Attention Optimized Campaigns: A Guide for Consumer Goods

As consumer attention span is splintered across so much stimuli daily, capturing customer focus is proving even more necessary for a brand’s survival. For consumer goods companies, optimizing marketing campaigns based on granular attention metrics presents a major opportunity. 

Everything from visual attention to message resonance can now be measured, meaning brands can optimize all the important factors, such as campaign creativity, media targeting, budget allocation, and overall performance. The result is a more attention-optimized output that helps brands stand out from crowded marketplaces and drive measurable results.  

The Rise of Attention Metrics in Marketing 

Consumer attention is becoming more fragmented across devices, platforms, and infinite content options. Brands once dominated attention through advertisements on a few TV networks or billboards on key highways. Now, outside every subway car or social media feed lies endless competition for consumer eyeballs. 

Attention insight and metrics have, therefore, emerged as fundamental tools for marketers to cut through the noise. Specific attention data provides tangible, actionable metrics to inform campaign and creative optimization. Instead of vague impressions or generic engagement, metrics like: 

• The predicted visual attention on an image 
• Attention decay curve across a video 
• Viewability scores on publishers 
• Interactive attention via hover maps 

Can offer objective guidance and benchmarks. Consumer goods brands especially need such concrete inputs when trying to evaluate marketing return on investment (ROI) and enhance fast-moving, performance-driven campaigns. 

Quantifiable attention has become the new currency brands use to assess content resonance, media placements, or packaging designs. Evaluating return on attention helps CPG companies stretch limited marketing budgets and transcend generic metrics to capture a share of consumer consideration.  

As the digital environment grows even more saturated, precise attention metrics offer consumer goods brands a North Star to rise above the clamor, inform ROI-driven decisions, and ultimately, win the shrinking resource of consumer focus. 

Understanding Visual Attention in Consumer Behavior 

Visual components dominate marketing, from catchy logos to striking packaging to engaging social ads. While brands use their intuition to grasp the importance of visuals, attention data now allows for a deeper understanding of exactly how consumers focus visually. 

Attention mapping reveals where eyes fixate across imagery via heatmaps. By layering gaze data overlaid on ads, packages, or displays, marketers gain concrete insight into visual attention patterns.  

Analyzing visual attention distributions offers predictive power for preference and sales. For instance, predicted attention on new packaging prototypes can signal better-performing designs pre-launch. Lower attention on certain apparel features could prompt a shift in categories. 

Beyond heatmaps, metrics like viewability, glance rate, and replay behavior quantify levels of visual engagement. These concrete inputs guide decisions from media buying to creative testing to product placement optimizations. The end goal is to align visual attention and consumer consideration. 

Leveraging attention data means consumer goods marketers move beyond intuition to objectively determine "what grabs eyes" across key audiences. The end result is emotionally resonant creative, less waste from misaligned designs, and visual content that converts focus into sales. 

In-Store Applications: Enhancing Physical Retail Experience 

While digital shopping has established itself as the primary way for people to buy goods and services, brick-and-mortar still drives plenty of sales. Indeed, 94% of customers still shop in physical stores, alongside their digital buying.  

And capturing consumer focus the moment they enter physical stores offers unmatched ROI potential. Attention metrics now enable data-driven store layout optimizations with proven sales lifts. 

Attention mapping retail environments reveals shopper visual engagement patterns in granular detail: 

• Attention heatmaps of in-store layouts reveal where shoppers are visually fixating and dwelling, highlighting displays that attract engagement. 
• Glance rate metrics show how quickly or slowly shoppers visually scan shelves. This quantifies browsing speed at various in-store areas. 
• Wayfinding analysis maps out which physical zones or departments draw higher traffic versus lower traffic based on the distribution of visual attention.  

Claritin strategically collaborated with the Shopkick rewards app to lift product visibility and Walmart revenue. After placing educational modules on the medication benefits within Shopkick’s digital platform, in-app navigation then provided explicit wayfinding assistance for shoppers during in-store trips – directing them toward Claritin aisles and displays. Additional attention incentivization in the form of app rewards came from scanning product barcodes or submitting purchase verification. 

