New Amplified report reveals brands waste up to $245B annually on ineffective advertising due to “dull media” and low attention.
Amplified, the global pioneer in human-led media measurement, has released a new report revealing how much of their budgets brands are wasting on ineffective advertising: The Eye-Watering Cost of Dull Media.
Measuring success in terms of both active attention and commercial impact, findings from the whitepaper reveal that low-performing campaigns would need an additional $198 billion annually to match the highest-performing campaign categories. This rises to a staggering $245 billion when benchmarked against the best-performing campaigns in top-tier media.
The study, which Amplified founder Dr Karen Nelson-Field launched at the 2025 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, is a continuation of the groundbreaking research unveiled by Adam Morgan of eatbigfish, Jon Evans of System1 and Peter Field at Cannes 2024, The Extraordinary Cost of Dull.
Building on the original investigation, Amplified sought to explore what happens when the media mix fails, even if ad creative quality is good. Campaigns were categorised into four groups based on how many people viewed the ad and for how long in proportion to the total ad time-in-view – from Non-Dull and Moderately Dull to Very Dull and Extremely Dull.
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Analysis not only revealed Non-Dull media is approximately 11 times more effective than Very Dull and Extremely Dull formats but also highlighted:
- A downward trend: Low-performing campaigns invest more heavily in “fast-decay” formats, hitting diminishing returns quicker and wasting more impressions
- A variable decay ratio: In Non-Dull campaigns, around 80% of formats were slow decay. However, in Extremely Dull campaigns, that mix flips with only 20% of formats being slow decay
- Lower short-term conversion: The study also revealed that very and extremely dull campaigns produce 37% lower STAS (short term advertising strength). As attention fades, so does influence.
- Decrease in ROI: Long-term ROI per $1 USD fell by 14%. Brand-building only works if attention is earned. Dull media strips that attention and long-term value fades.
- Increase in wastage: Very and Extremely Dull campaigns saw a 130% increase in wastage. ‘Wastage’ is the space above the viewing curve i.e. the portion of time that an ad was on screen but never looked at.
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Karen Nelson-Field, Founder of Amplified, commented: “The Cost of Dull Media isnʼt just theoretical – itʼs a measurable, financial penalty being levied on well-intentioned marketers everyday, like a hidden tax on brands that pay full price for media that simply isnʼt doing its job. This is media inefficiency in its rawest form. At Amplified, we’ve spent years measuring real human attention in real environments and this report shows that when media canʼt hold attention, outcomes – and budgets – suffer. If your media mix tends to environments where attention is low and wastage high, you’ll always be left wondering why even the best creative consistently underperforms.”
“When we hear ‘Dull’, we instinctively think dull content, mediocre creative, forgettable ads. And yes, dull creative is expensive. It leaks effectiveness. But with this study, we sought to prove that content can be one of the less expensive parts of dull. Thereʼs another, more destructive, source of dullness which can render even the best content invisible,” added Adam Morgan, Founder & Chair, eatbigfish, “We all follow the preset tenets of ‘responsible’ media planning, trying to strike that fine balance between effectiveness and efficiency; high impact and broad reach. But this study begs the question whether that’s truly the responsible choice or the risky one.”
Amplified captured data encompassing 115,000 ad views, 190 campaigns, and up to 60 formats across multiple environments – covering connected TV (CTV), linear TV, social, gaming, and web. Collected with its privacy-safe biometric and visual methods (i.e. eye tracking and facial detection using a customised app), Amplified captured where viewers were looking, how long they stayed focused, when attention drifted and importantly when they disengaged.
