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Vertical Playbook · Attention

Attention.

Attention measurement is a category that has to be created — not just sold.

  • Treated like viewability 2.0 — but you're not.
  • Coastal competitors are better-funded.
  • Stuck at agency evaluation, not brand default.
EARO OPERATING MODELFRAMEWORKExposure: Necessary but never sufficient — exposure is not attention.EExposurereach + frequencyAttention: Attention alone is not enough — it only pays off mapped to relevance and outcome.AAttentiontime + densityRelevance: The bridge — attention earns its keep only when it is relevant.RRelevancecontext + intentOutcome: Where the budget logic lives — lift, conversion, defensible spend.OOutcomelift + conversionOPERATOR LANESMeasurementbaseline + AYCENarrativebrand-committee fluentStandardsAdCP · MRC · IABAdoptionagency → brand defaultCATEGORY ARC Viewability 2.0 confusion → Agency evaluation → Brand default → Category standard
Best mapped to
Advisory Retainer with optional fractional / interim commercial leadership during the US build phase. Scoped from a Market Entry Audit.
Best fit
Attention measurement vendors, attentive-AI / cognitive measurement startups, and CTV / video-attention platforms moving from agency evaluation to brand-default category position.
Scope this playbook →
Operator thesis

Attention measurement is a category that has to be created — not just sold. I've shaped the attention narrative as an author (EARO framework, *Relevance Realization*), a standards contributor (AdCP Signals & Measurement WG founding member), and an operator. When attention companies need to move from "evaluated by agencies" to "defaulted by brand committees," that's the work — built across three lanes: category narrative, standards & trust posture, and US commercial team architecture.

Representative engagement pattern from an attention measurement category leader — founding US commercial architecture (advisory archetype). Client names, decision-makers, and revenue targets are masked; operating logic and public career anchors are retained.

You are here

If any of these sound like your meeting last week.

  • Brand teams treat us like viewability 2.0 — we're more than that.

  • Better-funded competitors are on both coasts — we need to compete fast.

  • Adoption is stalling at agency evaluation — the buyer narrative isn't landing.

  • We need to design our founding US commercial team — and we don't know who the first hire should be.

This is not for you if
  • You're Pre-Series A / Pre-PMF — no enterprise traction or buyer urgency.
  • You want a media-mix line item without sharpening the buyer narrative.
  • You need a vendor-comparison spreadsheet, not a designed go-to-market motion.
  • You're not willing to narrow ICP or kill segments that look promising but don't close.
  • There is no internal owner to carry the work after the engagement ends.
What I bring to this vertical

Three operator anchors.

  1. 01

    Author of the attention thesis

    EARO framework (Exposure → Attention → Relevance → Outcome) translates attention from a metric into a structured buyer-facing framework. Published essays — *Relevance Realization*, *Attention Isn't Enough* — read by category buyers.

  2. 02

    AdCP Signals & Measurement WG founding member

    Positions attention vendors inside emerging standards — not chasing them. Industry-authority posture (50+ publications, DMEXCO columnist, Forbes Tech Council) compounds credibility with brand and agency buyers.

  3. 03

    Commercial architect for category creation

    Designs founding US commercial team architecture — role design, hiring profile, comp model, and revenue-model framing (baseline measurement + AYCE programmatic expansion). Available as advisory or fractional / interim during the build phase.

Signature framework

EARO operating model.

Exposure → Attention → Relevance → Outcome — and the operator lanes underneath (measurement, narrative, standards, adoption) that move attention from agency evaluation to brand default.

EARO OPERATING MODELFRAMEWORKExposure: Necessary but never sufficient — exposure is not attention.EExposurereach + frequencyAttention: Attention alone is not enough — it only pays off mapped to relevance and outcome.AAttentiontime + densityRelevance: The bridge — attention earns its keep only when it is relevant.RRelevancecontext + intentOutcome: Where the budget logic lives — lift, conversion, defensible spend.OOutcomelift + conversionOPERATOR LANESMeasurementbaseline + AYCENarrativebrand-committee fluentStandardsAdCP · MRC · IABAdoptionagency → brand defaultCATEGORY ARC Viewability 2.0 confusion → Agency evaluation → Brand default → Category standard
Sample deliverable archetype

What ships, shaped like this.

