When clicks don’t cut it: Why Gen Z attention is the new advertising currency

In the high-stakes world of digital marketing, where attention is fragmented and fleeting, brands are quickly realising that the Gen Z audience isn’t just scrolling – it’s screening. With a projected collective spending power of $2 trillion by 2035, India’s 377-million-strong Gen Z cohort represents both an enormous opportunity and a growing conundrum for marketers: how do you engage a generation hardwired to skip, swipe, and scrutinise?

Snapchat, in collaboration with WPP Media and attention-measurement firm Lumen, has attempted to answer that with ‘Attention Advantage’ – a large-scale multi-platform study redefining how brands measure digital advertising impact. The takeaway? Exposure alone is no longer enough. Genuine attention, or as Lumen defines it, "a person’s eyes truly on an ad," is now the leading indicator of brand impact and business outcomes.

From exposure to engagement: The metrics shake-up

Attention marks a decisive pivot from legacy metrics like View-Through Rate (VTR) and viewability to what Lumen calls the real currency of impact. As Mike Follett, CEO of Lumen Research, bluntly puts it, "The finding that attention is 8X more effective than View-Through Rate at predicting brand recall isn't just a statistic, it validates that the entire media ecosystem must change."

Their methodology involved over 3,000 Indian respondents using Lumen’s proprietary eye-tracking software across various digital platforms. In a controlled sandbox, WPP ran single-campaign ads across FMCG, auto, QSR, and fashion categories.

The outcome? A marginal 5% increase in attention delivered a 4.4% boost in brand recall and 12.5% improvement in brand favourability. In short: small shifts, outsized gains.

Amit Chaubey, head of marketing science at Snap Inc. APAC, reinforced the shift. "With Attention Advantage, we set out to change that conversation. This research doesn’t only just show that attention matters, it gives brands a practical playbook to plan for it, measure it, and turn it into real business impact,” he added.

Platform, format, creative: A new media planning trinity

One of the key insights from the study is that not all platforms are created equal. Snapchat, designed around ephemeral, self-generated content, captured 2X more attention than conventional digital platforms among Gen Z.

But it’s not just the platform – the format plays an equally critical role. Non-skippable formats unsurprisingly garnered higher engagement, but Snapchat’s Augmented Reality (AR) Lenses stole the spotlight. Despite being skippable, they proved over 2X more effective and 3X more efficient in capturing voluntary attention. Follett explained, “The pinnacle of this is Augmented Reality, where formats like Lenses create such a compelling, voluntary experience that they are over twice as effective at capturing meaningful attention."

In a world driven by rapid cultural shifts, Gen Z and millennials are no longer passive consumers—they're active participants shaping brand narratives. Representing nearly half the global population and commanding over $3 trillion in spending power, they expect brands to be in sync with the moment.

Buzzwords like ‘authentic’ and ‘sustainable’ are no longer differentiators—they’re baseline. What matters now is how brands engage with these audiences across culture, content, and commerce as a unified ecosystem. Relevance isn’t about reach anymore; it’s about resonance.

To connect meaningfully, brands need to create micro-movements, not just campaigns. Creative quality, too, remains paramount. Authentic, user-generated content styles, coupled with strong branding and platform-native music elements, consistently outperformed more traditional, polished creatives. The hierarchy of impact? Platform > Format > Creative.

Rethinking measurement: The attention playbook

To quantify attention, the study introduced APM (Attention Per Mille) – a metric that captures how many seconds of attention an ad garners per 1,000 impressions. This is paired with cost per APM, giving marketers a clearer lens on attention efficiency. It's a notable shift from proxies like scroll speed or click-throughs to metrics grounded in biometrics like eye-tracking.

As Amin Lakhani, president for client solutions of WPP Media South Asia, noted: "Our clients demand accountability and a clear return on their investments. By moving beyond legacy metrics and focusing on genuine attention, we can now build more effective and efficient media plans. We now have an Attention Playbook and this framework gives our teams a clear guide to optimise investment and deliver superior results in the attention economy."

The report outlines three key tips for navigating this new attention landscape. The first brand tip is that platform matters. Go where Gen Z is most engaged. Snapchatters use AR Lenses over 80 billion times monthly, making it an unmatched channel for voluntary engagement.

The second tip is that format counts. Pair non-skippable video with AR for the winning combination of baseline attention and immersive participation.

Thirdly, creative seals the deal. Authentic, native content with prominent branding and relevant music significantly boosts attention and recall.

Snapchat's advantage, or a broader industry signal?

While the report clearly positions Snapchat as an attention heavyweight among Gen Z, its broader implications ripple across the entire digital marketing ecosystem. Lumen’s research found that Gen Z pays up to 34% less attention to ads on conventional platforms, underlining the challenge for legacy media channels that lean heavily on passive consumption.

What’s clear is that brands can no longer afford to plan media like it’s 2015. With customer retention under pressure and digital fatigue at an all-time high, attention is emerging as a pivotal filter through which advertising effectiveness must now be evaluated.

As Chaubey put it, "In today’s digital landscape, attention is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s one of the most critical measures of advertising effectiveness. Yet, it’s often been overlooked."

Whether this study becomes a new standard or simply another data point in the debate around advertising metrics, one thing is evident: eyes on the ad is no longer a hope – it’s a prerequisite. And in Gen Z's world, if you’re not catching their attention, you’re not even in the game.