Attention is the new currency: SA's first human data study

The Up&Up Group, together with key clients, has partnered with Dr Karen Nelson-Field (pictured) to deliver South Africa’s first-ever data on digital media attention metrics (Image supplied)

The study is being done in collaboration with Standard Bank, MTN, Woolworths, and Spur Corporation. The study is currently in-market, with the findings to be released at the end of August.

Amplified’s attention dataset has data collected from over 1,35 million humans, across more than 59 billion human data points, which has enabled the optimisation of over $1,3bn in ad spend.

In South Africa, it will deliver the country’s first-ever human data on how digital advertising is actually consumed in the country.

Clarity for clients

“With this first-ever benchmark study in place, advertisers can implement both immediate and longer-term strategies to achieve greater levels of attention,” says Robert Grace, co-founder and chief strategy officer of The Up&Up Group.

He adds that the partnership is aimed at providing clarity for clients regarding the money they spend.

“Across The Up&Up Group, our strategic focus is one of driving absolute clarity in the solutions we deliver, and this partnership with Dr Karen Nelson-Field, founder of Amplified sets out to bring about clarity to one of the opaque areas of marketing spend: digital advertising.

“While platforms can deliver reams of digital metrics, they fall significantly short on human metrics,” he says.

Attention metrics

Martin MacGregor, CEO of the Up&Up Group’s media business, Connect, says that attention metrics are a much-needed part of the media solution that advertisers look for.

“This important partnership both follows on the work Amplified has done globally and aligns with the questions advertisers are asking.

“This survey is set to bring much-needed disruption to the digital media landscape by giving advertisers the first-ever attention benchmarks for our market,” he comments.

Global media measurement

Amplified was founded by Dr Karen Nelson-Field, a media science researcher who has revolutionised global media measurement.

As an advisor to major global brands, she is a sought-after speaker and author of bestsellers Viral Marketing: The Science of Sharing, The Attention Economy: How Media Works, and the globally groundbreaking The Attention Economy: A Category Blueprint.

Her work has been featured in top publications, including Bloomberg Business, CNBC, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal.

Commenting on the vital importance of human metrics, Dr Nelson-Field says, “At its most fundamental, if your campaigns aren’t gaining attention, no impact can be gained either.

“Our work across markets and billions of human data points shows that on average, between 70-80% of an advertisement has had no active attention paid to it at all.”

The attention survey

The attention survey, which will be produced because of the partnership, will be collecting human data that analyses three levels of attention: inactive, passive, and active as well as people’s emotional response to campaigns.

“This not only gives the advertisers an understanding of what has been seen vs served (impressions), but also the drivers of attention at both a platform and creative level,” explains Nelson-Field.