# 6 Ways advertisers can capitalize on second-screening - URL: https://www.askattest.com/blog/research/6-ways-advertisers-can-capitalize-on-second-screening - Published: 2026-09-17 - Description: Attest's media consumption research shows most viewers watch TV with a phone in hand. Here's how advertisers can turn that into an opportunity. --- Ask a brand to picture someone watching their TV ad, and most will imagine a viewer looking at the screen, uninterrupted, for the full 30 seconds. That’s not what’s actually happening in most living rooms. Across every generation Attest has studied in its 2026 US and UK [media consumption research](https://www.askattest.com/webinars/the-attention-economy-has-moved-has-your-budget), giving a TV screen full, undivided attention is the exception rather than the rule, ranging from just 7% of US [Millennials](https://www.askattest.com/blog/research/how-to-reach-millennial-audiences) up to 18% of UK [over-50s](https://www.askattest.com/blog/research/how-to-reach-over-50s-audiences). Everyone else is doing something else at the same time, and for 7 in 10, that something else involves a second screen. Scrolling social media and messaging friends show up as top companion activities in every generation we’ve profiled. ![Bar chart titled "What the other screen is for," comparing US and UK second-screening activities. Social media: 43% US, 46% UK. Messaging friends: 26% both markets. Gaming: 25% US, 19% UK. Online shopping: 21% US, 25% UK. Google or AI search: 20% both markets.](https://emx2zzfzxax.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/MC-Webinar-9-Sept-2026-1-1024x576.jpg?strip=all)For an industry that still plans much of its media spend around reach and frequency on a single screen, that’s not just a distraction to work around, it’s a valuable second surface already sitting in the viewer’s hand. Here are six ways advertisers are putting it to work, with real examples and practical advice for each. ## TL:DR - Genuine full attention while watching TV is rare across every generation, most viewers have a phone out at the same time. - QR codes and shoppable TV ads can turn a half-watched spot into an immediate purchase or sign-up. - TV exposure can trigger a same-session mobile retargeting ad, vendors running this at scale report meaningful lifts in ROI and engagement. - Syncing a paid social buy to a TV campaign’s air time meets viewers where they’re already scrolling. - Sponsoring the second screen itself, trivia, predictions, live stats, works especially well during live sport. - Creative built for partial attention (strong audio, shareable moments) performs better than creative that assumes full focus. ## 1. Turn the ad break into a shoppable moment The simplest way to use a phone that’s already out is to give it something to do. Instacart and Michelob Ultra teamed up on a [shoppable Super Bowl LVII campaign](https://www.marketingdive.com/news/instacart-michelob-ultra-qr-code-marketing-super-bowl/641798/) built around this idea, a QR code in Michelob’s TV spots that took viewers straight to a Michelob Ultra page on Instacart, complete with suggested snack pairings from Frito-Lay. Coinbase went furthest of all in 2022, making a [bouncing QR code](https://www.qrcode-tiger.com/super-bowl-qr-code) the entire commercial, a stunt so effective it briefly crashed Coinbase’s website under the traffic. The practical lesson: keep the code on screen for several seconds at minimum, and send people to a page built for a phone, not a shrunk-down desktop site. The destination should be the payoff itself, a deal, nearby stock, exclusive content, not a homepage restating the ad. ![](https://emx2zzfzxax.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Michelob-Ultra-Instacart-support-Super-Bowl-push-with-shoppable-TV-ads-Marketing-Dive-09-17-2026_05_32_PM-1024x528.png?strip=all)## 2. Retarget the moment the ad airs Automatic content recognition (ACR) technology can now detect the moment a household’s TV shows a given ad, and trigger a mobile ad within seconds. Ad-tech vendor [YouAppi reports](https://youappi.com/blog/cross-screen-marketing-101-integrating-ctv-and-mobile-ads-for-maximum-impact/) that its CTV-to-mobile sync product has helped mobile gaming apps boost return on ad spend by 230% and increase app reopens by 15% –– a vendor-reported result rather than an independently audited figure, but directionally consistent with the broader case for syncing exposure across screens. Keep the mobile follow-up tight and specific: price, availability, a direct link to buy, rather than repeating the TV creative, and follow with a reminder 24 to 72 hours later for anyone who showed intent but didn’t convert. ## 3. Show up on social at the same time Our research shows 68% of Americans and 69% of Brits are second-screening while watching TV, and scrolling social media on a phone is the most common activity. So what can pairing the two screens do for a brand? A [controlled study from Universal Ads](https://secure.businesswire.com/news/home/20251118751230/en/Universal-Ads-Study-Reveals-Combination-of-Streaming-TV-and-Social-Media-Ads-Supercharges-Growth-for-Emerging-Brands), Comcast’s ad platform, run with research firm MediaScience across 430 participants, found that emerging brands pairing streaming TV ads with social media ads saw 2.8 times higher unaided brand recall and a 24% lift in purchase intent compared with social-only campaigns. A lightweight paid social buy timed to the same slot as a TV campaign means the ad someone half-sees on the TV gets reinforced moments later on the platform they’re already scrolling, especially around shared viewing moments like live sport, finales and awards shows, where real-time conversation about what’s on screen spikes. ![Data visualization titled "Only 1 in 8 give the TV their full attention." A pictogram shows 12% of US and 13% of UK viewers give the TV their full attention, each represented as 1 filled square out of 8. A callout box beside it reads "7 in 10 are second-screening while the TV is on."](https://emx2zzfzxax.