Many leading companies are currently using shorter commercials to advertise their products, with 15 seconds being the new 30. It was challenging enough to get consumers informed about a product and persuaded to buy it in 30 seconds, now marketers are increasingly attempting to achieve this in about half the time. This includes companies in a variety of industries such as Kraft, Pepsi, Old Spice and Samsung.
One reason for this is the fact that as consumers, our attention spans are decreasing. When watching videos on sites like Youtube, commercials can now be skipped so viewers are paying less attention to ‘long’ TV commercials. At the same time, longer commercials mean consumers are exposed to the brand for a longer time and are sometimes more memorable.
Also, the more relevant reason to do this would be the current economic conditions leading to lower advertising budgets. If the same message can be conveyed to consumers in less time, the adverts could even be aired more frequently.
According the market research company Kantar, over half the commercials run by packaged-goods companies and 60 percent of fast-food ads are 15 seconds. Thanks to brand recognition, by showing a picture of the product offered and its price, consumers instantly get the message. Although this may be the case for established well-known brands, it is often more difficult for less-known brands. Newer businesses may still need to create awareness among consumers about what they are offering, in which case longer adverts may be more appropriate.
I think in today’s world as we are constantly exposed to such a vast number of products and services, it’s understandable that we get distracted easily and so shorter ads seem like a good idea as long as they provide all the information necessary.