SmartAdd and the Attention Economy – A Winning Combination by Design

Focus is fleeting and difficult to maintain in a world of distractions. Social media channels bombard users with multiple ads, tracking them along their journey across platforms and competing for their attention. As a result, the so-called “banner blindness” and ad fatigue set in, whereby users become resistant to advertising and brand messaging. So how is SmartAdd winning consumers’ attention back, particularly on mobile?

• Calling for your attention. When a mobile phone is ringing, a user’s undivided attention is laser focused on the screen. This is an example of the so-called selective attention: people direct their attention only to a subset of the stimuli in the environment — usually those related to their goals. As our attention capacities are limited, research has proven that this behaviour is crucial for survival. If we were to attend to the enormous inflow of sounds and patterns that surround us, we would be overwhelmed and behave inefficiently.

Based on this, SmartAdd utilizes several unique instances on mobile related to peak moments of attention – incoming and outgoing calls, unlocking the smartphone and post-call – to display content. At these moments, attention is naturally high due to the way the primal brain responsible for survival and instincts functions. 

• Look me in the eye. Eye-tracking studies reveal that participants skip and ignore even ads presented at the top of the Google search results. How is SmartAdd any different? For a simple reason: Upon an incoming or outgoing call, a person is focused on the name on the screen. However, moving images below it catch the eye and are perceived better than a written text. Studies on visual attention reveal that our eyes will move to locations of interest to retrieve information. Even when our eyes are fixated on one location, we can still shift our attention to observe the different properties of that same location – so the eye focuses on the moving image displayed on the screen. Placing the content where the consumer pays the most attention makes it easy and natural for the audience to engage with it. 
• No sharing. Friends’ character Joey says he doesn’t share food. Neither does SmartAdd. With 100% SoV (Share of Voice), SmartAdd guarantees exclusivity on screen, with no competition for attention. Only one piece of content is displayed upon a given instance. Moreover, due to the size of the mobile screen, all eyes on the content itself and increased time in view are guaranteed by design.  

At Novelty Media’s SmartAdd, the display of content utilizes lots of brain attention, due to the way and the instance it is delivered. The element of ‘surprise’, driven by the unexpected viewing trigger, magnifies impact. Therefore, SmartAdd stands out from traditional media to help brands deliver their message in an unprecedented, effective and powerful way.