Ever wondered how long it takes for a commercial to successfully change a person’s perception of your brand? Should you be building a slow compelling brand truth to entice the audience in the traditional drawn-out story-telling format, or should you rush the brand story so that people don’t tune you out? Here’s the answer: Today creativity needs to make an impact on a viewer’s mind within 15 seconds, according to a report from Kantar. Of over 1,000 ads tested every year by the agency, the volume of 15-second ads has risen from 1% in 2018 to 13% in 2022, demonstrating the growing use of shorter ads.
15-seconders are the 30-seconders of today. The advertising industry must understand it no longer commands the artillery to “bombard” the public; it is the consumer who chooses what she wants to watch, hence the days of song-and-dance product windows are, for all practical purposes, over. “In a world where attention spans are falling drastically, 15 seconds is probably the ideal duration for any ad,” says George Kovoor, chief creative officer, Wavemaker India. In any case, many brands have started prioritising frequency — unleashing short ads at regular intervals — over duration on TV to improve recall.
Take the recent Kala Hit ‘dark side of mom’ ad for TV — a 15-second story with vivid dramatisation for recall value, infused with humour. The ad opens with a mother and child merrily filling up a piggy bank with money when a mosquito’s shadow buzzes past the child. Turning around, the mother notices multiple shadows of deadly mosquitoes lurking across the room and this triggers her protective instinct. A single Rs 50 note then flies across the room into her hand and transforms into the new Kala HIT Mini no-gas spray can. Like a superhero, the mother sprays the product which leads to an instant knock-down effect on the mosquitoes.
From the effectiveness point of view, this format translates into more bang for the media buck, say experts. “It is a duration that doesn’t allow you the luxury of time, hence marketers have to be focussed on what they want to say instead of overloading every film with information. They are now forced to be more single-minded,” Kovoor explains. The thing to remember is, ads designed for 15 seconds or less require both meticulous scripting and visualisation to captivate audiences, and a certain entertainment quotient to meet the expectation of consumers who are used to binging on short-form video content on social media platforms.
So what is the recipe for an eyeball-grabbing, target-smashing advertisement?
“Advertisers and brands are investing more in creating funny and eye-catching ads so that the viewer stays engaged beyond the ‘skip ad’ threshold,” notes Sahil Chopra, founder & CEO, iCubesWire. On TV, many consumers switch channels when advertisements come on, and on digital, it’s even easier to skip an ad. So you have non-skippable ads of about 15-seconds that run just ahead of your preferred content on platforms like YouTube.
Chopra emphasises on personalisation, relevance, and emotional appeal to make a 15-second ad impactful. “Starting with a hook is crucial to making your ad effective. However, the brand messaging should always be clear and highlight the product’s or service’s unique selling proposition. Adding a creative twist to the story and visuals can further engage viewers,” he suggests. Fast-moving consumer goods, hospitality and travel brands, and e-commerce and retail brands are leading the show in creating short video ads to encourage mobile-first content consumption.
Thought Blurb Communication produced a series of 15-second television campaigns for Parle 20-20, which ran through IPL and worked on two counts. First, it gave the brand tremendous recall and second it was cost effective too as the rates were cheaper than the traditional 25-30-second ads. Mind you, running a 15-second on general entertainment channels is not exactly cheap but they enable smaller brands with less money to spare enough time to create some space in the consumer’s mind. An added advantage, says Alin Choubey, business head, north, FoxyMoron, is that short snackable videos have better engagement rate. “Generally, we have seen younger and emerging brands ask for this but in the last two quarters, even established and listed brands have reached out to us for 15-second TVCs,” he says.
That said, marketers have to resolve a few things here. Renu Somani, national creative director, Thought Blurb Communication, says while some advertisers will opt for the “value” format, agencies must not forget they are the custodians of creativity and effective messaging. Agrees Rumi Ambastha, AVP, brand marketing, Swiss Beauty: “At the end of the day, the ad has to be creative to be able to engage audiences. If a brand has a sharp insight, it can tell a story in any format.”