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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
Digital Cinema Media's (DCM) CEO, Karen Stacey, joined a panel discussion at MEC on Tuesday morning for the second of three sessions for the agency’s Video Week.
Titled Who is Paying (for) Attention, the talk was hosted by Videology’s EMEA VP of Product & Platform, Jon Block, and saw other media owners including Facebook’s Katy Michaelides and ITV’s Steve Bignell also appear as well as MEC’s own Group Strategy Director, Scott Brenman.
The conversation kicked off with Block posing a question about whether it’s become harder for media owners to hold peoples’ attention today and how that can be countered through innovative thinking and creativity.
DCM’s Stacey argued the case for the right content in the right context and that people don’t want to feel hassled during their day when consuming content that clearly doesn’t seem like a natural fit.
Facebook's Michaelides responded by talking about the need to bring “thumb-stopping creative” to the platform to make people pay attention and how the time of day is important in targeting consumers and whether they are in a state of mind for “snackable content” or longer form.
“But are our attention spans getting shorter?” asked Block, to which MEC’s Brenman suggested that they’re getting shorter and longer, considering our want and willingness to engage with the likes of podcast and box set content.
Brenman outlined the importance for a brand to adopt an open-minded strategy in terms of platforms as each media can be and achieve different things depending on the product, message and target audience in question.
ITV’s stance was that audiences accept advertising as part of the deal when it comes to TV and cinema, and when the content is right, it works. People accept that they are going to watch some ads and see some great content as part of the deal, he explained.
The panel was unanimous in their feeling that a multi-platform and integrated approach should be taken by brands and advertisers when it comes to their marketing budgets, and Stacey added that whatever and wherever the content is being consumed, audiences need to be in a receptive state of mind.
Brenman added that being part of a cultural event, such as a football match, is something people will naturally warm to and Stacey concluded by saying that the 16-week theatrical window will remain, creating cultural moments first for audiences to enjoy with the biggest impact in cinemas.
