Sky Media has introduced a new metric that is designed to “elevates the conversation around attention”. The broadcaster’s advertising sales arm in partnership with Differentology is working to established how actively absorbed viewers are in what they are watching.
The research unveils a range of ‘absorption moments’ that advertisers can use to create a stronger connection between audiences and their messaging.
The index is constructed of two pillars, ‘how involved’ the audience is in the content through how ‘focused, engrossed and captivated’ they are. And ‘how much value’ they place on what they are watching through ‘passion and memorability’.
Sarah Jones, Director of Planning at Sky Media said: “We’re really excited to be sharing our ADsorption Index with the industry. TV has always delivered high attention and impact, but absorption offers brands more insight into the viewing moments that matter for their target audience and gives media planners another lever to deliver competitive advantage.”
The index also highlights not only content but platforms that perform better for those engaged moments. For example, when people select the shows they are passionate about on BVOD, the ADsorption Index can be as high as 142. Broadcaster VOD was identified as the most ‘absorbing’ platform. The time of day also plays a part, and absorption changes throughout the day with late evening proving to be the most impactful.
“The way in which viewers watch content involves more than just eyeballs on screen. This new tool broadens and deepens the attention conversation and keeps Sky at the forefront of content and advertising measurement,” said Mark James, Founder and CEO, Differentology.
The ADsorption Index identified Drama and Documentaries as the most absorbing genres along with Sport and Film. Each genre also has different strengths in absorption characteristics, Documentaries for example delivers highly for ‘Focused’ and ‘Engrossed’, whereas Film delivers well for ‘Captivated’ and ‘Memorable’.
This new research and ADsorption Index are primarily focused on content moments and how absorbing they are for audiences. For the next phase of the index, Sky is looking to work with agencies and brands around ad creative synergy, aligning content and advertising around a single metric.
