A challenge to the creative community, YouTube is set to unleash its 6-second advertisements, dubbed Bumper ads.
Unlike the traditional adverts, viewers won’t be able to skip these videos. This guarantees that the ads will be viewed by the target audience.
With most YouTube users clicking “Skip Ad” as soon as it crops up on the screen, this revolutionary approach to advertising ensures that the video will capture the viewer’s attention.
For good ads, however, the 6-second video format is more than enough.
According to Zach Lupei, Google’s Product Manager for Video Ads, the company is excited to see what the creative community will do with the Bumper ads.
“We like to think of Bumper ads as little haikus of video ads,” says Lupei in a blogpost.
Bumper ads are expected to be on air around May. However, tests were already carried out, particularly by Atlantic Records and Audi Germany.
Audi cut its TrueView ad that runs 45 seconds into Bumper Ads to introduce its Q-Series SUVs. Atlantic Records, on the other hand, used the Bumper ads to launch the second record of the English band Rudimental.
This approach is supposed to give companies a choice between Bumper ads and TrueView ads. However, these ads are said to work best when combined — hence Audi Germany’s decision to also use TrueView for its 45-second clip. No reports as to the statistical advantages of using one as opposed to using both have been reported yet.
The target audience of the 6-second ad campaigns is the mobile users, who prefer to watch their YouTube videos via smaller screens.
Whether the new ad format will work or not is a question that will be answered in the foreseeable future. At any rate, the 6-second clip seems to be a good strategy that would prove welcome not just with viewers but also with companies seeking new ways to impress the market.
Lupei further extols the benefits of this 6-second format. Specifically designed for “driving incremental reach and frequency,” the Bumper ads are said to be adapted to the way people at this day and age watch videos online — fast and consecutive.
Bumper ads will be made available through AdWords auction on a CPM basis.
Google is also continuously beefing-up its YouTube app. In March, for instance, Tech Times reported that the company updated the app to support iOS 9’s multitasking features Slide Over along with Split View.
Photo: Esther Vargas | Flickr