This synchronized campaign yielded over 28 million branded impressions. The omni-channel approach ultimately delivered a 59% sales increase beyond existing projections – showcasing measurable attention conversion from digital visibility to physical on-shelf activation. 

Another successful in-store campaign that used attention metrics for better engagement in the retail industry is Mars Wrigley by Grocery TV. They conducted a study to understand the effect of different types of creatives on the sales of Extra Gum. Using a regression analysis to control for factors such as price, seasonality, and store foot traffic, they compared the sales in a set of test stores against a set of control stores. The most effective creative resulted in an 11.1% sales lift for Extra Gum, and there was a 6.4% overall sales lift for the brand.  

Seeking optimal visual creativity for its retail displays, Mars Wrigley identified its highest-converting assets. Comparing multiple creative versions across test stores, sales data underwent controlled regression accounting for pricing, seasonality, and foot traffic fluctuations. Top-performing display executions were then rolled out chainwide based on the multi-week in-situ experiment results. 

The campaign uncovered one gum display outperforming in multiple attention metrics including glance rate and purchase funnel conversion. This optimized creative rolled out systemwide led to an 11.1% incremental sales lift specifically for the Extra brand. Overall, gum purchases received a 6.4% boost—highlighting the category benefit of analytics-guided retail promotion. 

The approach demonstrates quantifiably how attention-focused creative testing guides impactful design of physical retail experiences. Then by routing distribution network-wide based directly on in-situ experiment data, brands activate displays with mathematical lift power above the status quo. 

Advertising: Crafting Attention-Grabbing Campaigns 

There's no denying that there's an oversaturation of adverts. Fortunately, attention metrics now empower consumer brands to engineer ads with gravitational pull across both digital and traditional channels, resulting in better engagement and more sales. Let's look at some brands in the consumer-packaged goods industry that have seen the benefits of attention-optimized advertising.  

Coca-Cola sip and scan 

Seeking enhanced campaign personalization, Coca-Cola’s “Sip & Scan” Loyalty program incentivizes app-based purchase verification sharing. This first-party sales data traded for digital rewards fuels Coke’s CRM efforts - enabling ever-sharper shopper micro segmentation. Tailored messaging and promotions derived from the opt-in behavior-based insights then perpetuate a value exchange where opened apps beget relevant content begetting still more product engagement. 

Sephora’s Beauty Insider 

Sephora's Beauty Insider is a successful loyalty program that collects first-party data through a registration form. The program offers rewards, point bonuses, a community, and unique experiences for users. By using gamification, Sephora encourages customers to participate in the program, allowing the brand to collect data that can be used to optimize marketing campaigns and increase customer engagement. 

Mattel Creations 

Mattel launched a digital platform called Mattel Creations to cater directly to its high-value customer segments. This direct-to-consumer approach allows Mattel to collect first-party data and engage with customers without intermediaries, leading to more personalized marketing and improved customer relationships. 

With consumer consideration fleeting across infinite digital distractions, attention-optimized creative, messaging, and media deliver adhesive power to win audience mindshare and drive measurable sales impact. 

E-commerce: Optimizing Online Shopping Experiences 

Digital shelf space now rivals physical stores, and winning consumer consideration amid endless browsing options demands a data-backed ecommerce experience that’s enhanced for engagement at every step. 

Website design 

Heatmaps reveal which areas of a webpage have higher and lower visual attention. Areas "above the fold" that receive less focus can be redesigned. Pages can highlight images and content that draw increased consumer gaze toward key messages and optimize website layouts and product pages for engagement. 

Product display 

Testing carousel designs with eye tracking shows which features best hold consumers' visual interest. Using tools like gaze-based click analysis helps brands reorder products to match individual shopper preferences. Maintaining prolonged attention with data-personalized displays keeps consumers actively engaged. 

Native advertising 

Tracking visual attention across native ad types and placements identifies the specific creative attributes and content styles that attract consumer focus. Adopting native ad characteristics like length, images, and headlines that align with engagement patterns boosts overall click-through and conversion rates. 

Packaging and photography 

Analyzing how people feel about and look at product images helps predict the most attractive packaging and photos. By spotting the pictures that test groups look at the longest and have the strongest emotional reactions to, it’s possible to identify the best options for digital advertising before they're even released. Highlighting the best choices enhances their appeal on digital platforms. 

