Why did the 30-second ad become the default and is the five-second ad the future for which we should all be striving? Mike Nicholson (pictured below), director of mobile business development, EMEA, OpenX, certainly thinks so. Nicholson explains for ExchangeWire how the five-second ad synonymises the evolution of video consumption and just makes good business sense throughout the chain of supply and demand.

Survival of the fittest – where the species best adapted to its environment is the most likely to flourish – is a fundamental concept; but it seems to be lost on the makers of mobile video ads.

Video ads served on mobile are, more often than not, 30-second commercials designed for TV, which are totally unsuited to the device, the content around which they are served, and the context of the user – yet brands expect them to perform. Mobile video offers the opportunity for brands to engage with audiences on a grand scale; but as long as advertisers continue to use 30-second video ads, round pegs are being hammered into square holes, with terrible results for the user, publisher, and brand alike.

So, why should advertisers cut their reliance on 30-second video ads, and what length should they be using for mobile?

The 30-second spot was invented in the 1950s – an era when the biggest distraction a TV advert had to contend with was the lowly kettle. No remote controls, no smartphones, no gaming consoles, no internet. Avoiding the 30-second TV spot would involve getting up, going to the TV, and manually switching channels.

But, in today’s world, where there are infinite opportunities to educate or entertain ourselves online. Consumer attention is more fleeting than ever before. We have email, Facebook messenger, IM, Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, push notifications, a plethora of apps, pings, and beeps, and now even Pokémon Go, to constantly break our concentration. Expecting a consumer to engage with a 30-second ad is no longer realistic, as illustrated by IAB guidelines which class a video as viewable if it is seen for two seconds.

Earlier this year, Brad Jakeman, president of PepsiCo’s Global Beverage Group, said: “My articular peeve is pre-roll. I hate it. What is even worse is that I know the people who are making it know that I’m going to hate it. Why do I know that? Because they tell me how long I am going to have to endure it – 30 seconds, 20 seconds, 15 seconds. You only have to watch this crap for another 10 seconds and then you are going to get to the content that you really wanted to see. That is a model of polluting content that is not sustainable.”

While pre-roll itself isn’t necessarily the problem, the length of pre-roll ads on mobile devices certainly is. Mobile is a 'little and often' medium; and brands need to start thinking about trying to create mobile moments that say one thing, say it quickly, and say it often.

Mike Nicholson, Director of Mobile Business Development, EMEA, OpenX

Creative legends, such as Sir Maurice Saatchi and Dave Trott, have spoken publicly about the 'less is more' maxim. Even Trevor Beattie – who has spent his career using the 30-second TV ad spot to tell brand stories – announced the death of the format at an Advertising Week conference. He went on to suggest five seconds is the right length for an ad and this must be the future of video advertising on mobile if the holy trinity of the consumer, the publisher, and the brand are all to extract any value from the exchange.

Here are a few reasons to make the switch to five-second video ads:

Five seconds is the consumer expectation

Think about Snapchat. Think about the five seconds a consumer is forced to watch a video ad on YouTube before the skip button appears, and think about the fleeting time a video auto plays in your Facebook newsfeed before you scroll past it. These platforms have an influence on what consumers expect to see on mobile devices, and we can benefit from that expectation.

Five seconds could be non-skippable in premium, non-rewarded environments

Brands, understandably, want their message viewed from start to finish; but achieving a 100% view-through rate on 30-second ads is mostly only possible in rewarded video environments or by forcing the user to watch before a close button is displayed. Premium media companies like The Telegraph or Guardian will not allow a 30-second video to play without a close button, as that is a bad user experience.

The majority of brands would surely rather have 100% of a five-second story told than just 10% of a 30-second story, and a five-second video ad could potentially be played in those premium environments with no close button without damaging the user experience.

Five seconds is lighter and faster to load

When a consumer views a video ad over 3G or 4G they are paying to download it through their data allowance. It stands to reason a five-second ad can be much lighter than a 30-second ad so the data costs are reduced and the video loads faster, improving the user experience.

Five seconds could slow mobile ad blocking

Non-skippable video ads frequently run on publishers that did not authorise them, and the resulting user revolt is fierce. If, as an ad industry, we want to slow the move towards mobile ad blockers, we need to design brand messages to fit into the medium. 

Like all species, mobile video ads must adapt to their environments to succeed. Those that perform well in the ever-evolving mobile space will be those that deliver a short, strong story – preferably within five seconds.