Five Things We Learned About... Dentsu's 'Influence To Impact' Report

One fact is undeniably true: consumers get easily distracted. Last year alone, Bain & Company report that across media formats, an average of 75 per cent of media users multi-task, and social media users self-report they are only focused for just 10 per cent of the time spent. 

And as the media landscape grows more fragmented - more than ever, attention has never been harder for brands to get a grasp of; consumers will pick up the phone and forget just why it’s in their hand to begin with - before landing in a rabbit hole of Instagram Stories. 

While the industry continues it's fight to break through the noise and win the attention of audiences, Dentsu Creative’s latest research finds that influencers could be to key to do exactly that. 

In partnership with Lumen Research, its ‘Influence To Impact’ report hypothesised that influencer content would outperform digital ads in terms of attention; overall findings show that influencers are paramount for both grabbing and holding the attention of viewers, with influencers being 73 per cent more likely to hold someone’s attention on average compared to brand-led content. 

The study used TikTok as a medium to measure the ability of influencers to help close the attention gap. Lumen Research created a fully immersive and realistic TikTok environment which 800 UK TikTok users aged 18-44, split into different test groups, watched a product ad that was either influencer-led or brand-led as well as ads from other non-competitors. Lumen’s eye-tracking software was also used, measuring what caught viewers’ attention the most. A further 200 participants took part in a control environment, meaning they weren’t exposed to any of the test ads. 

The most impactful ad type, it finds, is that of a creative influencer - viewers find content they deem ‘entertaining’ to grab their attention the most, such as skits.

For Julie Chadwick, managing director at Dentsu, such a finding is “interesting” as for brands, there is a lasting impact on consumers’ memory if creators are used in entertaining fashions. 

“Influencer content that's entertaining and what people generally love to see our their feeds holds the attention for longer, and the resulting impact in terms of driving brand affinity - making people think differently - over performed,” she explains. 

Not all influencer ads have the same impacts, however. While entertainment was popular, product reviews done by influencers outperformed in driving brand recall. 

“With brand recall, more product-centric, creator-led content is huge. It’s not only managing to hold its own but it’s actually driving brand consideration off the charts,” Chadwick adds.

Influencer-led creatives consistently outperform brand-led digital ads in holding audience attention. When executed well - especially with clear brand cues and distinctive brand assets - these formats not only match traditional ads on recall, but also surpass them in driving brand choice and affinity.

Within this finding, Chadwick points out that while influencer ads proved better for attention, they are still just as likely to be seen as brand-led ads.

The report’s findings, she adds, are a key indicator to brands and agencies to further inform their strategies around creators and influencers. 

“Brands and agencies should be thinking about how they build this content and start with building a strategy based on the jobs to be done,” she begins. “You can then start to map-out more effectiveness within the overall plan and then developing attention strategies with influencer baked-in so.”

The potential for influencers and creators, Chadwick believes, is still “relatively untapped.” 

“If we can start to really understand in detail why and how, then not only can we have the data to enable clients to make bigger investment decisions and make influencer and creator-led content an essential part of all their experience planning. 

“It also helps creators and influencers understand their own worth within the marketing mix, which I think is super important because there's so much talent out there, but are they getting rewarded for their craft?” 

Here are five things learned from the report:

Ads that look the least like ads are impactful for attention.

“The more authentic content can be and the more native to its platform, the better it performs,” Chadwick details. “Content with a product front and center is still important, but if it's somebody who is recommending something or reviewing a product, that seems to resonate so much more.”

Brand-led ads outperformed influencer content in driving brand recall at all levels of attention

While the role of influencers increases, this doesn't mean brands need to entirely turn their backs on traditional advertising. Due to more overt brand cues, such as a logo usage, consumers are more likely to recognise a brand and therefore increase recall - regardless of the amount of attention it garners. 

Influencer ads received higher Attentive Seconds Per Mille (APM)

Lumen Research is able to model and predict the total attention each ad is likely to generate per 1,000 impressions through its eye-tracking software - a metric known as Attentive Seconds Per Mille (APM). Influencer ads scored 7206 AMP compared to brand-led ads with 4111 AMP.

Most people view ads for less than the average 

While average view time is often used as a benchmark, it can be misleading. Most people view ads for significantly less than the average.

In this study, for instance, although the average viewed time for the Product ad was 6.2 seconds, over half of the respondents watched it for just 3.8 seconds or less. This highlights a critical truth: attention is not evenly distributed. A small number of highly engaged viewers can skew the average, masking the fact that the majority are only giving fleeting attention. For brands, this means it’s not enough to rely on averages - creative must deliver impact quickly, ideally within the first few seconds, while also being compelling enough to hold attention.

Brands need to create tailors, platform-specific creative strategies

In order to be making the most of influencers and their impact on the attention economy, it’s paramount for brands to create strategy that is tailored to the platforms they will be using - what works on TikTok may not necessarily work on YouTube.