What if the very ads viewers claim to value are the ones they routinely ignore? A new report from Roku and Dentsu found that while a vast majority of people report paying more attention to ads that reflect personal interests and purchase habits, that still may not be enough to garner buying action. For brands trying to break through, the challenge isn’t just being seen; it’s offering something valuable enough to make viewers look up in the first place. Closing the attention gap, it turns out, is less about interrupting the show and more about making the ad itself an indispensable part of the shopping journey.
Lindsay Pullins, Roku’s Director of Business Development & Partnerships for retail media, commerce and performance is steering that evolution. Her perspective was forged leading innovation where media and performance meet.
Did you see that?: The appetite for shopping on TV is real, but it comes with a condition. Citing the recent research from Roku and Dentsu, Pullins points to a central paradox: while 83% of viewers say relevant ads are valuable, only 34% report paying attention. “That’s an astonishing gap,” she notes. “You have to take a step back and ask, ‘As a brand, what do I need to do to get them to pay attention?’”
The key to closing that gap, she explains, is ensuring there is perceived value in what is being shown. “We found that over half of streamers are interested in adding a product to their cart if there is the right value exchange. It all comes back to the value exchange. Is there a compelling offer? Is it a personalized product? That’s what makes someone say, ‘You know what, I want that right now.’”
The fourth wall: Despite attention being hard to grasp, the impact of shoppable ads extends far beyond the final conversion, challenging the legacy view of TV as just a top-of-funnel branding tool. “We’re finding that an action ad—a shoppable unit—actually increases branding, awareness, and purchase intent,” she says. “It’s about breaking what we call the ‘fourth wall.’ When you create that unique, interactive customer experience, you get them to lean in, which lifts many metrics across the board.”
In a single room: With a clear consumer appetite and a proven full-funnel impact, the biggest obstacle to mass adoption isn’t technology, but oftentimes internal team dynamics. “Some of the biggest barriers that exist in driving commerce adoption have to do with internal team structure,” Pullins says. “To this day, we still see silos between the brand team, the commerce team and the innovation team. The debate over where the budget comes from often depends on understanding how CTV commerce impacts the full funnel, and the most successful brands are the ones getting those teams into a single room.”
Interoperability: Roku’s approach to leading this evolution is grounded in a focus on open access for advertisers. “Roku being the number one TV operating system in the US, Canada, and Mexico—we’re really continuing on this vision of interoperability,” she says. “And making it easy for our buyers to access Roku in the way that they want to be accessing it.”
But true interoperability demands data for effective personalization. “At Roku, we offer access to the data, tech, and experiences that turn reach into performance,” says Pullins. “Our platform offers brands the chance to be unmissable along the entire streamer’s journey.”
Proof in the performance: “The brands that are leaning into this are leaning in again and again because they see results,” Pullins says. “They’re looking across the funnel and saying, ‘It drove our branding goals and it drove real lower funnel impact.’”
