The Six Second Battle

Executive Summary

• Researchers have been studying the relationships between the length of an Ad, the location of the Ad (pre-, mid-, or post-roll), and "skippability" with effectiveness.
• Ad recall for short video ads is low, somewhere near 30%, based on multiple studies, although pre-roll ad recall is higher than mid-roll ads.
• An estimated 75% of "skippable" ads are skipped by users when they have a choice.
• Results suggest that longer ads are more effective than shorter ads, and non-skippable ads are better than those the user can skip.
• Gaining and keeping attention from the consumer is the antecedent, or critical precursor, to a successful Ad. However, attention alone does not determine the effectiveness of the ad; it just gives you the opportunity to make an impact.
• One of the reasons non-skippable ads are more effective is due to the fact that users are distracted by the timer and the "skip" button and thus have less focus available for the Ad message

Full Article

One of the most difficult parts of marketing is understanding what's working and what's not. So it's nice when we can add some hard facts or insights from reliable research to give us some guidance. One of the most important decisions when planning the media mix is selecting the format of the Ad, which typically includes everything that makes up the structure of the Ad, including the length. As streaming video continues to take up a bigger proportion of global ad dollars, we need to rely on data and research to make sure we're creating content that works inside the available placements. In this post, I'll go beyond opinions and share some insights from published research on the effectiveness of streaming video ads-- in particular, the relationship between ad length, "skipability," and placement for pre-roll and mid-roll ads placed in streaming video content. Check out the research papers in the references section below if you want to dig deeper.

Longer ads beat shorter ones

This one can spark a religious debate between your media team and your creative team. And while I might be biased towards the latter, I take pride in being objectively data-driven and including caveats where necessary. Here's the thing: With all else being equal, you will be better off with a consumer watching a 20-second version of your ad than the 7-second ad. Some of the reasons are obvious, others are less so. Several studies (Holmes, 2020; Li & Lo, 2015, and Goodrich et al., 2015) found that longer in-stream ads generated higher brand recognition and recall, which makes sense. The longer you are exposed to a brand, the more likely you are to remember it. Longer ads also give you the opportunity to influence consumers' opinions about your brand. Consumers can't form favorable opinions about your brand that they hardly remember, let alone make a decision to purchase that they hadn't already made.

The point is that although your shorter ad may attract more clicks, you need to look beyond CTR to measure its effectiveness. Longer Ads have a stronger and more positive impact on metrics like brand recall, perception, and purchase intent (Frade et al., 2023). So, while you may see fewer people watching and clicking on a longer ad, they represent a much higher quality "touch." I'm not recommending abandoning short Ads, just keep them in context. Use them as you would a billboard-- you can announce that you exist and communicate one idea or message, but don't expect it to make anyone think differently of your brand. However, for consumers who are already well aware of your brand and are convinced to buy from you, a short ad (or billboard or display ad) can remind them to take action.

Pre-Roll beats mid-roll

There are some interesting reasons pre-roll ads lead to better results, at least as measured by brand recall, affinity, and purchase intent. Much of it goes back to how our brains work, particularly attention and focus. When a person watches a video voluntarily, their engagement with the content is not equal throughout the viewing session. They tend to start with low attention, which increases as they get into the story. Pre-roll ads interrupt their experience before they have a chance to get engaged with the content, and therefore are not competing with the content yet. In scientific terms, viewers have a higher "cognitive involvement" in the middle of a video, which is damaging both for their sense of intrusiveness (Hairong et al., 2002) and attitude (MacKenzie & Lutz, 1989). The high cognitive involvement of viewers during the video can compromise the effectiveness of your Ad message when it interrupts viewers in the middle of a video they're locked into.

Non-skippable beats skippable

Skippable ads are attractive for many reasons, including the fact that advertisers only pay when their Ads aren't skipped. Theoretically, they are only paying for Ads that consumers actually pay attention to. Unfortunately, the research suggests that it's not that simple. One of the interesting reasons for this is that the interactivity of the Ad, or the ability of the viewer to control the experience, actually distracts the consumer from your message. One study found that the "skip" button and the timer commanded over 40% of the attention of the viewer, which means they aren't absorbing your message. This is supported by studies on recall, which show that fewer people remember the brand from an ad when it's skippable. In one example, people who viewed the pre-roll version of an ad were 65% more likely to successfully recall the brand than those exposed to a mid-roll version. While consumers can be annoyed when they can't skip an ad, Aslam et al. (2021) found that non-skippable ads can generate more positive attitudes when compared to skippable counterparts.

So, what does all of this mean for our media plans? Like most things, it depends on the situation. But I do know that we need to remember to step back and think broadly about what it means to run an effective Ad campaign and how we measure it. For an Ad to be effective, the viewer needs to pay enough attention to recognize the brand, understand the message, and form an opinion- ideally in favor of your company. That takes time, certainly more than a few seconds. But you also don't need to tell your whole story every time a consumer is exposed to your content. Shorter ad formats, which would include short videos, billboards, and display ads, can get your brand exposure and (in some cases) influence one variable, whether that be to learn something about your brand or draw a connection between your brand and some experience or emotion. If a consumer is in the market for exactly what you offer, your ad just might push them over the edge. Whatever you decide to do, we recommend taking a balanced approach to your media plan and creative development. The best campaigns are able to connect with consumers in many different places and several variations of your brand message.

References

Aslam, W., Farhat, K., & Arif, I. (2021). Skippable advertisement versus full-length advertisement: An empirical analysis in a developing economy. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 21(1), 49-67. https://doi.org/10.1080/15252019.2020.1852634

Frade, J. L. H., Oliveira, Jorge Henrique Caldeira de, & Giraldi, Janaina de Moura Engracia. (2023). Skippable or non-skippable? pre-roll or mid-roll? visual attention and effectiveness of in-stream ads. International Journal of Advertising, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2022.2153529

Goodrich, K., S.Z. Schiller, and D. Galletta. 2015. Consumer reactions to intrusiveness of Online-Video advertisements do length, informativeness, and humor help (or hinder) marketing outcomes? Journal of Advertising Research 55, no. 1: 37–50.

Li, H., Edwards, S. M., & Lee, J. (2002). Measuring the intrusiveness of advertisements: Scale development and validation. Journal of Advertising, 31(2), 37-47.https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2002.10673665

Holmes, T.A. 2021. Effects of self-brand congruity and ad duration on online in-stream video advertising. Journal of Consumer Marketing 38, no. 4: 374–85.

Li, H., and H.Y. Lo. 2015. Do you recognize its brand? The effectiveness of online in-stream video advertisements. Journal of Advertising 44, no. 3: 208–18.

MacKenzie, S.B., and R.J. Lutz. 1989. An empirical examination of the structural antecedents of attitude toward the ad in an advertising pretesting context. Journal of Marketing 53, no. 2: 48–65.