Short :06 ads have now become a regular feature of the digital media landscape.
Previous research by MediaScience demonstrated that a :06 delivers roughly 60% of the impact of a full :30 on cable or broadcast TV, highlighting the potential associated with the new ad format when ads are fully seen.
Now, new research conducted by MediaScience for online video portal Vevo suggests there’s an even greater potential opportunity associated with such short ads.
The research expands on the earlier work by comparing results to different ad skipping scenarios.
The lab-based experiment was conducted using a mock YouTube environment created by MediaScience programmers.
Pre-roll ads were exposed as research participants watched videos. A variety of Skippable and Non-Skippable :06s, :15s, and :30s were used across five non-competing test brands. Some 280 people participated in this experiment.
As expected, MediaScience found, “viewers will skip ads when given the opportunity potentially making the :06 a more tolerable unit for this environment.”
The average skip time for a skippable :30 was 8.72 seconds into the ad. Skip time for a :15 was 7.15 seconds into the ad. And skip time for a :06 was 5.72 seconds into the ad.
For most ads, YouTube makes you watch at least 5 seconds before giving you the opportunity to skip.
“If this is the case, should a pre-roll :06 just be Non-Skippable?” MediaScience asks.
In terms of Brand Recall, the Non-Skippable :06 delivers 82% of the impact of a Non-Skippable :15. Brand recall for the Non-Skippable :06 is 42% higher than the Skippable :06.
Ad Liking, Brand Attitude, and Purchase Intent do not suffer by removing the option to skip.
“Especially on mobile, viewers want to get to their content fast,” MediaScience finds.
The Non-Skippable :06 can provide significant value in this environment.
“The countdown timer to Skip is seen,” MediaScience concludes. “Eye tracking metrics tell us that viewers look at the timer when they know the ability to skip is coming. The anticipation could distract viewers from processing the ad. Although we don’t have biometric data to support a distraction, it is still important for marketers to know that this is possible.”
In fact, MediaScience research finds that viewers make a “go/no go” on ads within the first 2-3 seconds — regardless of ad length.
“Galvanic Skin Response (a measure of emotional response) and Inter-beat Interval (A heart rate metric used to interpret levels of cognition) tell us that the first 2-3 seconds of the ad is when viewer attention is at its highest,” MediaScience says. “This is the moment when the ad needs to capture their interest or they may just ignore it until the content begins.”