US market entry for an attention measurement category leader

Three-lane engagement: (1) category narrative built from EARO and *Relevance Realization*, (2) standards & trust posture across AdCP / MRC / IAB, and (3) founding US commercial team architecture — role design, hiring profile, revenue model, governance.

  • Category narrative architecture (EARO + brand-committee translation)
  • CTV-grade attention positioning roadmap
  • Standards & trust posture across AdCP, MRC, IAB
  • US team MVP role design (CCO/CRO + 2× AE + 1× AM)
  • Revenue model framing (baseline measurement + AYCE programmatic expansion)
  • Holdco engagement plan (IPG, Dentsu, Publicis, OMG, Havas)
  • Founding-team hiring framework (skin in game / solid product / great humans)
  • Optional fractional / interim commercial leadership during the US build phase
ENGAGEMENT ARTIFACT US market entry for an attention measurement category leader SAMPLE · NO CLIENT DATA SECTIONS · 06 01 Category narrative architecture (EARO + brand-committee translation) 02 CTV-grade attention positioning roadmap 03 Standards & trust posture across AdCP, MRC, IAB 04 US team MVP role design (CCO/CRO + 2× AE + 1× AM) 05 Revenue model framing (baseline measurement + AYCE programmatic expansion) 06 Holdco engagement plan (IPG, Dentsu, Publicis, OMG, Havas) NO FLUFF ADVISORY · OPERATING ARTIFACT PAGE 01 · v1

Sample structure only — no client data. Final artifact is shaped to the engagement, the data available, and the decisions the read needs to drive.

Engagement cadence

Three-lane advisory engagement (architecture → activation → scale)

Cadence at a glance Three-lane advisory engagement (architecture → activation → scale)
01 PHASE 1 Architecture Category narrative + standards posture… Founding architecture sanctioned; first A-… 02 PHASE 2 Activation Holdco engagement + brand-side educati… Y1 revenue baseline locked across top-5 ag… 03 PHASE 3 Scale Brand-default category position + gove… Category dominance across brand and agency…
  1. 01
    Phase 1 · Architecture

    Category narrative + standards posture + founding-team blueprint.

    • Category narrative architecture (EARO + brand-committee translation)
    • CTV-grade attention positioning thesis
    • Standards & trust posture across AdCP, MRC, IAB
    • US-team MVP architecture (roles, comp, sourcing)
    • Revenue-model framing (baseline + expansion + pricing parallels)
    Milestone Founding architecture sanctioned; first A-player profiles identified; standards roadmap locked
  2. 02
    Phase 2 · Activation

    Holdco engagement + brand-side education + adoption motion.

    • Holdco engagement plan (all 5 holdcos)
    • Brand-side thought-leadership program
    • Conference / panel / webinar cadence
    • Test-and-learn structure for top-tier brand pilots
    • PMM alignment for objection handling
    • Optional fractional / interim commercial leadership during build
    Milestone Y1 revenue baseline locked across top-5 agencies; AYCE programmatic launch with marquee brands
  3. 03
    Phase 3 · Scale

    Brand-default category position + governance for the next chapter.

    • Y2 doubling on baseline + AYCE scale
    • M&A / partnership advisory at category level
    • Path-to-scale governance for founding commercial leader
    • Board-level strategic input
    Milestone Category dominance across brand and agency adoption; multi-year valuation trajectory unlocked
Competitive frame

Who you're benchmarking against.

  • Adelaide
  • DV
  • IAS
  • Lumen
  • Realeyes

Engagement work includes a SWOT vs. peer set, positioning roadmap, and competitive-takeover plays where the wedge is clear.

Terms used in this playbook

Operator vocabulary, defined.

AYCE
All You Can Eat — programmatic expansion pricing parallel that runs alongside baseline-measurement licensing, modeled against the DV / IAS pricing structure.
EARO
Exposure → Attention → Relevance → Outcome — a cognitive-science-grounded framework that translates attention from an isolated metric into a structured brand-committee narrative.

Market references last validated: June 7, 2026. Revalidate before pitch use.

Next step

Need attention to become brand default, not agency evaluation?

Every engagement starts with a 30-minute fit call. Tell me what you're working on; if it's the right kind of problem, we'll scope it. If it isn't, you'll leave with a sharper read on the market.