New Delhi: In today’s media landscape, the way brands chase attention doesn’t look the way it used to. It’s not really about visibility anymore, or at least not just that. Being seen is relatively easy now. Staying in someone’s mind, even briefly, is where it starts getting complicated.
Part of the reason is simple. There’s just too much content. Everywhere. Scroll any platform, and it keeps going. New posts, new ads, new videos, non-stop. But the time people actually spend consuming all this? That hasn’t really shot up in the same way. It’s grown, yes, but only slightly over the years, roughly 1–2% annually, according to McKinsey. So the gap has widened quietly: more content fighting for almost the same pool of attention.
That imbalance doesn’t sound dramatic at first, but it changes things.
You can see it quite clearly in India as well. Digital ad impressions have jumped something like 12.7 times between 2020 and 2024. On paper, that’s huge. But speak to people in the industry and the reaction is usually more measured. More impressions haven’t necessarily meant more impact. Ads are showing up, but not always landing.
Which is why the conversation has shifted a bit. Attention, not impressions, has started to matter more, even if people don’t always say it that directly.
In a way, something that used to sit mostly with creative teams “make it interesting” has now turned into a more concrete business question: did anyone actually stay, watch, listen… or just move on?
Moving beyond impressions
For a long time, the thinking was straightforward. Reach more people, repeat often, and results will follow. That logic hasn’t disappeared, but it doesn’t work the same way anymore.
People scroll faster now. They skip without thinking. Sometimes they don’t even realize they’ve skipped something.
At the same time, content platforms take up a decent chunk of the day, about 125 minutes on average. That’s where attention sits. But even within that, not all attention is equal.
Some formats naturally pull you in. Gaming, for example. Live content. Even a well-told story can hold someone for longer than expected. On the other hand, there’s content that just plays in the background; you’re technically there, but not really paying attention.
And that difference matters more than it used to.
So the question brands are asking is changing. Not just “how many people saw this,” but “did it hold them for even a few seconds, and did that lead to anything?”
The shift toward content-led integration
One response to this has been a gradual shift toward blending advertising with content rather than interrupting it.
Take Pocket FM. It has built a fairly large catalog of over 100,000 audio stories, and brands are starting to fit into those narratives rather than sit outside them. So instead of a clear break for an ad, the messaging is woven into something the listener is already following.
It doesn’t always stand out immediately, but that’s kind of the point.
Production houses are trying similar approaches. Balaji Telefilms, for instance, has been working with brands not just for placements but for content that’s built together. In some cases, a large share, around 70–80% of digital revenue, now comes from these partnerships.
That’s a noticeable shift from the earlier model of just buying slots and running ads.
Why is attention harder to earn
A lot of this comes down to behavior, honestly.
People don’t consume content in a straight line anymore. One screen becomes two. Something plays in the background while you scroll through something else. You switch apps without really thinking about it.
So even if usage numbers look strong, the depth of attention isn’t always there.
Then there’s the constant distraction layer of notifications, short videos, and recommendations that keep refreshing. It becomes harder for anything to hold your focus for long.
Which creates a slightly odd situation. Brands can reach more people than before. But getting those same people to actually engage—that’s where the difficulty is.
Rethinking strategy: from scale to depth
Because of this, some agencies are starting to approach things differently.
Instead of trying to be everywhere, there’s more focus on being effective in fewer places. Not dramatically different, but noticeable. More thought goes into what works on which platform, rather than pushing the same idea everywhere.
Campaigns are also less rigid now. They shift. They get tweaked midway. Sometimes they’re reworked entirely depending on how people respond.
It’s not always neat. But it reflects how people actually behave.
And increasingly, decisions are based on observing what people watch, skip, or engage with rather than just following formats or trends.
Measuring what matters
The way success is measured is changing alongside this.
Impressions are still tracked. Reach still matters. But they don’t say enough on their own anymore.
There’s more focus on things like how long someone stays, whether they interact, whether they come back, or do anything after seeing the content.
Because even small differences in attention can have an impact. A slight increase in focus—say around 10%—can lead to a noticeable jump in spending, somewhere in the range of 17%. It’s not a perfect correlation, but it’s enough to matter.
So attention isn’t just a creative idea anymore. It connects directly to business outcomes.
The road ahead
If anything, this is only going to get more complicated.
Content will keep increasing. Platforms will keep evolving. Attention will probably get even more fragmented.
Which means brands will have to keep adjusting. Trying things, dropping things, figuring out what works and what doesn’t.
Not everything will scale. Not everything will land.
But when something does connect even briefly, it tends to stay longer than expected. And over time, that builds familiarity.
That’s probably the bigger shift underneath all this. Attention isn’t something brands can assume anymore.
It’s something they have to earn. Again and again.
