I spent months trying to figure out what the proper length would be for my blog posts. And, to be honest, the clear result was that it had to be long enough to cover the subject.

OK. If it were going to be really long- say more than 1000 words, I would break the discussion into multiple posts. But, generally, my blog posts range from 350 to 700 words, with most of them at the top end. Which means folks can read my blog in under 3 minutes. (It take me considerably less, but I read quickly.)

That same issue applies to advertising. You don’t want your print advertisement to be too busy or too long. Because people won’t read it. But, it has to convey the message clearly and concisely. I wish I still had some of our ads from the 90s. (We used a stork carrying twins- announcing we had just inaugurated two new production plants to handle our customers’ needs more adroitly.)

These are all normal questions. the key point is that they also apply to radio and TV (or video).  Yes, we are now hit by 10 second, 15 second, 30 second, and longer TV commercials.  Because ad time is expensive (depending on the market- and whether the TV station gets to salivate about long, complicated political seasons like this one).

And, it seems that Google has just helped Honey Maid (my favorite variety is the chocolate) crackers determine the optimal advertisement length.

The test involved three lengths- 15 seconds, 30 seconds, and 137 seconds. Of course, Honey Maid wanted the ad to be memorable- but also wanted folks to watch the whole ad. Otherwise, it was pointless to run the ad.

So, Google helped Mondelez (the new name for Nabisco and Kraft) run the test for the Honey Maid’s National Hispanic Month campaign. And, the test incorporated TrueView, a new component  that YouTube offers that is a skippable preroll ad format. The test examined how much of each spot was watched, how well the ad was recalled, as well as brand favorability data.

The 15 second ad showed a family with a voiceover, and ends with HoneyMaid’s logo and tagline. (The product only appears for 5 seconds of the ad.)

https://youtu.be/8D_hE8ysNX0

The 30 second ad shows the same family, but now doing other things. And, while the product appears for more time, it’s only present for 30 percent of the ad. Which means it is present for the same ratio as it was in the 15 second ad.

https://youtu.be/AC36c6pho4M

The 2 minute 17 second ad depicts a more robust family story, and the voices are not just that of the father, but other folks in the family (one of whom speaks Spanish). And, the product doesn’t appear until well into the second minute of the ad- and is only present for about 10% of the commercial.  (Yes, that is far less percentage than the two shorter ads.)

https://youtu.be/zKnh67suPAw

The theory before the test was the short ad was eminently “unskippable”, with the 30 second ad being the best of both worlds- short, entertaining, but meaningful. The longer ad hopes to use the family activity to engage the consumer and create the feelings of goodwill.

Amazingly, the short ad was the most skipped of the versions. But, when watched, it yielded the best recall. The 30 second ad was the one that was most fully fully watched- and better at brand favorability than the 15 second version.

The long version was skipped more than the 30 second ad, but less than the 15 second version. (15% of the tested population watched the entire ad.) And, given when the consumers lost interest in the ad, it seems that they never did see the Honey Maid portion of the ad. Those that watched the ad all the way through to the end did evince brand favorability-  which meant the product needs to be positioned much earlier in that advertisement for the desired results.

But, it also means if we get to the message WE want sooner, ad ad length of 30 to 70 seconds seems to be ideal.

Time to create our advertising masterpieces.