The McKinsey Podcast A more accurate way to measure consumer engagement
57 snips
Nov 6, 2025 In this discussion, Kabir Ahuja, a Senior Partner at McKinsey, dives deep into the concept of the 'attention equation'—an innovative approach to measuring consumer engagement. He explains how attention has fragmented in today's media landscape and emphasizes the difference between reach and effective attention. Ahuja also highlights under-monetized opportunities in streaming and gaming. Additionally, he shares insights on leveraging AI to create targeted content and recommends strategies for advertisers to optimize their messaging based on audience attention.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Reach Is Easy; Effectiveness Is The Hard Part
- Reach is easier than ever in digital channels, but finding people isn't the hard part anymore.
- The key question is whether reach is effective and used in the right way to convert attention into value.
Channels Produce Very Different Focus Patterns
- Channels differ widely in how they generate focus: social video grows fast and isolates viewers while gaming yields very high focus.
- Premium streaming draws loyalty but also high multitasking, so focus patterns vary by medium.
The Attention Equation: CQ + AQ
- The 'attention equation' explains a unit of attention by Commercial Quotient (CQ) and Attention Quotient (AQ).
- About 3% of monetization variance is due to commercial factors while quality of attention explains the rest, highlighting AQ's importance.