Radio Commercials: Length Does Matter

YouTube has announced that they will no longer support 30-second ads that viewers can’t skip, starting 2018.

Why? A YouTube spokesman said…

"We’re committed to providing a better ads experience for users online. As part of that, we’ve decided to stop supporting 30-second unskippable ads as of 2018 and focus instead on formats that work well for both users and advertisers."

This change will not affect shorter ads – the 20-second videos and six-second bumpers will continue as before. But they are, by definition, shorter.

Obviously, radio is no stranger to shorter ads, but it’s my observation as a listener and a professional in the space that there are still way too many longer ads out there, and “30-seconds” does not begin to describe the duration of the longest. Indeed, the recent trend to endorsements has, if anything, made ads even longer as tiresome duration is cloaked under the guise of “content.”

This, suggests veteran media strategist Mark Ramsey, is fooling no one.

According to Ramsey, listeners last year were asked how likely they would be to pay attention to different ad messages possessing different characteristics. While you can’t strictly predict what folks will attend to from their own statements, you can certainly read their preferences for content.

In a blog posting, Ramsey noted that EVERY ad duration shorter than 30 seconds is preferred over a 30-second ad. And in case you predict that shorter is always better, note that consumers indicate they’re more likely to pay attention to a 5-second spot than a 2-second one.  Note, too, that 15-second spots perform much better than 30’s. As do one-sentence promotional mentions.

Ramsey concludes radio needs to wake up: "The world is moving to shorter ad formats because that’s where consumer demands are driving us. Following this path will no doubt get some push-back from advertisers (who too often want to buy time rather than effectiveness), but it’s good for you to remember that they are being pressured on all sides for shorter messages and for the same reasons."

The bottom-line: Give the audiences what they want and give the advertisers what works.