Weekend Thought: Default to Interesting

A bonus weekend thought!

I won’t keep you waiting…

Weekend Thought

These three things are the most important in any media channel or tactic.

• Reach

• Attention

• Cost

Reach means:

• Are you reaching enough people?

• Are you reaching the right people?

Attention means:

• Do people actually give a shit about the ads being served?

• Are they engaged?

• Is there too much clutter?

• Are the ads annoying?

Cost means:

• Am I paying too much for the reach / attention?

• Am I getting enough value?

Unfortunately, few channels or tactics have all three.

The media channels or platforms that get the most money today often check at least two, sometimes three of these boxes.

They’ve become every media plan’s “must haves.”

YouTube = extremely high reach. You pay on a :30 view. It’s cheap.

Instagram = extremely high reach. It’s cheap. I wouldn’t say attention is very high, but it’s typically video, and Stories are full-screen. And it’s cheap enough that frequency is pretty easy to pair with high reach.

TV = still high reach relative to other channels. Attention for tentpoles is high. Not cheap for broadcast, but cable is dirt cheap these days. Worse than the other two above, but definitely not bad.

This is why YouTube, Instagram, and TV dominate ad spend and media plans.

But as you keep going down the line, it gets…dicier.

Podcasts = medium to low reach. Attention can be pretty high, but it’s easily skipped. And costs can be outrageous - much less bang for buck per reach or attention.

OTT = medium to low reach. Attention can be pretty high, with 95% completion rates, but attention to the ads is going down. And costs can be outrageous as well, especially for nascent platforms like Netflix.

Banners = cheap as hell. Technically, expansive reach, but often on shady sites and below the fold. And attention? Please.

You get the point.

It’s a fun exercise, and I’d recommend any media practitioner do it when deciding on the elements, channels, tactics, etc. going onto their media plan, or for any client reviewing one.

But how can you make a decision when the reach, attention, and cost of a partner or platform starts getting murkier?

Let’s say you have two options. Each has pros and cons between reach, attention, and cost.

One way is to prioritize of the three, which is the most important to your brand right now.

• Do we need new buyers, so I should prioritize reach?

• Do we need intent, so I should prioritize attention?

• Is this the only budget we have this year, so we should prioritize cost?

And I suppose that can be helpful, at least in making a decision between two things.

But I offer a different way of deciding.

When in doubt, default to interesting.

In advertising, it’s much easier to buy reach than attention.

There are plenty of things you can buy for more scale.

Especially, at a cheap cost, like on YouTube or Instagram.

But there are few things that you can buy that make people notice.

And if you’re going to pay a premium for something, it should be to capture that attention.

Creating something interesting though, especially in advertising, is hard.

Often times, it’s not done because it requires a lot of effort and imagination.

It’s easier to just buy more squares and rectangles.

And it requires honesty about if the audience will or won’t pay attention to the tactic you’re considering.

For example, this is not a plea for custom branded content.

Custom branded content is literally an advertising crime against humanity.

In an age of Netflix, YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, Instagram, etc. we’re arrogant enough to believe that someone would want to watch a 5 minute infomercial about how famous people use our brand in their day-to-day lives?

No, it’s a plea to take the traditional boxes, spots and dots we can buy, and subvert them, find a more interesting use for them, or way to express in them.

Ultimately, investing in something interesting, has outsized potential.

• It can capture the attention and imagination of the audience it reaches

• If it’s that interesting, it might have legs to be shared by the audience to others, increasing its reach potential and cost efficiencies

• It will stand out and assert innovation and leadership in the category, elevating the credibility and standing of the brand

So, every media plan needs a foundation of “must haves” - places that do the best job of driving reach, attention, and cost.

But when the decisions start getting murkier, default to interesting - prioritize things that can give you the best shot at driving attention, because that’s the hardest to buy, and has the most potential.

Stay thinkin,

Danny