In the 1994 single “7 seconds”, Neneh Cherry and Youssou N’Dour referred poetically to the first moments of a child’s life, when, in the words of the Swedish singer herself, “he has no idea of ​​the problems and the violence existing in the world “.

7 seconds is also the “crucial” time, according to a study by The Graduate Recruitment Bureau, to make a good impression on a first encounter. Smiling, clearly speaking and maintaining eye contact are indispensable tools according to this study to obtain a good “first impression”.

7 seconds would seem like the maximum time we are willing to grant someone to surprise us. On YouTube, the window of the seven seconds is shortened to 6. The popularization of the bumpers as a minimal audiovisual unit confirms it.

The bumper ads

In mid-2016, YouTube announced the creation of a new category, the bumper ads, to condition the entry to certain audiovisual content sought by its users. YouTube asserted that the ads of six seconds of duration, which are ideal for its short duration for smartphone users, could not be skipped before getting access to the audiovisual content desired by consumers.

In the long run, the bumpers, in fact, have finished headlining the contents of most of the visual content desired by their users. Brands know that, and like to play the game. Six seconds to make a good impression, to generate brand positioning, to cause curiosity … The bumper ads have become a new audiovisual format, and the best campaigns conceive the 6 seconds as a new format to invite you to discover new stories more than as summaries of longer campaigns.

As mentioned by Ben Jones, global creative director at Google, creativity adores restrictions. Jones recommends focusing on a single communicative goal (for example, the element that makes the difference in the process of making a product and that makes it distinctive), not forgetting the reception context (the user is waiting for the content to begin) see) and think the micro-stories of the bumper ads in series rather than as unique pieces and separated from one another.

A blessing for storytelling

Megan Haller, an expert in video marketing on Google, explains that bumper ads can make sense in three campaign moments, as an intriguing-generating element, such as a longer video amplifier or as an echo-generating element the campaign itself, in its final stretch.

Source: Think with Google

It is interesting, as an example of this latest strategy, the Danone campaign in the Netherlands to promote the Hüttenkase cheese. While the long spot, lasting 17 seconds, has an informative and prescriptive nature, the bumper summarizes only recipes made with the cheese to be promoted.

Bumper ads are undoubtedly a tool that improves the efficiency of advertising campaigns, making them more sustainable and reasoned.

Six seconds to go to the grain

Bumper ads can help shape the brand positioning and make them more essential. As an example of this latest finding, “Office Party”, the announcement of the company Hefty Brands to promote their party glasses. Different managers of the company set out in an article signed by Megan Haller that concentrating on the bumper contributed to define the brief and outline the main objective to communicate.

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