By Stevie Antonioni, Managing Director UK at Adnami
Studies have shown ad recall to be higher across above the line media such as Cinema, TV & OOH, which makes sense to me since some of my favourite ads of all time are featured in more traditional spaces. I recently caught up with a pal (who shall remain nameless) but who is responsible for some tasty 😉 budgets. He explained that the channels that are working for them were OOH, social and leaflets, and in fact digital web display was not currently a priority at all. I wasn’t super surprised.
Gone are the days when an MSN HPTO was the digital equivalent of a mid-spot on ITV’s X Factor on a Saturday night. So where did it all go wrong for digital web? I suspect the sheer amount of time we now spend on our phones vs anywhere else has impacted significantly. It’s not like suddenly folks dislike ads any more than we did before – in fact, I’m the kind of girl who purposely gets to the cinema early to watch the ads and still buys magazines. I find the ad experiences addictive and occasionally, I also need help in being told what to buy.
A study by The Trade Desk found that 73% of viewers mentally tune out or actively block repetitive advertisements. Yet the advent of programmatic and the propensity to retarget to achieve, in my opinion outdated KPI’s such as CTR, has meant core marketing principles have in fact gone out the window.
Research also indicates that over 74% of users are tired of digital advertisements because they are irrelevant, disruptive, and unrelated to their interests or needs. Yet, digital advertising comes with an apparent abundance of targeting & measurement capabilities. Riddle me that!
But here’s the thing; it’s not that digital display is dead, it’s that it’s lost its ambition. But now, a resurgence of high impact formats is changing that. Publishers now opt for fewer, better ads to protect the user experience and CPMs, creating space for bold, uncluttered formats. A great example of this is The Telegraph’s Cinematic Skylight format. It’s no coincidence that a high impact ad format, underpinned by a ‘metrics that matter’ approach to brands, is hugely successful. Attention has become THE new currency in digital advertising and as performance-driven strategies plateau, brands are investing more in brand building, awareness and recall.
We also have the social platforms to thank (yeah, I can’t believe I said that either) for paving the way with immersive, full-screen content. And now, display is adapting to that behaviour.
Ultimately, we are seeing a shift back towards an audience-first approach, but through a lens of publishers needing to support traditional revenue streams and/or supplement subscription/donation revenue with ad revenue. Audiences get the deal: free content comes with ads; it’s a trade-off that’s worked for decades; however, they are no longer accepting of wild ad to content ratios or ads disguised as content interrupting feeds.
Audiences gravitate toward immersive, high impact & video experiences. They prefer a single, engaging ad over a barrage of small, repetitive ones. This preference isn’t just a trend; it’s a response to the oversaturation of irrelevant or disruptive advertising. An eye-tracking study in the UK and Nordics found that high impact formats (like Adnami’s) captured 2–4× longer view time, while Topscroll units got 7× longer views on desktop and 2× on mobile, compared to standard display units. Skins and Midscrolls delivered up to 10× more attention (Brands Journal).
As audiences grow increasingly selective, the future of display is clear: less clutter, more impact. Brands that embrace immersive high impact formats optimised for attention – not just clicks – will win. It’s no longer enough to be seen; you must be remembered. Publishers and marketers who prioritise creative, context, and meaningful engagement will define the next era of digital advertising. The message is simple: grab attention, respect it, and make it unforgettable, because in a world drowning in noise, only the bold and unmissable will rise.
