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by Lindsey Smith
What exactly makes an ad “unskippable?” Google’s Art, Copy & Code team has set out to find an answer to this question. They experimented on Mountain Dew’s Kickstart “Come Alive” – a popular ad that has been running on T.V. and TrueView for 2 months and earned nearly 9 million views on YouTube.
In an attempt to make the mobile ad “unskippable” 3 versions were created:
The Original:
The control in the experiment. 30-second video starring 3 guys who grab the Mountain Dew drink, start dancing, and everything in the setting joins in on the dancing.
The Big Punch:
Re-cut of video that starts with bold product shot and countdown, signaling that something cool will happen. Viewers are dropped into the middle of the action and the story unfolds from there.
Pure Fun:
Re-cut of video that drops viewers into the middle of the action with no music or any real sense of what exactly is happening. Music kicks in and ad shows different dancing elements; it is significantly longer than the first 2 ads at 1 minute 33 seconds
Findings:
The view -through rates for all 3 ads were about the same when looking at the views from desktop computers, however, this was not the case with mobile. The “Pure Fun” video with no conventional story-line or structure was viewed at a 26% higher rate than the other 2 cuts on mobile.
This experiment suggests that it may be time to look past our ideas of customary ads when it comes to mobile. The experiment has shown us that we can make an impact with longer and richer stories; more or less, content that does not necessarily feel like an ad. Unlike on desktops where the shorter and quicker the ads are, the better, mobile ads prove to be more successful when they are longer, richer and even a bit stranger, luring the viewer in to watch more.
To read the full article click here.
Below is the third and most successful “Pure Fun” video. What are your thoughts on this ad?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=32&v=l–keZ4aOdE
