The Attention Council

What The Attention Council does

The Attention Council (TAC) is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 2019 by Karen Nelson Field (Amplified Intelligence) and Marc Guldimann (Adelaide) and headquartered at 335 Madison Avenue, New York. The organization promotes the use of attention metrics as a basis for incentive-setting in the media and advertising ecosystem, operating around five stated focus areas: Quality (attention as a measure of media quality), Ethics, Research, Education, and Currency (exploring attention-based media trading). TAC is governed by a board that includes measurement vendors (Adelaide, Amplified Intelligence, TVision, Avocet) and senior advertising-side leaders (Mars, AB InBev), and is run by CEO Andy Brown (former CEO of Kantar Media), who was appointed as the first CEO in September 2021 when the organization formalized a membership model.

TAC's portfolio spans industry research publications, including the "From Attention to Action" whitepaper, the periodic TAC Attention Survey (e.g., 85 respondents with 73% open to using attention for media buying, 93% expecting attention to augment or replace existing metrics), recurring events such as the TAC Activation Forum and the June Summit, a co-founded Publisher Working Group, and an ARF partnership. Its member-facing services — accessible via the website and industry events — comprise event video archives, a research library/repository, private roundtables, training and certification courses, and a members-only Slack community. TAC does not build proprietary measurement technology; it serves as the convening and advocacy layer over the attention-measurement category.

Name

The Attention Council

Legal name

The Attention Council

Website

https://theattentioncouncil.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Attention Council is a 2019-founded, New York-based not-for-profit membership organization that promotes attention metrics across the media and advertising ecosystem, serving advertisers, agencies, publishers, holding companies, measurement vendors, researchers, and academics through research publications, industry events, and member services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Advertising Industry Research and Advocacy

NAICS

Business Associations (813910), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Social/Second-Screen & Cross-Media Attention Measurement (TV+Digital+Social) (MPABAOAL)

Keywords

• Attention metrics
• Ad measurement research
• Media effectiveness
• Advertising industry advocacy
• Media planning optimization

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership dues: As a not-for-profit membership organization, TAC generates revenue through membership fees. Membership benefits include event video archives, access to research library, private roundtables, training and certification courses, and community Slack access.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Attention Council is a not-for-profit membership organization that promotes the use of attention metrics to align incentives across the media and advertising ecosystem. It delivers value through a paid membership program, industry events, research publications, surveys, and working groups covering five focus areas: Quality, Ethics, Research, Education, and Currency.

Product overview

The Attention Council (TAC) is a not-for-profit membership organization that promotes the use of attention metrics across the advertising and media ecosystem. The organization offers a portfolio of services organized around five focus areas: Quality (promoting attention as media quality measures), Ethics (examining ethical considerations), Research (presenting attention research), Education (instruction and lobbying), and Currency (exploring attention-based media trading). TAC's member services include event video archives, a research repository, private roundtables, training and certification courses, and a private Slack community. The organization also conducts industry events (such as the TAC Activation Forum), publishes research whitepapers (including 'From Attention to Action'), runs the TAC Attention Survey, and maintains a Publisher Working Group.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• TAC Membership Program A paid, not-for-profit membership program for advertisers, publishers, agencies, holding companies, researchers, and academics, providing access to event video archives, a research repository, private roundtables, training and certification courses, and a members-only Slack community network.
• TAC Activation Forum A half-day industry event convening experts from advertisers, agencies, media companies, and research providers to discuss how attention metrics are used to activate campaigns and improve business results.
• From Attention to Action Whitepaper A research whitepaper published by TAC that outlines the three stages (Learning & Discovery, Planning & Optimization, and Transacting) advertising buyers and sellers must follow to activate on attention data and optimize ad campaign impact.
• TAC Attention Survey An industry research initiative aggregating input from marketing professionals on attention-metrics adoption, measuring beliefs about attention as a KPI and use cases across media optimization, measurement, creative testing, and planning.

Quantifiable outcome

• 73% of survey respondents would consider using attention to guide media buying
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The ARF (Advertising Research Foundation)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 September 2021TAC partnered with The ARF on a major benchmark study to evaluate current and future trends in advertising and media measurement. The partnership involves a Fall Benchmark Survey to assess industry adoption and implementation of attention metrics. The ARF CEO Scott McDonald noted that attention is gaining traction as a critical measurement component for advertisers and media.
• The Financial TimesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2021The Financial Times (via Brendan Spain) co-founded the TAC Publisher Working Group, which helps content creators evangelize attention data and the value high-attention content can have in the marketplace.
• A&E NetworksminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2021A&E Networks (via Roseann Montenes) co-founded the TAC Publisher Working Group, which helps content creators evangelize attention data and the value high-attention content can have in the marketplace.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• World Federation of Advertisers (WFA): WFA is the global advertiser trade association running cross-market media-quality and measurement programs. It competes with TAC for global advertiser mindshare on cross-platform measurement modernization.
• 4A's (American Association of Advertising Agencies): 4A's is the agency-side trade association, several of whose member agencies (OMD, Publicis, Havas, Mediahub) are also TAC members. It operates in the same agency-facing standards and best-practice lane as TAC.
• ESOMAR: ESOMAR is the global market-research industry's professional body, setting research standards and codes of conduct. It is broader in scope than TAC but operates the same professional-body and advocacy function for research buyers and providers.
• Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB): IAB is the larger, established trade association for digital advertising that sets standards and runs industry research. It is broader in scope than TAC but operates in the same standards-setting and advocacy lane across digital media measurement.
• Association of National Advertisers (ANA): ANA is the US advertiser trade association that runs measurement and media-quality initiatives for its brand-side members. It is broader than TAC but competes for the same advertiser attention and budget for measurement modernization programs.

Regional players

• Thinkbox: Thinkbox is the UK marketing body for commercial television that funds research on TV attention and viewer engagement. It is a TAC member but independently pursues attention research for TV, making it a regional functional peer.
• ISBA (Incorporated Society of British Advertisers): ISBA is the UK advertiser trade association with a strong focus on media measurement and cross-media audit programs. It plays a similar advocacy role to TAC but is geographically focused on the UK market.

Direct peers

• Media Rating Council (MRC): MRC sets voluntary accreditation standards for media measurement services, including audience ratings. Like TAC, it is a non-profit industry body operating at the intersection of measurement vendors, agencies and advertisers, making it a direct structural peer.
• Advertising Research Foundation (ARF): ARF is a non-profit industry research body that publishes measurement benchmarks and runs the Audience Measurement conference series. TAC partnered with ARF on a benchmark study and ARF is a TAC member, making it the closest functional peer.
• Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM): CIMM is a cross-industry coalition focused on cross-platform audience measurement. Its remit closely overlaps TAC's cross-media attention charter, and it is similarly funded by advertisers, agencies and media companies pursuing new measurement currencies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/theattentioncouncil

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Attention Council