bitupan: The importance of attention has already been well established through multiple studies, which have shown a direct correlation with ad recall, brand health metrics, and other key factors. Many clients are already convinced that driving attention is crucial. However, the real challenge for us was figuring out how to achieve this from a media planning perspective. That’s where we began brainstorming—how could we take all our insights on attention and convert them into a structured framework? Our goal was to develop a tool that would help media planners and client teams optimise media investments to enhance consumer attention.

Averill: In the absence of studies like this, media planning often relies on rules of thumb, for example: ‘impact equals attention’ or ‘cricket guarantees attention’. While some of these assumptions hold true, there are hidden zones in a consumer’s media consumption—whether on TV, social media, or OOH—where they are more receptive to ads at certain times than others. This study helped debunk some of these myths—proving that attention isn’t driven by just a few well-known factors. Instead, it uncovered less obvious opportunities where media plans can be fine-tuned to maximise consumer receptivity, ultimately improving effectiveness and aligning better with client objectives.

Q] In today’s highly fragmented media landscape, how does emAttention Architect redefine media planning compared to conventional approaches?
Navin: How do you differentiate media when all factors are equal? Traditionally, reach is treated uniformly, but this tool helps prioritise based on attention. If YouTube and Facebook offer the same reach, it identifies which drives higher attention, improving ROI. While cost per reach point may vary, what truly matters is cost per attentive reach—a term we’ve coined. This shift could transform media planning.

Bitupan: In today’s cluttered media landscape, consumer attention is declining, making traditional reach-based planning less effective. To address this, we shifted to attention-based planning, optimising media for impact. emAttention Architect plays a key role by refining ad placements, TV time bands, and specific formats in digital