Are Media today announced it has become the first global publishing partner for attentionTRACE™ Media Planner, a new planning tool for media agencies to make more informed buying decisions based on real human attention.

Developed by world renowned Australian academic and researcher Prof. Karen Nelson-Field, founder and executive director of Amplified Intelligence, attentionTRACE is based on empirically led research design that tracks human gaze on a second-by-second level for mobile and TV.

Prof. Nelson-Field said: “We know from our research that active attention – eyes on the screen is the best type of attention – as it drives the most sales uplift for advertisers. The more attention paid, the longer the brand stays in memory. And yet it is the missing layer in media planning. Now with attentionTRACE™ Media Planner we have a universal measure of active attention so advertisers can make sure they are getting what they paid for.

“I’m excited to announce that Are Media is the first global publisher to work with us on attentionTRACE. Like us, they believe in the power of attention and are committed to transparency and delivering data for advertisers which will drive their bottom line. From 2021 advertisers will be able to measure the active attention of Are’s brands.”

Media is typically planned based on reach, but attentionTRACE adds an additional quality layer of attention paid to advertisements. Attention metrics can be used to expose wastage, drive commercial outcomes, predict brand choice better than viewability alone and plan for conditions that extend the length of time a brand stays in memory.

In addition, Are Media and Amplified Intelligence are working on a natural setting, scalable methodology to collect attention-based data for print magazines.

Are Media director of sales, Andrew Cook said: “Ensuring our advertisers maximise their return on investment remains a priority for Are Media, so we are delighted to become the first publisher in the world to not only use attentionTRACE but collect data that feeds into their tool.

“The amount of attention advertisements receive has been the missing piece when it comes to media planning, but now media agencies will be able to make buying decisions based on the measure of attention which is important for brands when it comes to memory and avoiding wastage. Data for the first stage will be collected early 2021.

“We know that our iconic brands offer a sustained quality attention experience, and now attentionTRACE offers the opportunity to verify that claim.”

AttentionTRACE supports the collection of ad viewability metrics (ad pixels and duration on screen), spatial clutter (screen coverage of the ad), ad sound on/off/level, ad orientation (horizontal or vertical), scroll speed, and product choice (a behavioural measure of brand buying). These form a rich set of data that can be mined for deep and practical insight that will ultimately improve the advertising ecosystem.