Five Questions with Paul Donato

During the ARF’s recent Attention 2023 event, TAC caught up with the organization’s Chief Research Officer Paul Donato. He shared some great perspectives on the ARF Attention Validation Project and where he sees attention metrics standing today. 

TAC: The ARF has kicked off a major initiative around attention. How did you decide that now was the right time? 

Donato: We started this validation program conceptually in the end of last year. After sending out RFI's in in March, we got a really good response. I was talking with Duane (Varan) and noted that in last year's conference in the summer, really it was Duane and Marc (Guldimann) that had two points of view whereas now you're seeing many more…The fact that we got 23 companies to respond to the RFI just says it's really becoming a thing.

TAC: What was the most interesting thing you heard today at Attention 2023?  

Donato: I think it was something from the panel. There's clearly a continuum (for attention metrics), and it was clearly articulated today. No one's really saying it's linear, but some companies are saying more attention means more effective advertising, while other companies are saying it's more of a threshold. So that really is the two ends of the continuum. 

TAC: How do you see companies using attention metrics today?  

Donato: I think you're going to start seeing CTV platforms using it to try to get premium pricing for their ads. The networks have used a couple of companies to do market tests to distinguish themselves; as you saw today, some have worked with Pedro (Almeida’s) company (MediaProbe). They're trying to separate themselves in an age of declining numbers and use advertising effectiveness to show they are worth more.

TAC: There’s been a lot of discussion around whether there will eventually be an attention currency. What’s your take?

Donato: I tend to agree that there won’t necessarily be a currency. However, that’s not to say that it won’t be part of a secondary guarantee. For example, IAG was previously very successful as a secondary guarantee for NBC and I think I think that's likely to be the case here as well.  

TAC: What role do you see the ARF playing in helping attention metrics become widely established?

Donato: Out of 23 companies, (ideally) 12-15 will agree to participate in the second and the third phases of our validation study. If there's a general similarity in their results it will give the industry confidence that all of these things measure one dimension of attention - each of which maybe has different value but each of which does have value. Of course if things are wildly different it'll tell the industry we need to do a way deeper dive!