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18 November 2025

5 Minutes with Jon Waite: Let’s Talk Attention

“5 Minutes With” is a new interview series from Havas Media Network that spotlights the experts driving our network and the media ecosystem forwards through their creativity, innovation, and dedication to craft.

For our first episode, we interviewed Jon Waite, Global Head of Planning at Havas Media Network. Jon leads everything from the philosophy that guides our approach to planning to the partnerships and datasets that inform our capabilities. Beyond Havas, Jon is a leading voice in the field of attention metrics, and we sat down with him to learn about new research that’s charting the future for attention-based planning.

Why Attention?

There's a sobering truth in advertising today. Much of it is missed or actively avoided, not just because of the sheer volume, but because people have become adept at tuning it out.

Jon Waite

Global Head of Planning, Havas Media Network

This challenge has led to a growing interest in attention as a metric that can help planners assess media that’s actually seen and influencing audiences. Attention metrics offer a clearer lens into media quality and brand effectiveness, helping marketers define whether audiences registered what they saw and allowing them to make smarter decisions that drive brand outcomes.

We use technology like eye tracking to determine whether someone actually looked at the media we served. Then we go a step further to analyze how long they looked at it, and what that meant in terms of their perception of the brand or the outcomes of that particular campaign.

Jon Waite

Global Head of Planning, Havas Media Network

What Research Shows

Jon has played a pivotal role in Havas Media Network’s research into attention, laying the groundwork for new ways of evaluating media quality, beyond traditional metrics like impressions and reach to focus on the impact of exposure. In 2024 Havas Media Network, Lumen, and Brand Metrics partnered on the landmark study “What Do 9,000 Brand Lift Studies Teach Us About Attention and Memory,” interrogating the specific amounts of attention needed to drive desired brand outcomes. This year, Jon revisited those findings in light of further academic research into the connection between attention and brand outcomes.

What we saw is that low attention can work if you have enough of it. It goes back to old principles about the importance of frequency for brands. Humans learn through repetition. You get told something once and you forget it immediately. You get told five times and you might remember it.

Jon Waite

Global Head of Planning, Havas Media Network

A Tailored Approach to Attention

Despite growing interest, attention remains a relatively new and evolving metric. For brands to get the most out of attention-based planning, it’s important to remember there’s no one-size-fits-all approach implementation.

If you're a very well-known brand, you've been in the market for a long time, you probably don’t need to be paying for very high-quality media that drives very high attention. Attention requirements are different for different brands in different categories. We’ve seen that attention and frequency needs for automotive are fundamentally different to travel or FMCG categories, for example.

Jon Waite

Global Head of Planning, Havas Media Network

The Road to Consensus

Understanding attention is only part of the challenge. With an influx of vendors, methodologies, and terminology in this nascent space, standardization is needed to make attention a part of every media experience.

There’s a lot of noise in the space. Different approaches, different languages. There is an evident need for clarity and a shared understanding of what we mean when we talk about attention.

Jon Waite

Global Head of Planning, Havas Media Network

What’s clear is that the conversation around attention is far from over. As this metric continues to reshape how we evaluate media and brand impact, the industry stands at a pivotal moment. In a world of fragmented media, understanding what truly captures attention helps ensure that investments lead to impact. Attention isn’t just a metric, it’s a reflection of relevance, and for brands that want to lead, understanding it has become essential.