Friction mapping 

Recording consumer gaze data during website navigation and checkout highlights usability pain points that cause shoppers to lose focus or abandon carts. Pinpointing these confusion areas lets brands refine site flows for smoother journeys and improved conversion through sustained attention. 

Successful e-commerce brands using attention metrics 

Dollar Shave Club 

Known for its viral video marketing campaigns, Dollar Shave Club's strategy helped the brand gain thousands of new subscribers for its razor subscription service. Its attention-grabbing videos were a key component of its success, demonstrating the power of engaging content in driving sales. 

Blue Apron 

The meal kit service company created a referral program to increase subscribers by encouraging current subscribers to refer friends who would receive free meals. The program, combined with other marketing strategies, resulted in a substantial number of new customers, showing the effectiveness of leveraging customer networks and attention to boost engagement. 

Oransi.com 

In a case study for Oransi.com, a unique approach to product descriptions was tested to cater to both 'Skimmers' and 'Diggers'—visitors who prefer brief summaries and those who want detailed information, respectively. By allowing users to self-identify and providing content that matched their preferences, Oransi.com saw a 30.56% increase in product sales, highlighting the importance of understanding and catering to different types of customer attention. 

Integrating Attention Metrics Across Marketing Channels 

Modern consumers journey across digital and physical touchpoints, demanding synchronized brand experiences that continually capture their finite attention. Stovepiped campaigns now carry isolated impact, while consistency creates resonance. 

By interconnecting core campaign elements across pivotal environments based on consumer focus data, brands have the ability to architect complete consideration funnels. For example, in-store displays that repeatedly attract visual engagement can inform hero images for connected TV ads and personalized social content. 

Likewise, leveraging channel strength by sequencing messages across media keeps attention spans perennially peaked. Waves of real-time video ads and location-triggered offers can create deeper engagement, whether it’s on weekends or during commutes. 

Maintaining visual and tonal brand integrity also helps to sustain focus as consumers traverse online and offline touchpoints. Quantifying attention metrics on elements like logos, slogans, and imagery identifies the specific cues that continually gravitate focus. Carrying these weights makes the ever-changing marketplace feel more familiar. 

With consumer attention as the binding agent, brands align diverse channels into synergetic campaigns with loyalty and longevity. The integrated outcome converts fragmented budgets and isolated efforts into muscular omnichannel ecosystems that perpetually realign based on what holds consumer focus across an agile landscape. 

Measuring the Impact: Attention Measurement Tools and Techniques 

Using metrics to capture engagement has never been so valuable. Sophisticated analytics now equip marketers to quantify audience attention like a precise commodity. Several core methods transform campaign exposure into measurable focus: 

Eye tracking 

Headsets or camera technology track consumer gazes over packaging designs, landing pages, and video frames second by second. What people fixate on indicates the level of visual engagement intensity, while mapping movements uncovers attention patterns. 

Emotional scoring 

Platforms film consumers reacting to product experiences or campaign concepts, then employ facial sentiment analysis to assign positivity or negativity scores in real-time. When product testers demonstrate visible delight, this emotional response signals a higher likelihood of brand affinity and engagement repetition as compared to reliance on survey data alone. 

NeuroAnalytics 

Technologies like functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) sensors measure frontal lobe activity, signaling mental engagement with promotional messages or stimulation. Higher brain activity under Neurometric testing correlates with future memory performance and indicates messaging that resonates at a deeper cognitive and emotional level. 

With scoring methodologies assessing attention volume, durability, and emotional resonance, brands can transform exposure into a quantified asset for optimization. They can now predict attention consistency, reduce waste on lower-converting placements, and double down on the precise media moments, messages, and imagery most likely to activate their target consumers. 

Summary: Attention Optimized 

For CPG brands looking to capture consumer focus amid endless choices, attention metrics finally provide the detailed engagement data essential to optimized, sales-driving campaigns. Quantifying visual fixation, emotional resonance, and memory encoding around branding allows marketers to double down on what cuts through noise to boost product consideration and choice. Consumer goods companies that embrace these attention-focused strategies will future-proof marketing. 

To optimize your campaigns for attention, speak to us. Trusted by leading CPG brands to deliver instant insights for creative confidence.