Snapchat and Lumen Research launch global attention measurement tool for rich media ads

Lumen Research this month unveiled a partnership with Snapchat, providing advertisers with powerful new tools to measure and optimize visual attention for the platform's innovative rich media ad formats. This collaboration unlocks essential insights and empowers advertisers to understand the true impact of their Snapchat campaigns.

Lumen and Snapchat have collaborated since 2021 to refine attention measurement for Snapchat ads, harnessing Lumen's patented eye-tracking technology within controlled lab environments. Now, after research and validation across hundreds of campaigns, this attention data has been combined with Lumen's AI-powered Attention Model. The result is scalable, real-world attention measurement within every Snapchat advertising environment, including Commercials, AR Lenses, and Snap Ads.

“Through our work with Snapchat over the years, we’ve determined just how much visual attention is generated by Snapchat’s rich media ads through eye-tracking technology,” says Mike Follett, CEO at Lumen. “By producing a rich media attention model based on that data – and thoroughly testing its accuracy – we’re giving all of Snapchat’s advertisers a way to instantly measure visual attention without going to the lab.”

Lumen's attention metrics go beyond traditional viewability metrics, revealing not just whether an ad was seen, but how long a viewer actively engaged with it. This level of insight is crucial, as it can be correlated with KPIs like sales, brand lift, and overall campaign success, enabling effective optimization across the funnel.

Research by Lumen and Snapchat paints a compelling picture: one second of visual attention per impression correlates with a 20x increase in ad recall and a 3x increase in driving outcomes. Additionally, Snapchat's AR lens and commercial ads offer a 40% lower cost of attention compared to other formats.

“We’ve been researching Attention for several years at Snapchat, and have seen advertiser demand for campaign attention measurement grow steadily. In our foundational research, we found that Snapchat has highly attentive ad formats across video and AR lenses, and wanted to put our findings to the test with actual campaign data,” says John Eckhardt, Director of Marketing Science at Snap Inc. “As part of the transition to practical application for advertisers, we embarked on this proof of concept with Lumen and are excited to share that our advertisers can now scalably measure attention on Snapchat through Lumen’s measurement solution.”

The collaboration between Lumen and Snapchat marks a significant milestone in attention-driven advertising. By providing scalable, accurate, and actionable attention metrics, this partnership enables advertisers to confidently invest in Snapchat's rich media capabilities. The result? More impactful campaigns, optimized ad spend, and stronger connections between brands and Snapchat's highly engaged audience.