Once upon a time, an advertiser once had a handful of channels across TV, radio, and print. Modern fragmentation changed all that.
For one measurement executive, the solution lies in focusing on attention as a core currency and, more importantly, carefully considering the downstream consequences of the metrics buyers choose to value.
“Attention metrics are more important than ever because the way that brands and agencies reach consumers has massively fragmented,” said Marc Guldimann, co-founder and CEO of Adelaide, in this video interview with Beet.TV “The tools to measure that reach have not kept up with that fragmentation.”
Kindness over niceness
Adelaide specializes in analytics and measurement across various advertising platforms.
Guldimann believes a dose of “kindness” could create a healthier supply chain. He draws a distinction between metrics that are “nice” and those that are “kind,” arguing that the former offers false comfort while the latter drives meaningful improvement for the entire ecosystem.
- “Kind is telling someone they have something stuck in their teeth; nice is telling someone they look perfect,” Guldimann said.
- “Nice is like vanity metrics, like video completion rate and viewability and things that show every campaign in a positive light.”
Adopting these more transparent, or “kind,” metrics creates a positive feedback loop, he argued. When premium publishers can demonstrate the high quality of their offerings with robust data, they can command a fair price.
Innovating for attention
The growing focus on attention is also fueling innovation in ad formats, as publishers seek new, less-interruptive ways to engage consumers. Guldimann pointed to emerging formats like pause ads as a promising development, though he noted that the effectiveness of any new format tends to evolve over time.
“It’s always exciting to see new ways that publishers are innovating to deliver consumer attention in ways that are non-interruptive,” he said. “In the beginning, new types of ad formats will capture an outside share of attention, and over time that starts to decline and get to a sort of a stasis of attention. My sense is as people get more and more used to pause ads, publishers will innovate again.”
This publisher innovation is being met with new buy-side mechanisms designed to reward high-quality inventory. For example, Adelaide has partnered with ad-tech platforms like PubMatic to create auction packages that allow advertisers to specifically target inventory with high attention scores. Similarly, a recent network audit with mobile advertising firm MobileFuse led to the creation of a dedicated high-attention marketplace.
You’re watching “Rethinking the Rules of Engagement: Kindness & Transparency in Advertising, a Beet.TV Leadership Series, presented by WunderKIND Ads.” For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
