What you need to know:

1. Media is the stage: Even the best creative can perform poorly if placed on a less engaging platform, highlighting the importance of matching ads to the right media environment. ROI can be boosted by a multiple of three if the platform is optimised.

2. Creative is the performer: Audience attention levels fluctuate significantly across different platforms, even for identical creative executions. Creative success is heavily dependent on being tailored to the platform's strengths.

Creative versus media, an old debate with a new lens

In a recent conversation with Dr. Karen Nelson-Field I asked her opinion on the relative importance of media versus creative. Her response was wonderfully excited and passionate on this topic and she kindly offered up a snippet of her forthcoming book: The Attention Economy: A Category Blueprint. Her core quote, that I will use for many years to come, is that media is the stage and creative is the performer.

This is an age-old battleground for media and creative agencies: is creative more important than media channel? The debate has long been alive, but Dr. Nelson-Field's research gives us more than just theory, it offers data-driven insights that challenge conventional thinking. Her work shines a spotlight on the overlooked power of media platforms, suggesting that when it comes to commanding attention in today’s fast-paced digital world, the platform may play a more pivotal role than the creative itself. News to my ears!

We often hear about the importance of great creative, the magic of storytelling, and the emotional pull that a well-executed ad can generate. This has been a dominant narrative for years, famously supported by Nielsen’s 2017 report, which posited that creative elements account for 47 per cent of advertising success, outstripping even media considerations like targeting and reach.

But as Dr. Nelson-Field lays out, this belief – while not entirely wrong – needs to be reconsidered in light of recent findings. In the battle between creative and media, it’s the platform that often holds more sway over how much attention your message will garner. The digital landscape we operate in today, dominated by platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook, presents a world where ads are highly targeted but fleeting and competing for engagement even if the creative is masterful.

Attention as currency

As early as 1971, Herbert Simon wrote about the scarcity of attention in an information-rich world. Fast forward to today, and we’re inundated with more content than ever before, across a wider range of platforms. In this context, marketers are tasked with not just getting their ads seen, but holding attention long enough to have an impact.

Nelson-Field’s study reveals solid data points from human observed behaviour: 13 brands were tested with identical ads across different platforms, the attention garnered varied significantly – not because of creative changes, but because of the platform they were deployed on. For instance, Brand A’s ad could secure 7.2 seconds of attention on one platform but drop to 2.3 seconds on another. The creative didn’t change, but the platform’s environment and user behaviour did. This variation indicates that ROI can be boosted by a multiple of three as a result of platform optimisation.

The role of media platforms

One of the most striking elements of Nelson-Field’s analysis is the systematic loss of attention across platforms. What her findings suggest is that even the strongest creatives, those built to capture and hold attention, are subject to a steep decline when placed on less engaging platforms. For instance, while Brand A may perform brilliantly on one platform, it suffers disproportionately more when moved to another. This indicates that platform performance can eclipse even the best creative execution.

Similar patterns are found in another piece of research. A 2018 study by the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) echoed Nelson-Field’s conclusions, emphasising the importance of matching creative to the right media. The ARF found that ads on highly engaging platforms (such as long-form video) generated more sustained attention, while ads on platforms built for quick, skimmable content (like social media) often struggled to maintain even a few seconds of attention, no matter how good the creative was.

Creative's place in the attention economy

So, is Nelson-Field arguing that creative no longer matters? Not quite. While the platform undeniably plays a crucial role, the importance of creative still stands, albeit in a more nuanced way. In a world where users swipe through content at breakneck speed, great creative isn’t enough on its own. It has to be paired with a platform that allows it to shine. Think of it as symbiosis: the creative and the platform need each other to maximise impact.

Nelson-Field acknowledges that creative is the performer in that it remains the ultimate driver of emotional engagement and conversion, but she emphasises that its potential is drastically reduced if not supported by an appropriate media environment (AKA the stage). This is why, as marketers, we must think about attention metrics and how they vary across platforms. In doing so, we can better assess where creative will deliver its greatest ROI.

The lesson here is clear: brands must take into account both the creative and the platform experience if they want to optimise their advertising efforts. It’s not just about producing high-quality ads; it’s about placing those ads in environments where they have a fighting chance of being noticed.

This brings us to the crucial point: not all platforms are created equal. The assumption that ad impressions are interchangeable across platforms is not just inaccurate, but potentially damaging to a brand’s advertising strategy. A campaign designed to thrive on YouTube may falter on TikTok, and vice versa. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each platform is paramount if you want your creative to perform at its best.

Practical implications for marketers

Nelson-Field's work offers a blueprint for marketers navigating the attention economy. The practical takeaways are clear:

1. Platform first, creative second: Start by understanding the media landscape and how your audience interacts with each platform. Only then can you craft creative that fits the environment. This is particularly important for brands aiming to capture attention across multiple platforms simultaneously. As Nelson-Field’s data shows, assuming that what works on one platform will work on another is a recipe for disaster.

2. Attention metrics matter: Use attention data to inform your decisions. Thanks to advancements in attention-tracking technology, brands now have access to real-time insights about how their ads are performing across platforms. This information is invaluable for optimising both media spend and creative output.

3. Tailor your strategy to the platform: Each platform has its own rules, and as marketers, we need to respect them. This may mean creating shorter, more snackable content for platforms like TikTok, while investing in more immersive, storytelling-driven content for YouTube or television.

A new approach to media planning

The attention economy: A category blueprint challenges us to rethink how we approach advertising in a world where attention is fragmented and increasingly difficult to capture.

Dr. Nelson-Field’s work moves the conversation forward with evidence and by emphasising the importance of media quality in determining ad success, urging brands to prioritise platform performance over creative excellence alone. It’s a necessary shift in mindset for an industry. The research not only debunks some of the long-held myths about the relationship between media and creative but also provides a much-needed framework for navigating the attention economy.