Understanding Attention Across Different Media and Creative Strategies

OMG UK has long recognised the importance of attention in media planning, with some traditional metrics lacking the depth and nuance required to plan and optimise campaigns effectively. Identifying a clear gap in AV Attention metrics in the UK market, their agencies needed a way to validate AV media effectiveness beyond reach and frequency, demonstrating the role of active attention in driving campaign outcomes.

As a result, OMG UK partnered with Amplified to integrate AV attention measurement into their planning toolkit. Their goal was to uncover how AV media, differing formats, and creative executions perform in terms of real human engagement, helping agencies make more strategic investment decisions.

‍

‍

Applying Amplified’s Attention Research Across Key Use Cases

By leveraging Amplified’s market-leading research technology, OMG UK has been able to track and analyse attention performance across various use cases, helping agencies and brands optimise for real audience engagement rather than assumed visibility.

Through this work, OMG UK has explored:

  • Creative effectiveness in premium partnerships vs. standard ad formats – testing whether custom broadcaster partnership content drives more attention than regular TVCs
  • Messaging impact across multiple ads of the same duration – evaluating how different creative executions perform in capturing and sustaining attention, even when ad length remains constant
  • How attention shifts throughout different times of the day and within specific media environments – helping agencies understand when and where ads are most effective
  • The role programming plays on audience engagement, specifically live, premium content versus standard scheduled programs

By moving beyond impressions and clicks, this approach has provided a more comprehensive view of how media really works, reinforcing attention as a core ingredient in campaign success.

‍

‍

Measuring Attention in a Changing Media Landscape

Using Amplified’s research services, OMG UK was able to passively measure real audience engagement without disrupting natural viewing behaviours. This study explored attention across:

  • Linear TV and YouTube on CTV
  • Different times of day and content types, inc. genre, frequency and ad lengths
  • Various ad placements within TV environments including programming and co-viewing

This work allowed OMG UK to establish clear benchmarks for attention across different formats, equipping their agencies with stronger justification for media selection and creative execution strategies.

‍

‍

Unlocking Actionable Insights for Media Planning

The attention data gathered through this partnership has been a game-changer in OMG UK’s media planning approach. Key insights include:

  • Premium content environments drive higher active attention, validating the investment in high-quality publisher partnerships
  • Attention is highly contextual, meaning placement, timing, and format all influence engagement, this insight allows OMG UK to better match creative strategies to specific media contexts
  • The role of passive attention in long-term brand building, allowing for a balanced approach between active and passive attention across a campaign’s lifecycle.

MG OMD’s telecoms client giffgaff was able to demonstrate the power of contextual advertising with their Big Brother campaign across October 2024. They created bespoke reactive spots based on that evening's show and placed them first in break directly after the content was shown. This highly contextual strategy resonated with audiences, and they observed active attention scores as high as 76.3% for the 20” advert – far exceeding the market norm for that month of 53.9%

By bringing attention measurement into the heart of media planning and strategy, OMG UK has empowered its agencies with data-driven insights that go beyond standard metrics, giving brands a real competitive edge in an increasingly fragmented media landscape.

‍

‍

Attention has become our secret weapon

"The Attention Panel is the secret weapon in our Unified Video Toolkit. Reach and frequency measurement will remain as fundamental building blocks to video planning, but adding Attention allows us to create competitive advantage for our clients. We can understand viewing at a deeper level which helps us make sophisticated decisions across programme, channel, genre and second length." Vicky Fox, Chief Planning Officer, OMG UK

‍

‍

‍

Elevating Media Planning with Attention Measurement

For OMG UK, attention isn’t just a performance indicator, it’s a fundamental shift in how media is valued and optimised. Through their partnership with Amplified, they’ve equipped their teams with the tools to validate investment decisions, optimise creative, and future-proof their approach to media strategy.

By using Amplified's research technology, OMG UK now has a scalable and data-backed approach to help agencies and brands make smarter, more impactful media choices - using attention as the competitive advantage in making sure advertising is being both seen and remembered.

Interested in bringing attention measurement into your media strategies? Get in touch to learn more about Amplified can help your business quantify real human engagement.