An Interview with a Media Strategy Expert: Winning Big with Attention Planning

Meeting the attention adopters that have helped drive innovation for their organisations.

In this interview, Dalius Dulevičius, Client Service Team Lead at Mindshare Lithuania, shares how insights from the Mastering Modern Media course helped his agency secure one of Lithuania’s largest pharmacy pitches. As a seasoned strategist, Dulevičius has been exploring the power of attention in media planning for years, but the course provided him with the structured methodology and confidence to apply these concepts on a larger scale. Here, he discusses his journey into attention-based strategy, the pitch that showcased its impact, and his advice for others looking to level-up their attention knowledge and leverage its capabilities in the ever-evolving media landscape.

Tell us a bit about yourself, and the role you have at your organisation

My name is Dalius Dulevicius and I’m the Client Service Team Lead at Mindshare Lithuania.

My responsibilities span multiple areas within the company, with my primary role being Strategy Lead, focusing on developing strategies for both existing clients and new prospects. While also acting as the lead for business development, responsible for crafting strategic direction, generating innovative ideas, and spearheading their implementation.

What drew you to the MMM attention course, and what were your initial expectations?

The MMM Attention Course was a natural progression in my journey as an Attention Strategist. I began exploring the concept of attention in 2021–2022. Initially, it was just a catchy buzzword—a fun fact, like the “2.5-second attention threshold,” to liven up client meetings. But soon, I delved deeper, consuming every article, study, book, and presentation I could find on the subject.

We started incorporating attention metrics into our work as an agency. For example, we used visual testing tools from Neurons Inc. to assess creative performance in terms of focus and cognitive demand. When creative work scored poorly in these areas, we recommended either increasing the effective frequency or revising the creative itself.

We also implemented attention benchmarks for media planning, using insights from sources like WARC and other databases. Amplified Intelligence data was key, alongside contributions from Lumen, Digital Cinema Media, and others.

When I discovered the opportunity to participate in the MMM Attention Course led by Karen Nelson-Field, whose work I’d already cited extensively in strategies for colleagues, clients, and the market – I didn’t hesitate for a second.

Can you describe the media pitch you recently won?

This was the largest pharmacy pitch in Lithuania, for Eurovaistinė. I was responsible for the strategic elements, including the overall idea, implementation, and solutions.

The challenge was to enhance Eurovaistinė’s qualitative brand attributes while simultaneously increasing physical and e-commerce traffic to its pharmacies. With Eurovaistinė already dominating the pharmacy advertising market (accounting for approximately 50% of investments), increasing media spend or expanding the media mix was not a viable approach.

This is where the Attention Strategy took centre stage.

How did your media strategy stand out from the competition?

While we can’t be certain what our competitors proposed, we’re confident we were the only agency to use attention as the foundation of our strategy.

Our approach focused on four key areas of Attention Planning:
1. Total Video Attention optimisation (TV, VOD)
2. Digital Attention optimisation (across all digital platforms)
3. Offline Attention optimisation (OOH, DOOH, print, and radio)
4. Technical Creative optimisation (providing detailed guidelines to enhance creative attention performance)

What specific insights from the course were most helpful in developing your winning strategy?

The course provided the methodological framework we needed to apply Attention Planning effectively. It gave us the structure and logic to confidently propose this strategy, supported by robust evidence and clear execution guidelines.

Were there particular concepts around attention that played a pivotal role in your pitch?

Absolutely. The concept of “Attention Hierarchy” was central to our strategy. Other critical topics included:

• Technical viewability versus attentive viewability
• aCPM (attentive cost per thousand impressions)
• Viewing and consumption patterns
• The media versus creative debate (“chicken or egg”)
• The Double Jeopardy effect

How has winning this pitch changed your approach to future media strategies?

Quite straightforwardly, it’s reinforced our belief that this is the future of media strategy. We’ll be leveraging attention-based planning extensively going forward.

What feedback have you received from the client or your team regarding the strategy?

Our strategic approach received the highest score among the six agencies that participated in the pitch. The key feedback highlighted:

• Strong and innovative insights into improving advertising investment efficiency through attention metrics. Competitors tended to take easier routes, such as recommending higher budgets or addressing issues outside the scope of a media agency (e.g., discounting or promoting cheaper products)
• Well-substantiated insights, with specific actions and expected results clearly outlined.
• Proposed changes that were easy to implement, offering significant qualitative and quantitative impact on advertising’s business outcomes.
• The versatility of the attention strategy, which could be applied across the client’s entire portfolio.
  

What advice would you give to others looking to apply knowledge from the program to real-world challenges?

My advice is to implement the concepts immediately. Start small – experiment with manageable projects to test and refine the approach. I’ve been integrating attention concepts into my work for around three years, but the course enabled me to scale up significantly. The results speak for themselves!

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Dalius Dulevičius’ success story highlights the transformative power of attention-based strategies in today’s competitive media landscape. By applying the structured insights from the Mastering Modern Media course, he not only achieved a major pitch victory but also set a benchmark for the future of media planning.

If you’re looking to elevate your media strategies and stay ahead in the industry, the Mastering Modern Media course is your next step. Don’t miss the opportunity to gain cutting-edge knowledge from industry leaders – register now and take your expertise in attention planning to the next level.