The art & science of dealing with CPA: Media Review 2015

CPA from being one of the key currencies of measuring RoI, has become a point to ponder for the media fraternity. The abbreviation is now perhaps being used as frequently for Continuous Partial Attention as it is for Cost Per Acquisition/Action.

Before detailing the very pertinent points raised by the eminent media leaders at Media Review held yesterday (July 21), a quick look at the brief definition of CPA as put forth by Wikipedia:

Continuous partial attention (CPA) is the process of paying simultaneous attention to a number of sources of incoming information, but at a superficial level. The term was coined by Linda Stone in 1998. Compared to multi-tasking, full attention is not required by CPA (hence the ‘partial’) and the process is ongoing rather than episodic (hence the ‘continuous’).

And this is the subject Media Review revolved around, the topic being, “Is Anyone Listening? How Did Ad and Media Industry Combat The Challenge Of Continuous Partial Attention of Audiences.”

Shashi Sinha, Meenakshi Menon, Punitha Arumugam, Pradeep Dwivedi spoke on the subject at length. It was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Sam Balsara. Title sponsor for the event was Colors and DNA was the presenting sponsor.

On to a few talking points from the speakers’ presentations.

Meenakshi Menon, Founder and Chairperson, Spatial Access explored what is happening in the media-client-agency environmentand how it is impacting the business.She said, “The client is often unsure of the distinction between what he wants and what he needs.We need to provide an idea where they are willing to step out of their comfort zone.” She also stressed, “There is a strong buildup of distrust between the client and the agency. This is the fundamental realisation that needs to be addressed by the industry.”
Some of the key points she mentioned are as follows:
• We live in excitingtimeswhere labels don’t matter whether you are from creative, media, agency, non-agency, outsourced company, design studio etc.
• India has shown to the world that things can be done differently. It is only in India that mobile consumption is higher than consumption of any other media and it gives us a huge opportunity to utilise this genre.
• We have launched digital and understand its need in the market. However, we donot know how to connect with audience via the digital route.
• We are living in the world of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).
• It is a data driven world and regular data analysis is needed.
• Another gap is emerging:Clients want more for less and agencies are not able to provide that.
• The creative turf is being encroached by media and digital agencies.
• A few pertinent questions are:Are there any best practices when it comes to pitches?How to change the agency without changing the agency? Onus is on clients as well, as they want to see a change in the industry without really changing it.
• A survey presented at Cannes 2014 indicated that 98% of agencies and clients agreed that trust leads to great advertising. However, there was hardly any level of trust between the client and the agency and clients were afraid to take risks. 
Pradeep Dwivedi, Chief Corporate Sales & Marketing Officer, Dainik Bhasker Group brought out the need to rediscover print.He stated, “Digital may be relevant and print maybe under radar in the recent times but it continues to remain a strong and relevant medium in India.It is high time we give print media the higher space that it deserves.”He also expressed, “Print is rational. When you advertise in print, it will go to the educated audience that is reading it in the morning. The message is clear. It is right there. You don’t have to download it.”

He presented following points in favour of print:
• Print is a legacy medium - we wake up to it every morning and it has a sensory feeling.
• It helps in tackling CPA.
• While we are bombarded by content throughout the day, print presents it in an organized manner for the readers to get most out of it.
• Print is tangible, offers human connection and keeps the reader engaged.
• It is non-intrusive, can be read, re-read and retained.
• Print provides non partial attention, unlimited exposure and accuracy.
• Print is relevant, noticeable, has a personal touch, is visually more appealing and works well for the advertisers.
• He gave examples of Olay, Whisper and Dove campaigns done in print media that were very successful
• Print is a focused medium that keep the audience fully involved.

Punitha Arumugam,Director-Agency Business at Google India focused on the importance oflistening attentively to figure out what works best for today’s consumer and how to deliver it.She stated,“If we look at it from the communication point of view, need is for the stakeholders to listen to one another, be it media, agency or advertisers. Even more importantly they need to listen to the consumer because that’s what we are in the business of communication for.” As per her listen is the sum total of: L (leveraging insights), I (investigate features), S (seek moments), T (think moonshots), E (employ curious people) and N (never stop being amazing).
A few salient points from her address:
• Digital is probably totally responsible for CPA phenomenon.
• Media and agencies have to listen to consumers on an ongoing basis.
• Advertisers listen to data and want to adopt strategies that are right for the brand.
• Media is divided into three parts:Mr. Arrogant- Looking for transformational new way of dealing with an issue, Mr. Posturing - always the one who will take the lead and Mr. Ready – who works by taking all the points into consideration.
• The saddest part of stakeholders is agency. We listen to advertisers, media, and government bodies. We listen to people who criticise us on how bad we are but the fact is we forget we are the most amazing ones.
• Industry leaders are set to change the business. Agencies are industry CPA in seeking solutions. We are continuously listening and doing some fantastic work as an outcome of that.
• Media industryis all about listening and bringing a change and at the same time adapting to change.
• There is a need to combine technology with features. This helps in creating a complete story.For example Horlicks advertisement telling how quickly it mixed with milk was done on YouTube. It is actually a two second advertisement narrating the story by the time you skip the ad.Unilever ‘Be Beautiful’ website, where people can go and get all cosmetic information, is another excellent example. Unilever brought all the bloggers together and made it into a video platform to reach the audience. It took a consumer movement to create a complete story.
• One should always hire people who are curious and are ready to think out of the box, who are good at what they are doing and are ready to find solutions for all types of problems.

Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPGMediabrands, India directed his attention on Managing Media in a CPA world.He insisted, “If we at the ecosystem get together and all the stake holders in the room and otherwise decide that it makes sense that measurement is needed, all the differences about my ratings going up or my ratings going down or whichever way it is would be resolved. I genuinely believe that lack of measurement will hurt the industry.”

A few of the points he mentioned are:
• Attention spans are going low and it impacts the way people consume media.
• The biggest challenge todayis skimming consumption which is all about people moving from one media to another.
• Today there is simultaneous multiform media consumption.
• The key questions today arehow can we target sharper? How can we achieve the attention of the audiences? How can we improve the media otherwise?

• Media measurement is one of the most critical parts of targeting right. There is need for having a single measurement system across screens. He said, “The fact is that BARC started with television because it was founded by the broadcasters but the technology enables multiscreen or all screen measurement.This is the first step to single source and single metric.”
• Lack of measurement will hurt the industry.
• Measurement today is about the skills of managing the stakeholders and getting them on the table.
CPA sure is a nagging point all media planners &buyers and marketers have to deal with. A number of valid points raised by the industry – specially the need for a single measurement system across screens that can also measure attention and engagement levels. Times to come would decode which mediums are highly impacted by it, and the ones that can take advantage of it to the maximum.

anukriti(@)adgully.com

zeba(@)adgully.com
 

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