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/MC-Webinar-9-Sept-2026-1024x576.jpg?strip=all)## 4. Sponsor the second screen during live sport Rather than competing with the phone, some brands are buying the phone experience itself. [WinView Games](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/live-tv-sports-play-along-app-winview-games-announces-sponsorship-with-pepsico-to-start-this-holiday-season-300382379.html), a live sports prediction app that lets fans play along on their phone while watching football on TV, ran a category-exclusive sponsorship with PepsiCo specifically to reach young male football fans who are otherwise hard to reach through TV commercials alone, through in-game sponsorship and incentivized interactive commercials. That puts the brand inside the second-screen activity rather than fighting it for attention. This is a particularly strong fit for live sport specifically, where second-screening is heaviest and most habitual, checking scores, stats and predictions. The advice: look for sponsorship of the companion experience (a prediction game, a live poll, a stats feed) rather than only buying commercial breaks within the broadcast itself. ![](https://emx2zzfzxax.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/WinView_Inc___Screen_Shot.jpg?strip=all)## 5. Design for partial attention Because full attention is rare in every generation profiled in Attest’s research, creative needs to work even when it’s only half-heard rather than fully watched. A distinctive sonic logo or a clearly spoken brand name can register with someone glancing up from their phone in a way that on-screen text or a purely visual punchline cannot. Netflix’s two-note “ta-dum”/”Tudum” startup sound is one of the most recognized audio cues in media, distinctive enough that Netflix built an entire fan platform (Tudum.com) around the name. Netflix VP of product Tod Yellin, who led the project, briefed sound designer Lon Bender to build something short enough for [an era of “click-and-play,”](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/what-netflix-ta-dum-sound-logo-comes-from-1234578100/) not too electronic, and able to signal the brand without saying its name. The result, two percussive knocks (Bender’s own wedding ring hitting a bedroom cabinet, layered with a deeper anvil sound) and a final tonal swell, works precisely because it asks nothing of the eyes. Someone could be looking at their phone the whole time and still know exactly what they’re about to watch. ![](https://emx2zzfzxax.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Netflix-Tudum-Go-behind-the-streams-09-17-2026_05_50_PM-1024x492.png?strip=all)## 6. Give them something worth sending on Messaging friends is consistently one of the most common things people do while watching TV, across every generation Attest has studied (more than a quarter of Americans and Brits are likely to do it). That’s an opportunity most creative doesn’t plan for at all. Pepsi’s Super Bowl LX spot this year, “The Choice,” is a good example of content built to be forwarded rather than just watched. It hijacked Coca-Cola’s beloved polar bears, showing the iconic arctic mascots defecting to Pepsi in a taste test, and it worked: social intelligence firm [Infegy’s analysis of all 23 ads from the game](https://www.infegy.com/blog/2026-super-bowl-ad-performance) found it generated the second-highest volume of social conversation of the night, with 73% positive sentiment. That was largely because it was exactly the kind of “wait, look what they did” moment someone sends straight to a friend’s phone rather than just enjoying alone. Notably, the same analysis found celebrity-stacked ads with far bigger name recognition finished well down the rankings. A moment worth forwarding beats a cast worth recognizing. Worth noting: those numbers only capture public sharing. Most of what actually gets forwarded happens in private messages and group chats, so-called “dark social”, which no analytics dashboard can see; RadiumOne’s original 2014 study on the phenomenon found 59% of all online sharing already happened this way, and that share has almost certainly grown since. ## What this means for brands The advertisers getting the most from second-screening are the ones treating the two screens as one connected journey: a TV spot that plants the message, and a phone that’s already open to act on it, whether that action is scanning a code, seeing a retargeted ad, joining a live prediction game, or forwarding a clip to a friend. Reach on the big screen, and conversion or reinforcement on the small one aren’t separate metrics to optimize independently, they’re two halves of the same moment. ## Get more insight into media habits Want the full picture of how people actually watch TV, and everything else, across generations? Download Attest’s 2026 US and UK media consumption report for the complete breakdown of attention, second-screening and ad tolerance. ### 2026 UK media consumption report Creator platforms have overtaken TV and streaming combined for daily viewing. Learn what this evolution in entertainment means for your media planning. [Download the report](https://www.askattest.com/our-research/2026-uk-media-consumption-report) ![](https://emx2zzfzxax.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/UK_2026_Media_Consumption_transparent.png?strip=all) ## Methodology Findings on attention and companion viewing behavior are drawn from Attest’s 2026 US and UK media consumption research, based on nationally representative samples of 1,000 adults in each market. Campaign examples and statistics referenced throughout are drawn from public reporting, press releases and third-party vendor case studies rather than Attest’s own research (sources are linked inline), and are included for illustrative context rather than as Attest-verified figures. Where a statistic is self-reported by a vendor about its own product, this is noted in the text.