Advertisers have always had a problem with user retention for their linger ad formats on Youtube, since users generally skip the same after 5 seconds. Responding to the same, YouTube has launched a new compact 6-second version of it’s full-length TrueView Adverts, called Bumper Ads.
For those unfamiliar with TrueView Advertising, these are the longer video ads which can be skipped after 5 seconds. Users however, won’t be able to skip the new bumper ads, as they are just six seconds long.
Zach Lupei, Product Manager Video Ads, in a blogpost says that YouTube had been looking to expand and explore other Ad formats, to focus more on the youth, who view most of the videos on their hand-held device, be it a smartphone, or an iPad. The shift in viewership has been seen due to the control, personalisation and the ease, thatmobile apps offer.
YouTube believes that the Bumper Ad’s work best when used alongside the TrueView offering, where the brand can represent their vision in a larger full-lenth ad, but capture the interest of a much wider audience using shorter bumper ads on mobile devices.
This new six-second Ad feature has been tested out by Atlantic Records, to advertise the second album of the band, Rudimentals, and to showcase the plethora of collaborations occurring on the project. A similar approach was used by Audi, who also tried the bumper ads to demonstrate their latest release, the Audi Q Series SUV’s.
Zach Lupei, in the blogpost also mentions that,
We like to think of Bumper ads as little haikus(shorter version) of video ads – and we’re excited to see what the creative community will do with them.
The marketers will be able to try the Bumper Ads for their brands, starting May 2016.
With a short interest span, six second long ads would be the perfect addition alongside other longer and versatile ad networks on the platform. In a scenario, where the youth is headed to a more connect and device-oriented future, bumper ads are just the first step towards more ad formats that will sprout to boost sales. Snapchat has also been using their mobile app to allow brands like, Tastemade, MTV, and Discovery to advertise on their platform using short 10-second video clips.
