Screenvision's Media Attention Study Proves the Value of Cinema as a Must-Buy for Every Video Media Mix

The Media Attention study had two goals according to Friedlander quotOne was to capture and measure active attention to ads and content in the cinema environment And two quotwe wanted to make sure that we had that cinema data available both for ourselves to share with our advertisers and for comparison to other media and also for agencies that are starting to actually plan and optimize against attention dataquot she shared quotThere is increasingly more evidence that attention drives outcomes amp8211 across the industry We have seen this in our own research with proven results on both shortterm outcomes such as sales lift to more longterm outcomes such as brand choice and preferencequotTo that end Screenvision partnered with Amplified Intelligence on two out of the three study phases capturing movie goers in the natural cinema environment rather than in a lab quotWe recruited movie goers to come to our theaters pick their films spanning various genres bring their friends and get their concessionsquot she explained Amplified Intelligence then brought DSLR cameras into the venues and placed them on either side of the screen to map facial expressions for over 500 data points that measure attention active passive and nonattention on a secondbysecond levelThis seamless approach proved quotUndisruptive to the movie going experience Moviegoers of course had to give their consent to be filmed But most movie goers thought they were being filmed for the duration of the movie and not just the preshow so everyone was engaged in their normal movie going behaviorsquot she noted Moviegoers were tested twice in New York in April and December and in Milwaukee in partnership with MAGNA GlobalThe biggest takeaway from the study according to Friedlander was that cinema delivers the highest active attention of any media platform and twice that of TV They compared the three market cinema data to TVision data which she explained quotis the gold standard of attention measurement on the TV sidequot This comparison showed that cinema averages an quot84 active attention to ads versus TV or even CTV where that number is about 30 That39s a difference of 26 seconds of a 30 second ad being actively watched in the cinema environment versus only about 9 or 10 seconds of a 30 second ad being watched on linear or CTVquotAnd this deep attention is consistent across advertising categories implying no need for special creative for cinema quotSometimes people think they need something special to really stand out on screen We tested a variety of creatives including TV ads and those made for cinema on a variety of categories and we did not see significant differences in active attention between adsquot she shared The big takeaway here is that it is the cinema environment is less about the creative and more about the environment and the quality of the placement of the creative to deliver the opportunity for high attentionCapturing attention for ads from any age cohort is impressive but especially so for younger viewers A surprising takeaway from the study was that the youngest demographic group had the highest attention scores quotThe 1824 and 1834 active attention to the ads were even higher than the over 35 That39s a demographic that39s highly distracted with an attention span of 8 seconds and 88 of them simultaneously use a second screen while watching TV But I think they really value that time away to check out and immerse themselves in the cinema experiencequot she marveled She added that the study showed that younger cinema attendees in the study actually put their phone away during the preshow quotIs there any other time you can find an 18amp821124yearold that chooses to put their phone awayquot she posited quotIn the cinema environment I think they value that time to really immerse themselves and engage in the experience that they39ve planned and paid forquotThe biggest challenge in measuring attention is standardization of measurement quotThere39s a variety of companies measuring attention It could be via camera via eyeglasses some are using neurotechnology and so there are nuances in how each company is collecting and interpreting the dataquot she noted But she added that the ARF and IAB are focused on providing best practices on advancing measurement beyond legacy metrics and reaching an omnichannel attention metric For Screenvision comparing their results to TVision attention and viewability data at home for TV viewing makes the most sense at this time because quotit39s a very similar methodologyquotWhen it comes to engagement compared to attention Friedlander stated that quotEngagement is the mindset of the consumer in the moment that you39re reaching them How leaned in are they What is their mental availability in that momentquot Within the cinema world she sees that since moviegoers have planned and paid to be there quotthey39ve opted into the shared experience with friends and other fans for this completely undistracted experiencequot Jen points out quotthat39s the height of engagement it39s an ideal mix of social passion emotion premium content anticipation All of those factors culminate in delivering the most attentive audience Engagement drives attention and engagement is really about the mindset of the consumer and that moment that you39re reaching themquotThe next steps in this journey focus on educating the industry on how to use attention metrics and how optimizing for attention can yield better outcomes Jen shares quotit39s about connecting the dots between attention and outcomes and Screenvision39s commitment to delivering on any brand39s KPI39s from sales lift foot traffic and so much morequotFor Friedlander the Attention research supports that cinema delivers the most attentive audience of any video platform Combined with the most premium content and most highly desirable audiences cinema has emerged as an essential part of the media mix Screenvision39s study confirms the longheld belief that cinema represents a compelling complement to any media plan and is a core contributor to the media mix goals of every advertiser She said quotmoviegoers are the most passionate content fans but also the hardest to reach They are younger compared to linear TV which has approximately 80 of their primetime audience over age 50 The majority of our audience about 80 is under age 50quotShe added that cinema also reaches an audience that doesn39t watch linear TV because they are cord cutters and cord 39nevers39 quotCinema provides incrementality reaching a young demo in a highly efficient way and one that you can39t reach elsewhere We call them the 39Elusives39 because they truly are elusive and unreachable to advertising Screenvision provides brands an amazing opportunity to connect with a highly desirable and attentive audience on the largest screen in the world in a moment that matters to themquot she concludedClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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Screenvision's Media Attention Study Proves the Value of Cinema as a Must-Buy for Every Video Media Mix

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Charlene Weisler

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