The clock is ticking — the magic of the :06 ad

A new article in the Journal of Advertising Research (available behind the WARC paywall) discusses the most effective strategies for 6-second ads.

Obviously, you can’t tell much of a story in six seconds. The level of consumer co-creation has to be pretty high, and there is no time to waste with long discussions of claims and benefits. Consumers have to infer most of that on their own. 

Research suggests six-second ads are less effective than :15s or :30s, the caveat is that if your :15 or :30 is boring, no one is going pay attention all the way through.  A compelling :06 is probably more effective than a run-of-the-mill :15 or :30.

The authors offer a number of suggestions for managers and creatives, which include:

• Focus :06s on either the early stages in the consumer decision-making journey to build awareness, or late in the journey to inspire purchase or repurchase.

• A magnified sensory experience can help drive the point home in a :06 ad, like this for Under Armour or this from Eggo.

• :06s are more effective when they don’t look like typical ads – like this from Mercedes.

• Leave storylines open-ended to build intrigue and let people create their own story – assuming they know enough about the brand to do so. Like this Jason Bourne ad from Universal Pictures

• Create a series of ads with a similar structure so that with repeated exposures, consumers will quickly pick up on the theme. See this ad and this one, from Airbnb’s “Live There” campaign, which used short snippets to illustrate the larger experience of a family vacation.