This week, we look at attention spans - can the stats relating to the loss of our attention spans really be true?

1. GET CONSUMER
SMART
The truth about
attention spans

2. GET CONSUMER SMART
The truth about attention spans
We’ve all heard the stats – consumers today have shorter attention spans than goldfish,
it’s hard to maintain their attention for more than 8 seconds; in 2000 it was 121
. And it’s
even worse amongst the younger consumers - at the recent Insights Show in London,
Nielsen’s Harvard trained consumer neuroscientist Carl D. Marci explained that when it
comes to switching devices and platforms, “digital natives have an attention span closer
to a 3-year-old than they do an adult."
This is a pretty significant challenge for advertisers; if we want to sell a consumer a
product, we must first get their attention. But can the stats really be true?
Our minds are complex entities; in fact, Dr. Marci explained that there are 80-100 billion
neurons in a brain, making it one of the most complicated entities in the known universe.
At any one minute, our brains are undertaking far more than we currently understand –
perhaps therefore, the statistics around the death of attention spans are oversimplified.
And while it is impossible to deny that there’s more content out there than ever before,
making it harder to gain people’s attention, there is also a lot to suggest that once you
have their attention, consumers today are willing to invest a huge amount of time in the
stories you are telling.
WE INVEST OUR TIME AND ATTENTION IN MEDIA ALL THE TIME
When you look at our relationships with media, the data just doesn’t support this decline
in attention spans.
Movies are as long as they have ever been. While analysis on the 25 most popular movies
each year from 1931 to 2013 has shown fluctuations in their run time – for instance, movies
became longer in the run up to the 1950’s as competition from television pressured movie
studios to produce longer epics that would bring people to theatres; and then shorter
when movies started competing with the rise of home video. However, the length has
rebounded, with films today the same length as they were in the 1960s.2
Popular books are also longer – the New York Times bestsellers reveals their average
length has grown from 320 pages in 1999 to 407 in 2014.3
“People aren’t intimidated by
huge books anymore,” says Melanie Kindrachuk, a librarian. “If someone comes into our
library asking for a book suggestion, I’ll start by asking them what they’re watching on
1
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38896790
2
http://uk.businessinsider.com/are-movies-getting-longer-2016-6?r=US&IR=T
3
http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/books-just-keep-getting-longer/

3. GET CONSUMER SMART
The truth about attention spans
TV… If they’ve just finished binge-watching Downton Abbey or Game of Thrones, I know
they’ll have the patience for a bigger book.”
And it’s TV that ultimately proves that our attention spans remain uncompromised, above
all other evidence. Digital media has brought with it the ability to binge-watch TV, and for
many, this is increasingly becoming normal TV-watching behaviour. In October 2017,
Netflix data showed that more than five million people had “binge-raced” (completed an
entire series of a show in 24 hours) so far that year. Compare that to 2013, in which just
200,000 users watched a whole series in 24 hours4
.
When the story is right, we have as much ability to engage in
it as we ever did.
SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ADVERTISING?
Using consumers’ lack of attention as an excuse for poor performance is flawed – in a
recent talk at AMV BBDO, Ben Jones, Creative Director at YouTube’s Unskippable Labs,
put it bluntly: “people don’t hate ads, they hate bad ads”. To overcome this, we need to
focus on telling stories that people truly care about, as they have plenty of other things
that could distract them if we don’t.
This isn’t enough, though. In order to optimize the level of attention we can earn from a
spot, we need to understand how to tell stories across different media. Jones argued that
as an industry we are still getting to grips with digital channels – “When it comes to a new
medium, we take the muscle memory of the old medium.” YouTube is experimenting with
uncovering the differences between TV ads and digital ads, and has found that the arch of
storytelling has to adapt to how people engage on different platforms – on digital, it’s not
about using shorter formats than we do with TV advertising, it’s about engaging viewers
quicker. The story needs to draw your attention within the first five seconds.
So while YouTube is increasingly moving towards six-second ads (as of this year,
unskippable 30 second adverts will no longer be available on their platform) longer ads
and content still have their place. We need to focus on quick engagement if we want to
earn people’s attention, especially on digital, and storytelling if we want to keep it.
At BBDO, telling stories that matter is what we do; our focus will always be The Work, The
Work, The Work. Data, research and insight, such as this study by Youtube, help us to tell
4
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2017-10-18/netflix-binge-watching-24-hours/

4. GET CONSUMER SMART
The truth about attention spans
stories in the most valuable way, helping our clients talk to more consumers, more
effectively; ensuring The Work, The Work, The Work, works.
AND WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR OWN ATTENTION SPAN?
You have managed to make it to the end of this article without losing attention, and it
probably took you more than 8 seconds.
If you are interested in learning more about the subject of this article, please contact
Sarah Emmerson, Insights Planner, emmersons@bbdoknows.com,
ABOUT BBDO KNOWS
BBDO KNOWS is a planning resource for the BBDO network.
BBDO KNOWS offers thinking, strategy, insights and inspiration on key categories, key
themes and consumer segments.
If you are interested in learning more about the way BBDO thinks please contact Melanie
Norris, Global Planning Director, norrism@bbdoknows.com.
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