Have you ever wondered which ads placed in the national newspapers are the most effective at engaging readers? Lumen Research do an eye tracking research each week to find out which of the ads were most successful in getting attention. As you might expect, a DPS on pages 2 and 3 is going to do pretty well. This Sky ad did a lot better than “pretty well”. In fact, it’s the best performing ad we’ve ever tested, getting double the expected engagement. After initially having their attention caught by the main image, people really engaged with the secondary features, including the parts of the offer and even the fake new stories. How does it work? Our brains cope with everyday life by doing as little as possible when they can, one mechanism we develop to help with this is a schema (Piaget, 1977). Schema is a cognitive framework which organises the way we expect the world to work. When it does, we carry on happily with our lives, when it doesn’t (like when there’s a massive zombie hand coming towards you out of the paper), it disrupts the passive mind and engages the cognitive processes. References  Piaget, J. (1977). Gruber, H.E.; Voneche, J.J. eds. The essential Piaget. New York: Basic Books.

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25-09-2014
Undead Doesn’t Mean Unread: An eye-tracking study by Lumen Research

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Undead Doesn’t Mean Unread
© Lumen Research Ltd 2014
As you might expect, a DPS on pages 2 and 3 is going to do pretty well.
This Sky ad did a lot better than “pretty well”. In fact, it’s the best performing ad we’ve ever tested, getting double the expected engagement.
After initially having their attention caught by the main image, people really engaged with the secondary features, including the parts of the offer and even the fake new stories
Actual
Norm
Standout
100%
100%
Engagement
14.0
5.9

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How does it work?
Our brains cope with everyday life by doing as little as possible when they can, one mechanism we develop to help with this is a schema (Piaget, 1977).
Schema is a cognitive framework which organises the way we expect the world to work.
When it does, we carry on happily with our lives, when it doesn’t (like when there’s a massive zombie hand coming towards you out of the paper), it disrupts the passive mind and engages the cognitive processes.
© Lumen Research Ltd 2014

4. lumen-research.comhello@lumen-research.com
References
Piaget, J. (1977). Gruber, H.E.; Voneche, J.J. eds. The essential Piaget. New York: Basic Books.
© Lumen Research Ltd 2014