Editor’s note: Adverteyes was known as Realeyes at the time of this event. References below use our current name, with the original name noted on first mention.
“Attention is the metric every advertiser is chasing.” That was the message from Adverteyes’ (then Realeyes) Alex Browne and Mars Senior Director of Consumer Insights Sorin Patilinet, who shared the story of Mars’ attention measurement journey on stage together twice this summer: first at MAD//Fest London, and again at I-COM’s Global Summit Roundtable on the Business Case for Attention.
Their session, “How Mars Used Creative Attention AI to Predict Video Performance In 19 Markets & Drive 18% Incremental Sales Lift,” walked through how Mars turned attention data into a repeatable, in-house testing capability and why the two companies believe attention is becoming the metric of the future for the whole industry.
"Attention is the metric every advertiser is chasing.
Building ACE: Mars’ Agile Creative Expertise tool
Working with Adverteyes, Mars built ACE (Agile Creative Expertise), a tool that tracks attentional and emotional response to digital video ads using Adverteyes AI (then Realeyes AI) and facial coding, powered by the Adverteyes methodology (then Realeyes PreView). ACE runs in three steps:
- Panel test: Scalable collection via webcam, completed in 24-48 hours, drawing 150-500 viewers from a pool of 200 million+ consumer panelists.
- Attention measurement: Deep learning models capture attention and emotion data from a natural viewing experience.
- Actionable analysis: ML, AI, and analytics turn viewing data into report scores that assess how a creative will perform.
By identifying what captures and retains attention, and what causes distraction, ACE gave Mars the intelligence to optimize creative itself and to choose the best-performing ads across platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
The Results
During the pandemic, Mars tested more than 1,000 ads in under 22 months, across 19 markets, 30+ brands, and 5 industry categories. That creative intelligence drove up to an 18% incremental sales lift across those markets and generated more than $30 million in ad optimizations in 18 months, validated against 4,000 sales and ads data points and benchmarks. The work earned Best Use of Artificial Intelligence at I-COM Global’s Data Creativity Awards.
An 18% incremental sales lift across 19 markets, and more than $30 million in ad optimizations in 18 months.
What the Industry is Learning from It
At the I-COM roundtable, the foundational event for the newly launched ICOM Attention Working Group, co-chaired by Adverteyes CEO Max Kalehoff and GSK/Haleon’s Phil Jackson, more than 25 attendees from brands and measurement providers compared notes on standards, quality, adoption, and gaming/fraud risk in attention measurement. A few takeaways stood out:
- Attention metrics are showing real promise, but the discipline is still in its early phase.
- Creative and media attention measurement coordinated together will have the greatest impact — neither alone tells the full story.
- The advertisers seeing success are building attention into an enterprise-wide framework, not treating it as a one-off tactical point solution.
What the Industry is Learning from It
At the I-COM roundtable, the foundational event for the newly launched ICOM Attention Working Group, co-chaired by Adverteyes CEO Max Kalehoff and GSK/Haleon’s Phil Jackson, more than 25 attendees from brands and measurement providers compared notes on standards, quality, adoption, and gaming/fraud risk in attention measurement.
A few takeaways stood out:
- Attention metrics are showing real promise, but the discipline is still in its early phase.
- Creative and media attention measurement coordinated together will have the greatest impact — neither alone tells the full story.
- The advertisers seeing success are building attention into an enterprise-wide framework, not treating it as a one-off tactical point solution.
The advertisers seeing success are building attention into an enterprise-wide framework, not treating it as a one-off tactical point solution.
Publicis EVP Thaer Namruti described how GSK Consumer Health (now Haleon) has put attention at the center of its advertising strategy, building out a framework and learning agenda over the next two years. Where Mars’ work with Adverteyes started on the creative side, GSK’s initial emphasis has been on media attention and both companies are now looking to add the other side to build a complete, 360-degree view.
That combination is exactly where Adverteyes sees the category heading: pairing best-in-class creative attention measurement with media-focused partners to give brands a holistic view of attention, from the ad itself through to where and how it’s delivered.
Mars has since scaled the Adverteyes methodology behind ACE across its full Tier 1 portfolio. Read the full case study on how attention measurement scaled across 70% of Mars’ global media spend.