Attention: We give it when someone asks us to take an interest in what they’re saying. We look to it when we want people to take an interest in us. We sustain it if that interest is significant enough. We divide it if it isn’t.

For me, the most important thing we can do with attention is pay it, although initially this column made me wonder where this odd phrasing had even come from.

Throughout history, we’ve paid for goods or services with tangible, quantifiable things like £100 or six hours of our time or 30 acres of land. Without being a pioneering brain scientist, you can’t really count “attention” in and of itself, nor is it always clear what the tangible exchange is.

Yet, I think the word “pay” is perfect in demonstrating just how important attention has become in today’s lightning-speed media ecosystem.

It’s now an ever more finite and valuable resource among the interminable sea of content online — one that more people are seeking to guard carefully and deliberately. “Paying” is a deliberate act centred around value — the giving of something precious for something in return.

Our attention is precious; we give more of it when it’s worth it for us to do so.

News brands, whose relationship with readers is paramount in their search for quality journalism they trust, have long fostered a reputation for driving attentiveness in their ad spaces.

That’s why, this year, Newsworks set out to prove something we’ve always believed to be true: the link between high-attention digital media such as news brands and advertising effectiveness. While we weren’t surprised to find out our hypothesis held, the results our complex analysis produced were impressive.

Overall, high-attention media plans boost market share by 12%, taking advantage of spaces like news brands and television to produce campaigns that are more visible, memorable, and deliverable.

We found digital display ads on news brands get 40% more attention than the other top 500 Web sites in the United Kingdom, while video ads get 24% more attention on news brands sites. This attention translated directly into brand uplifts such as awareness (+11%), consideration (+23%), and action intent (+32%).

Lumen’s Mike Follett (who collaborated on the research) summarises the importance of attention for advertisers in The Media Leader Podcast: “Attention is not just what you see. It’s what you see and what is remembered.”

If Follett and our research inspires you to take advantage of digital news brand spaces for your next campaign, take a look at how some advertisers have harnessed the medium.

Call to action in one click

One immediate advantage of digital? If you want your audience to take action, it just takes one click to get them to the next stage of the purchase funnel.

Whether that’s switching mobile network providers, getting an insurance quote, or booking tickets for their next outing to the cinema, readers can take action with just a click.

Creative excellence on the small(er) screen

Print ads justifiably have a reputation for harnessing a format ripe for creativity and making something that truly sticks with readers. While that throws down quite the gauntlet, it’s one their digital news brand ad cousins are picking up with ever greater aplomb.

Ads making use of intimate knowledge of format to fit seamlessly into the digital experience? Tick. Ads incorporating videos into their wraps? Easy-peasy. Ads turning their core brand imagery from static into dynamic? Consider it done.

Irresistible interaction

And then there are those campaigns going even one step further, using the format to make the ad an individual experience for every reader.

In recent months, there have been several great examples: P&O Ferries invited readers to scroll through the highlights of their next adventure. Taylors Coffee allowed them to swipe through their latest range. And, Guide Dogs has introduced them to the stories behind the collars — all without even leaving the news brand page.

Going native

We mustn’t forget how digital news brand environments can contribute to brand partnerships, too.

From podcast sponsorships to interactive travel guides and social media tie-ins to video series, advertisers can take advantage of news brands’ unique voice and editorial prowess, wherever readers access content.

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