The 5 principles for making unskippable video ads

Some studies suggest that the human attention span has de-evolved, dropping from 12 to 8 seconds¹ and yet YouTube watch-time is increasing – with many popular channels offering videos comparable in length to traditional TV. So, how can our attention spans be falling, when we are consuming more?

To solve this apparent paradox, we formed an alternate hypothesis: maybe our perceived drop in attention span actually comes from the fact that we’re now making decisions much faster. There’s an increasingly popular theory that much of our decision-making happens subconsciously, based on experiences that we’ve already had.

Therefore, if we as consumers have been exposed to advertising for the majority of our lives, perhaps our subconscious brains have come to understand the signals of what we know to be advertising. And so, when we receive such a signal, in an environment categorised by choice and adaptation – namely, the choice to skip – our muscle memory kicks in and our subconscious brain acts as a filter. If this is true, then the key consideration isn’t whether advertising is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ – that’s too binary. It is about adapting creative that flexes this muscle, bypasses the subconscious, and accounts for this new attention shift.

There’s more than one way to tell a story. One size no longer fits all. It’s never been a more exciting time for marketers to experiment and serve viewers with new journeys and experiences.

Here are 5 principles to follow:

1. Transform the traditional narrative arc

A lot of advertisers are still building for TV with a ‘lead in, build a climax and big reveal’ narrative format. Whilst this can be effective at driving results, could there be other ways to flex the single asset to drive effectiveness further? Answer, yes! But remember there isn’t one way to tell a story, so consider the following ideas.

Engage viewers quickly with a barrage of intrigue and colour rather than long establishing shots. Consider a multiple of formats and sequences – start with a strong cue, make unexpected shifts, and use different camera angles. We've run experiments on this and we’ve found that this type of narrative can drive brand metrics, especially for people who skip ads, because it gives them so much more straight away.

Also consider taking the viewer straight into the story; use a direct scene from the film (see this example for Alita Battle Angel) or use a first-person perspective which draws a viewer in versus setting up a premise. This more content-driven approach has shown to not only drive effectiveness with core audiences, but also the broader non-core audiences too.

2. Customise a story based on your audience

Viewers have different tastes and that creates opportunities for marketers. Consider going beyond one creative for all audiences to experimenting with different executions based on targeting signals. Tuning creative for audiences can range from gender cuts to interests such as affinities.

A great example of this was Mr Porter’s 2018 Christmas campaign. With a big ambition to reach a wider audience beyond its core audience; female as well as male shoppers, attracting new shoppers in addition to their already-engaged, loyal, customer base – they knew a one-size-fits-all creative wasn’t going to cut it.

For their experiment, Mr Porter curated a suite of creative assets and learnt that tuning their ads for the audience and telling a sequential story was essential to driving results.

3. Go from story to ‘stories’

However thinking about it as marketers, we put a lot of pressure on a singular creative asset being able to generate the KPIs and results we need. When it comes to online video advertising, many brands are still relying on that one asset. It can take more than one clever ad to grab attention and the forced 30‑second ad spot doesn’t always fit the way people watch today — entirely on their own terms, seamlessly shifting between devices and channels.

Video ad sequencing updates the traditional model, allowing you to serve up a planned sequence of ads that tell a story to users in a linear sequence. This new technology makes sequencing manageable and offers gains for marketers. It's proven to be more memorable than the 30-second ad spot.

Explore 3 different types of narrative sequencing below (and take a deeper dive into these approaches here):

• Tease, amplify, echo: Seed an idea to intrigue your audience, amplify it to offer a deeper experience, and echo to remind your audience or spur action.
• The miniseries: Break your story into thematic chapters over time.
• The direct shot: Stick to one concept, communicated in different ways.