Dentsu’s latest white paper on the “Attention Economy” focuses on the consumer’s mindset and the ability to allocate attention to content under different individual and societal conditions. The white paper highlights the expanding media landscape, the external factors at play and the power of compassion.

Authored by Sarah Thompson, president of Dentsu Media Canada, the paper addresses the fragmented media landscape where impressions, views and frequency are becoming increasingly obsolete metrics in capturing the effectiveness of an ad or a piece of content.

Thompson says the goal of the study was to go beyond the cliché of “right time, right message” and understand what is happening to the filter of our attention as Canadians.

“Personal interest is always a focus for advertisers, and to know that compassion is a lever is one that needs to be considered more holistically than purpose-based activities and really understand the power brands have in pro-social behaviours,” she says.

The research shows that attention and awareness are not the same thing, since brains are built to suppress non-critical information and to react to what is important. Understanding the attention filters that are influencing control of attention is a critical step in crafting ad messaging and placing it where it can capture attention. Effectively, from a consumer standpoint, brands are not just competing with their category rivals or other forms of content.

Thompson says a critical area of focus is around media psychology and consumption of media habits. As an industry, there are panels, audience insights and ideas of channel mixes, but it is important to get back to the humanity and the conditions of mindset that advertising is trying to persuade and connect with.

The report says that marketers wanting to ensure they’re driving attention to their campaigns should look at four areas: compassion, relevance, message and medium. It suggests that brands think attentive seconds, not views, to understand the societal context, to think human needs and to beware of “carewashing.”

Thompson adds, “There is a need for all of us to consider there is a person on the other side of the advertisement with a great deal going on in their life. And brands have the power to nudge us all to a better world. Fifty percent of a campaign is the media placement and context, 50% of a campaign is the creative message and how it is conveyed. For attention, there is a filter there and we want people to dwell with our client’s message — we must consider both always and bring them back together as one strategy.”