Q] What are some of the biggest shifts you’re seeing in client demands today, and how is your agency adapting to meet those expectations?
Navin: Clients are increasingly prioritising attention metrics due to fragmented consumer behaviour and diverse media consumption. They seek integrated strategies aligning media with business goals. We’re investing in tools like Architect for media-neutral planning and WPP Open to unify creative, production, and media. After years of fragmentation, the industry is shifting back to full-service agency models, now powered by AI for a more cohesive approach.
Averill: To meet client demands for integrated, outcome-driven strategies, we’ve enhanced media planning with intelligence and automation. Architect, our media simulator, creates detailed plans in under 15 minutes, optimising investments through rapid scenario testing. It leverages WPP’s Audience Origin panel, which tracks consumer behaviour across 78 countries, including an 80,000-sample study in India. WPP Open integrates creative, production, and media, using AI models like Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT for audience research, creative testing, and campaign optimisation. These innovations are transforming brand marketing.
Q] EssenceMediacom has been at the forefront of media transformation. What are your top priorities for the agency’s growth in South Asia over the next 2-3 years?
Navin: Despite being just two years old, we are already a top global agency, ranked #1 worldwide and among the top three in India. As the youngest media agency in India, our ambitious team is driving rapid growth. Over the next few years, we aim to expand client relationships, win new business, and diversify into next-gen services like attention planning, first-party data, AI-driven solutions, and Dynamic Content Optimisation (DCO). Our goal is to future-proof the agency, evolving towards a Media 2030 framework that will shape the future of media planning and execution.
Q] What was the core objective or industry challenge that led to the development of emAttention Architect?
Navin: Media consumption is evolving rapidly, with growing choices and extreme fragmentation. A key global discussion revolves around attention metrics—how impressions across TV, Digital, Radio, and Cinema compare in impact. Since this debate is gaining momentum, we felt the need to assess media effectiveness in India. While all media contribute positively, their impact varies, making it essential to determine which impressions drive the strongest results. To address this, we consolidated media impressions, partnered with a strong data provider, and conducted in-depth research. This isn’t just theoretical—our methodology has been tested with clients, delivering real results and validating our approach. With proven success, we are now ready to scale this data-driven solution for a broader market.
Bitupan: The importance of attention has already been well established through multiple studies, which have shown a direct correlation with ad recall, brand health metrics, and other key factors. Many clients are already convinced that driving attention is crucial. However, the real challenge for us was figuring out how to achieve this from a media planning perspective. That’s where we began brainstorming—how could we take all our insights on attention and convert them into a structured framework? Our goal was to develop a tool that would help media planners and client teams optimise media investments to enhance consumer attention.
Averill: In the absence of studies like this, media planning often relies on rules of thumb, for example: ‘impact equals attention’ or ‘cricket guarantees attention’. While some of these assumptions hold true, there are hidden zones in a consumer’s media consumption—whether on TV, social media, or OOH—where they are more receptive to ads at certain times than others. This study helped debunk some of these myths—proving that attention isn’t driven by just a few well-known factors. Instead, it uncovered less obvious opportunities where media plans can be fine-tuned to maximise consumer receptivity, ultimately improving effectiveness and aligning better with client objectives.
Q] In today’s highly fragmented media landscape, how does emAttention Architect redefine media planning compared to conventional approaches?
Navin: How do you differentiate media when all factors are equal? Traditionally, reach is treated uniformly, but this tool helps prioritise based on attention. If YouTube and Facebook offer the same reach, it identifies which drives higher attention, improving ROI. While cost per reach point may vary, what truly matters is cost per attentive reach—a term we’ve coined. This shift could transform media planning.
Bitupan: In today’s cluttered media landscape, consumer attention is declining, making traditional reach-based planning less effective. To address this, we shifted to attention-based planning, optimising media for impact. emAttention Architect plays a key role by refining ad placements, TV time bands, and specific formats in digital media. The tool identifies where to invest to maximise consumer attention, ensuring more effective media planning in today’s fragmented landscape.
Q] Have you tested the tool with clients? What insights have you gained from its implementation?
Bitupan: We’ve implemented pilot projects with major CPG clients, refining the tool through an iterative process. Real-world insights have made it more robust, enhancing its effectiveness. By applying attention-based strategies, we measured improvements in key metrics like consideration, awareness, value share, and sales, further strengthening the tool.
Q] How do you see this tool evolving over the next few years, especially with the rise of automation ad personalisation and changing consumer behaviours?
Bitupan: AI and automation offer real-time learning and contextual signal integration, which remains underutilised. Capturing data like audio usage, scrolling behaviour, and engagement in real time allows dynamic content optimisation (DCO) for better interactivity. AI-powered predictive models also help identify drop-off points in the marketing funnel. By integrating attention-based insights with multi-modal AI, we can analyse content impact and reduce drop-offs, improving conversions at every stage.
Averill: This approach adds an attention-based layer to traditional media planning, enhancing audience insights, platform affinities, and past campaign learnings. While platforms offer best practices, attention insights make media plans more effective, helping convert leads into orders. Rather than replacing traditional planning, it strengthens it by ensuring audiences genuinely engage with the message.
Q] Can you walk us through how emAttention Architect works?
Bitupan: The emAttention Architect tool is fundamentally based on scenario planning. When you have an existing media plan or media investments, this tool helps optimise them by analysing different scenarios—Scenario A, Scenario B, Scenario C, and so on. Essentially, it evaluates how shifting investments from low-attention platforms to high-attention platforms impacts your overall attention score. This attention score is then translated into measurable outcomes, such as VTR (View-Through Rate) uplift or BLS (Brand Lift Study) uplift. When a media planner or client team assesses these shifts, they gain clear insights into the expected impact on their media plans and final brand outcomes.
Its backend integrates multiple data layers, including actual campaign metrics (VCR, copy score, BLS uplift, CTR) and deterministic platform data (session duration, eye-gaze tracking). Additionally, insights from industry research, including WARC studies, enhance its data-backed framework. By combining real-time data, platform intelligence, and research, the tool enables more effective, attention-driven media planning.
Q] What are some key media consumption trends unique to India and South Asia that brands should pay more attention to?
Navin: India ranks among the top 10 global media markets, with AdEx positioning around 8th or 9th. Unlike global trends where Digital dominates (75-80%), India’s media landscape is unique—traditional and Digital grow together, driven by its dual markets: urban India and rural ‘Bharat’. Digital holds a 60-65% share, led by mobile, but traditional media remains strong. Success requires balancing both, as not all digital impressions are equal. Tools like emAttention Architect optimise media strategies by assessing cost per reach vs. cost per effective reach. Print has rebounded to pre-COVID levels, fuelled by real estate, education, and regional retail. India’s expanding local economy makes radio, cinema, print, and local digital targeting essential. With a GDP-to-AdEx ratio of 0.5-0.6%, far below mature markets’ 1-1.5%, India’s AdEx growth potential is huge.
