Fighting for interest in the

Attention Economy

CC Photo By: Craig Dennis Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/craigmdennis/8519980588/

by Monique Deziel

We live in what’s called

The attention economy

we are always

consuming, always

multitasking never

focusing on just

one subject.CC Photo By: Johan Larsson Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/johanl/4580058581/

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We are surrounded by mass media

and multiple devices

Never giving our

attention to just

one brand

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Studies have shown that people

are consuming more media

this is a result of media multi­tasking, with

overlapping time on different devicesCC Photo By: John Larsson Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/johanl/3044291684/in/photostream/

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CC Photo By: Scott Hibberson Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/26249834@N07/6166386244/

and people are becoming more skilled at

consuming more than one type of media at

once

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5

CC Photo By: Eric Peacock Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/evilpeacock/13235187545/

“40 percent of smartphone and tablet users

multitask in front of the TV daily.”1

This presents a new challenge for marketers,

even highly anticipated super bowl commercials

may become less effective due to people media

multitasking while watching them

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Although many people tune in to watch

the super bowl,

very few will consume the entirety of the

program without checking in on

another device 1

The youngest generation is growing up

learning to media multitask and have

incorporated this into their everyday lives

CC Photo By: Kathy Cassidyr Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/kathycassidy/9080980705/

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giving them the skills to

perform better while

multitasking

CC Photo By: Sebastien Wirtz Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/wiertz/4604140980/

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Consumers are also armed with a

variety of tools that help them filter

and block media

allowing them to make choices about

consumption

CC Photo By: Nghiem Long Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/nghiemlong/5392906091

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to have an effective advertisement Marketers

must tailor their advertisements for the

different levels of attention that are expected

from consumers

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One way to gain the attention of consumers

is through sponsored content

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Sponsored content

incorporates advertisements

into editorials in a way

that consumers won't skip

directly over themCC Photo By: Gert Goovaerts Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/gertgoovaerts/6191266461/

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Canadian family magazine

published an article titled “5Tips for establishing a routine

with your baby”

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This was one of A series of articles for

expecting parents, each article

sponsored by the brand aveeno

CC Photo By: Garry Mills Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/72934458@N00/4911642194/

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This drew attention to the brand and

made them seem knowledgeable about a

cause important to their consumers

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Brands must

also

consider

whether their

content

is share

worthy

CC Photo By: Esther Vargas Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/esthervargasc/7155387122/

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marketers must take

advantage of where

consumers are on

social media and

where they share

content

CC Photo By: Omar Ruiz-Diaz Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/omarglobal/9596002099/

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People will share content with

their friends if it's something they

want to show they care about or

think their friends will care about

CC Photo By: � 然 Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/106101332@N04/21674782005/

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and you want to

attract attention to

your content

shares indicate attention

CC Photo By: Per Peterson Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/perzec/26395106911/

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With so many sources looking to

grab consumers’ attention

it’s important to have stand out

content CC Photo By: Smokingapples.com Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/smokingapples/4755498547/ *edited

The attention economy doesn’thave to be framed negatively, but

marketers must understand how it

effects their communications

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Works Cited1. Blanding, M. (2014, January 29). Super Bowl Ads for Multitaskers. Retrieved

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/super­bowl­ads­for­multitaskers 2. Grimm, J. (2014, June 30). 10 Best Examples of Sponsored Content. Retrieved from

http://www.pressboardmedia.com/10­best­examples­of­sponsored­content/ 3. Jones, K. (2016, October 12). Is your content share­worthy? 4 questions to ask. Retrieved

http://marketingland.com/content­shareworthy­4­questions­ask­194156 4. Krashinsky, S. (2014, December 04). Four ways Canadians are consuming mediadifferently. Retrieved http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report­on­business/industry­

news/marketing/four­ways­canadians­are­consuming­media­differently/article21949630/ 5. Krashinsky, S. (2015, May 11). Advertisers cash in on attention spans of digitally savvy

Canadians. Retrieved http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report­on­business/industry­news/marketing/microsoft­study­looks­at­attention­span­of­digitally­savvy­

canadians/article24359527/ 6. Matrix, Sydneyeve. “Module 1, Lecture 1.” FILM 240. Kingston. September 14. 7. Matrix, Sydneyeve. “Module 1, Lecture 2.” FILM 240. Kingston. September 21.

 8. Matrix, Sydneyeve. “Module 2, Lecture 2.” FILM 240. Kingston. September October 5. 9. Reddy, Sumathi. (2014, October 13). Teen Researchers Defend Media Multitasking;Doing Homework with Music, Texts, Tweets Works Better for some. Retrieved Wall StreetJournal. ProQuest. 10. Sellas, B. (n.d.). Five ways the "attention economy" is driving yourbusiness. Retrieved from http://www.businessesgrow.com/2016/08/03/attention­economy/ 11. Teixeira, T. (2015, October 14). When People Pay Attention to Video Ads and Why.Retrieved https://hbr.org/2015/10/when­people­pay­attention­to­video­ads­and­why