Connect secures exclusive African rights to AttentionAI, new predictive Amplified attention product

AttentionAI is Amplified's new predictive AI product. It turns a single creative asset into a modelled attention dataset and shows how audiences are likely to engage with that asset across platforms, formats and demographics. It draws on more than a decade of academic research from Professor Karen Nelson-Field and over 50 billion real human attention data points. Teams get second-by-second attention decay curves, benchmarks, and creative scores. The data plugs into existing planning, buying and creative testing systems through an API.

For Connect, this is the next step in a long-running attention thesis.

In 2025, Connect and Amplified ran South Africa's first biometric attention data capture, to measure how local audiences actually pay attention to ads across screens and formats. That study gave the agency a calibrated view of the South African market that very few agencies anywhere have. AttentionAI now extends that work from a single study into an always-on capability.

Why this partnership is different from the rest of the attention conversation

Most agencies and brands talk about attention as a post-campaign metric. It gets reported after the money is spent, alongside reach and frequency, and used to grade work that's already in market.

Connect uses the data differently. It's structured for AI training and pulled into the workflow upstream, before plans are signed off and budgets are committed. So it becomes a signal that shapes channel mix, format selection, creative routing and flighting decisions at the planning stage. Attention as an input, not an output.

That distinction matters commercially. By the time a campaign is live, the expensive decisions have already been made. Putting predictive attention data in front of those decisions is where the value sits.

A quote from the creator of attention measurement

Professor Karen Nelson-Field, founder of Amplified and the academic widely credited with turning attention measurement into a recognised industry discipline gloablly, said:

"Connect and The Up&Up Group represents exactly the kind of forward-thinking partner we built AttentionAI API for. By integrating predictive attention data directly into their own systems, they are moving beyond one-off analysis and making human attention a practical, scalable input into everyday creative and media decisions. This partnership shows how attention can become part of the infrastructure of modern media, helping teams test faster, optimise earlier and make decisions based on how people are actually likely to engage."

Karen's work, including the original benchmarks now used across the industry, has shaped how global brands and holding groups think about media quality. Her endorsement of Connect's approach signals that the agency's upstream model is the direction the global industry is moving in.

What this means for African brands and agencies

While Connect is the only agency on the continent with rights to deploy the product, the agency wants attention data to be used widely across the continent, not locked behind a single agency wall.

Brands that want to test creative before flighting, plan media against likely attention rather than likely impressions, or build attention into their existing measurement frameworks can work with Connect directly. Other agencies and independent shops that want access to the data for their own clients can also reach out. Connect is open to partnership conversations on both sides.

Scott Reinders, COO at Connect, said:

"We've been building toward this for years. The 2025 biometric study gave us the calibration. AttentionAI gives us the always-on layer. The point isn't to add another dashboard. It's to make sure the decisions that cost the most money, the ones made before a campaign goes live, are the ones with the best data behind them."

Robert Grace, CSO at The Up&Up Group, said:

"With clients asking tougher questions than ever about where growth will come from, our role across the Up&Up Group of companies is to help them build brands that are both stronger and smarter in an increasingly fragmented, algorithm-driven landscape. Success demands absolute clarity on what drives performance, and our continued partnership with Dr. Karen Nelson-Field and Amplified strengthens our ability to uniquely provide clients with the advanced solutions they need to unlock growth."

About Connect

Connect is the data, media and connections agency within The Up&Up Group. The agency works across major South African and pan-African clients with a focus on attention-led planning, AI-supported decision-making, and integrated brand and performance media.

About Amplified

Amplified is the global attention measurement company founded by Professor Karen Nelson-Field. The company combines academic research with biometric data and predictive AI to help advertisers understand how audiences actually engage with ads.