“When you’re building awareness, you need to build awareness that lasts,” Tarraf explained.
Rocket found, though, that some viewers remembered its Super Bowl ad without remembering which company made it. Tarraf said that resulted in subsequent ads featuring the brand more prominently in their visuals and voiceovers. Rocket also began using test and control groups to measure whether exposure to brand advertising increased clicks, site visits, and conversions.
Putting attention data to work
If the first part of the conversation was about understanding attention and the panel explored what it might mean for brands, Tim Vanderhook, CEO and co-founder of Viant, ended the event by focusing on what marketers can actually do with the data.
Rather than treating attention as a measurement to review after a campaign has ended, Vanderhook urged marketers to use it while a campaign is still running.
“You cut low attention providers, and you reallocate your budget to the higher attention placements that are there,” Vanderhook explained.
He also recommended giving more weight to creative that earned attention and reviewing which media partners delivered it. His suggested starting point was one campaign: establish its current attention level, adjust the creative and placements, then measure the results.
That approach reflects the broader opportunity in attention data: giving marketers a clearer view of not just where an ad runs, but how audiences experience it. As TV and streaming continue to fragment, understanding the conditions that earn attention—and using those insights to refine creative, placements, and investment—can add important context to the way brands evaluate their media.
