Freelancer. Social Media Manager. Influencer. Content Creator.
How often have you heard one of these answers when asking the seemingly simple question, "So, what do you do?"
The rise of social media hasn't just created new career paths — it has built an entire creator economy. Yet, while brands are investing more than ever in this space, many are still relying on outdated metrics to define success. In an industry built on attention, are Impressions really enough?
With brands, agencies and procurement teams under increasing pressure to prove ROI, conversations around media performance are shifting from volume to value (and from reach to attention).
Pieter Geyser, Commercial Director at Humanz, argues that the future of media planning lies not just in exposure, but in measurable, active attention. In this Q&A, Geyser unpacks the structural barriers holding the industry back, the risks of manufactured authenticity and what a sustainable creator economy could look like in 2026.
What resistance have you encountered from brands when challenging Impression-led reporting, and how do you overcome it?
Brands often exhibit "innovation paralysis," clinging to Impressions as a "false sense of security." The primary resistance stems from the long-standing reliance on CPM as a success metric rather than a mere unit of purchase. Marketers fear that moving away from these high-volume metrics will make their campaigns appear less "successful" on paper.
We need to shift the conversation from the Volume of media (Impressions) to the Velocity of engagement (Attention).
We demonstrate that a single second of Active Attention, where a user consciously chooses to watch, is more valuable for brand memory and performance than minutes of forced, non-skippable exposure that users actively resent.
Why has the industry become so fixated on "authenticity" in branded content and what risks does it create for long-term brand equity?
The industry's intense focus on "organic-looking" content stems from a desire to avoid "interrupting the user experience," ultimately manufacturing an illusion of authenticity.
While creator content excels at capturing and holding attention, performing 39% better than branded assets, brands often misinterpret this by attempting to "hide" in the background.
This strategy of blending into user content, however, carries a significant risk: brands become 48% less memorable post-viewing.
What internal capability gaps prevent brands from shifting to attention-led planning?
A shift to attention-led planning is currently stalled by several key operational gaps: a structural barrier exists because 60% of marketers prioritise measuring success by ROI, even when their primary planning objective is Brand Awareness (Measurement Misalignment).
Further hindering the shift is a lack of specialised expertise: 31% of marketers struggle to find the internal strategy and creative knowledge for sophisticated creator programmes.
Technology Fragmentation also plays a role, as only 3% of companies utilise a dedicated brand management system to centralise assets for creator partnerships.
Finally, Legacy Media Metrics persist, as media planners face challenges in monetising viewability since current systems favour CPM, leading to a continued reliance on impressions and metrics like Reach and Frequency, which focus on media volume over recognising the creative's primary role in driving attention.
From a commercial perspective, how do you ensure transparency in sponsored creator content without sacrificing performance?
The belief that transparency in sponsored content compromises performance is a significant industry misconception; in reality, it enhances it.
Data shows that only about 14% of creator content is actively watched beyond the first five seconds, yet half of all creators fail to feature the brand or product within that same timeframe. This lack of upfront disclosure makes users feel tricked, leading to immediate attention drop-off.
Conversely, well-branded creator content is a powerful performance driver, yielding 2.3 times higher brand engagement and proving three times more effective at strengthening brand image.
Furthermore, a system one study confirms the positive emotional impact of early brand display, reporting a 57% increase in happiness, 48% less negative sentiment and 19% less attention decay.
Did you find this Q&A insightful? Let us know in the comments section below.
*Image courtesy of Canva and Contributor