Professor Karen Nelson-Field is Founder and CEO of Amplified Intelligence, and Professor of Media Innovation at The University of Adelaide. Karen is a globally acclaimed researcher in media science, is a regular speaker on the major circuits, including Cannes and SXSW, and has secured research funding from some of the world’s largest advertisers. Her first book, Viral Marketing: the science of sharing, set the record straight on hunting for ‘viral success’. Her most recent book The Attention Economy and How Media Works explains the stark reality of human attention processing in advertising. Karen’s commercial work combines tech and innovative methodological design to look closely at attention metrics in a disrupting digital economy.

Listen to my first episode with Karen from Cannes.

What we covered in this conversation:

• Reaction to Cannes Lion Triple Jeopardy talk
• Karen’s career journey to now
• Making the jump from Academia to Business owner
• Why not all reach is created equal
• How few people actually pay attention to your advert
• The variability of time in view vs actual attention based on platform
• The technology that allows attention to be measured
• How the ESOV and reach based model are broken
• The 2.5second rule and how memory is created
• How repetition of advertising helps in low attention platforms
• How attention has an elasticity based on the platform
• The role of creative in attention rich platforms
• The importance of adapting your creative based on the attention of the platform
• How to approach media planning with attention in mind
• Will wearable technology help improve attention measurement
• Karen’s response to Byron’s recent comments on attention
• What level of push back the focus on attention is getting
• What’s coming next for Amplified Intelligence