Study reveals minimal ad view time boosts brand awareness

A new study by Playground xyz, a platform known for attention measurement and optimisation, has revealed significant findings regarding Optimal Attention and its impact on brand outcomes. The research, aimed at understanding the minimum amount of time an ad must be viewed to achieve meaningful brand impact, analysed behavioural eye-tracking data from around 20,000 participants who were exposed to 55 video ads on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.

The study, conducted by Dr. Shannon Bosshard and Dr. John Hawkins from Playground xyz, was complemented by neuroscience analysis of 1,800 ads to examine consumer attention at both conscious and subconscious levels. Participants in the study interacted with ads in a simulated social media environment for a period of three to five minutes and then completed surveys concerning brand awareness, recall, consideration, and purchase intent.

Key insights from this study indicated that consumer attention substantially influences brand awareness, recall, and purchase consideration. It was observed that most brand outcome improvements occurred quickly, often within the first 10% of an ad being watched. However, the required attention time varied depending on the specific brand outcome targeted. For instance, an average of 1.4 seconds of attention was needed to achieve a 10% lift in brand awareness, whereas 1.6 seconds and 3.9 seconds were required for consideration and prompted recall, respectively.

Rob Hall, CEO of Playground xyz, elaborated on the implications of these findings, stating, “Our new dataset is the best evidence we have, to date, that explicitly shows that different brand outcomes and creative executions convert attention differently. Brands can be empowered to craft more impactful campaigns by understanding how exactly attention affects customers at different stages of the marketing funnel. This, along with greater investment in strong creative development, can powerfully influence specific consumer behaviours, and help amplify measurable results."

The study also highlighted that creative execution was the most critical factor in achieving Optimal Attention. In 94% of the ads evaluated, differences in Optimal Attention thresholds were primarily driven by variations in creative content rather than the social media platform on which the ads appeared. Therefore, the strength of the ad creative itself, more than the ad environment, determined the effectiveness in driving brand outcomes.

Further reinforcing the importance of creative content, neuroimaging data from over 150 lab sessions showed that creative content significantly influences memory encoding, which impacts key marketing goals such as brand loyalty and sales. This underlines the necessity of strong and engaging creative messaging in advertising campaigns.

The research also noted differences based on brand size. Larger brands, with baseline awareness rates over 75%, were almost 1.5 times more likely to achieve positive outcomes with less than two seconds of consumer attention. Additionally, these brands were nearly twice as likely to meet Optimal Attention thresholds below one second, possibly due to existing brand recognition and distinctive assets like strong visuals and unique audio jingles, which require less time to impact consumer recall.

The findings from Playground xyz’s study provide valuable insights for marketers aiming to optimise their ad campaigns. By understanding the dynamics of attention and tailoring creative content to effectively capture consumer interest, brands can enhance their marketing strategies and drive measurable improvements in brand awareness, recall, and purchase intent.