Influx Insights Tag Feed: attention

influx factoid- 1.6 pieces of marketing material per second

Influx Insights — 2007-06-14T18:50:51Z

A new pilot study from POPAI looks at how UK shoppers engage in retail marketing at Morrisons and ASDA/Wal-Mart stores.

It reveals just how challenging the battle for consumer attention has become.

"534 shoppers enter the store per hour; shoppers are exposed to 1.6 pieces of marketing materials per second as they navigate the stores; shoppers' eyes are drawn to 17.8 percent of the marketing materials..."

Over 80% of materials get ignored.

The battle for attention is real.

Posted by Ed Cotton

the opportunity cost of watching advertising

Influx Insights — 2007-04-28T14:13:48Z

This letter appeared in the Financial Times newspaper today.

Dear Economist,

Having recently acquired a personal video recorder, I find myself using the time-shift facility when watching commercial TV.

ADVERTISEMENT ( a web advertisment appeared here!!)

I start watching a programme around 15 minutes after it has commenced broadcasting - by doing this, I am able to fast forward through the adverts. Am I breaking my "contract" with the broadcaster by not watching its adverts, and do I miss out on some products that might be of value to me?

Paul, Dorset

Dear Paul,

If everybody did as you do, advertisers would give up, and broadcasters would have to find a new source of income. That need not concern you, however. If you time-shift and others do not, no harm is done. And if they all time-shift, you'd be a fool to do otherwise, wouldn't you?

The more pertinent question is whether these adverts are worth your time. If you earn �40,000 a year, then you make �5 in the time it takes you to watch 15 minutes of advertising. This is a rough guide to the opportunity cost of your time.

If the adverts are enjoyable or informative, perhaps that is a price worth paying, but it seems unlikely. While an advertisement in the Financial Times might alert you to a sophisticated product, mainstream television adverts are more likely to remind you that actors can be paid to hold fizzy drinks, or that when a car is filmed from a helicopter and driven by a stuntman along a remote mountain road, it looks rather cool.

I recommend, then, that you watch a few advertising breaks while keeping a running tally: the cost of time spent watching adverts versus your estimate of the benefits thus derived. I suspect you will find that time shifted is time saved.

in the petri dish of attention- digg

Influx Insights — 2007-04-25T00:29:56Z

According to a report in the New Scientist magazine, researchers at HP Labs calculated that the average story posted onto the front page of the news site Digg, has a life expectancy of 69 minutes.

Although Digg isn't yet the mass market place of attention, it indicates that in an over abundant world, attention is fleeting at best.

It demonstrates just how hard it is to get noticed and even if you manage it, attention quickly wanes.

These days there are two things brands need to do:

1. Get noticed

2. Sustain attention

Both things are getting tougher and tougher to achieve, but as we keep saying, it's all about doing more and experimenting more.