A new report launched during Cannes Lions reveals the findings from a two-year study into the impact of attention on digital advertising formats

June 21, 2023 – The world’s most advanced in-game advertising platform Anzu, and Lumen Research, the global attention technology company, have today announced the results from an extensive two-year study into the impact of attention on digital advertising and gaming.

The study, which is the largest of its kind, was carried out to understand the impact attention has on digital advertising and the opportunity that gaming presents as an attention-rich platform. It also sought to answer a number of questions, including whether the focus on gameplay extends to advertising, if capturing gamers’ attention leaves a lasting impression, and how attention and recall relate to brand preference and purchase intent.

The key findings include:

• In-game ads drive 98% viewability vs. Lumen’s digital ad norm of 78%;
• In-game ads are viewed for 3.1 secs vs. Lumen’s digital ad norm of 2.9 secs;
• On average, in-game ads drive 49% prompted recall with a high of 97%;
• After seeing an in-game ad, 6 in 10 players are at least likely to make a purchase;
• In-game ads drive more attention than Facebook and Instagram’s In-feed ads.

“With the average global ad blocking rate now estimated at 37%, 52% of all consumers not paying attention when ads come on the TV, and 65% of people skipping video ads at the first chance they get, unsurprisingly, advertisers are beginning to question the quality and value of ad delivery and media impressions,” said Itamar Benedy, Co-Founder and CEO Anzu. “In contrast, gaming is a highly impactful channel, driving huge levels of attention which we previously have not seen within the digital ad space. Together with our partners at Lumen, we set out to discover just how impactful gaming is in driving attention in-game and what levels of engagement advertisers should expect from this and other digital advertising channels.” — Itamar Benedy, Co-Founder and CEO, Anzu.

“As the in-game advertising market grows, advertisers are asking harder questions of this increasingly vital marketing channel. In response, Anzu has collected more attention data than any other in-game advertising platform. This extensive research has revealed the sheer power of the platform in driving visual attention and brand recall.”  — Mike Follett, CEO, Lumen Research.

The research is being discussed during an exclusive panel during Cannes Lions, comprised of advertising experts from Anzu, Lumen, and dentsu. The launch comes at a busy time for Anzu, having just received a patent for its advanced ad tracking technology, compliant with the new in-game advertising standards outlined by the IAB and MRC last year, which Anzu was also heavily involved in.

The report is available to download now and can be found here.