Addictive Mobility has launched three new mobile video ad units in a bid to accompany the sector’s drive up the curve of projected ad spending.
The new suite of products — a five-second video unit, a “wrapped” video and a vertical video — keeps pace both with changes in consumer behaviour and the ad tech provider’s competition.
Vertical video has been hot topic of conversation ever since KPCB’s Mary Meeker reported in May 2015 that it was the only video format showing serious growth in terms of hours watched by consumers (compared to stagnant growth among various units designed to run horizontally on computers, mobiles and television). Meeker’s U.S.-based study showed vertical video had grown to 29% of total videos watched compared to just 5% in 2010.
“Snapchat was probably the first to leverage the vertical video thing,” said Naveed Ahmad, CEO of Addictive Mobility. “We deal a lot with the entertainment industry, and all their videos were horizontal, making you move your screen the other way. When we saw how much was being done with Snapchat and how fast that business was picking up, we knew vertical was a place we needed to be.
“We think that and the five-second ad will get the most traction on mobile.”
When Addictive Mobility tested its five-second format with an undisclosed client in the pharmaceutical sector, Danielle Thomas, public relations and content manager, said the ads garnered a 96% completion rate.
Other ad tech providers have begun offering vertical units. During its own testing, Addictive found vertical units earned a “9x completion rate compared to horizontal format(s).”
The wrapped video was tested in partnership with the cosmetics retailer Sephora Canada and its agency Havas Canada. A Sephora video ad was displayed between two display ads that occupy the space that normally display as black bars when landscape-aspect vids are viewed vertically.
Addictive said the test campaign achieved 33% more user engagement compared to other horizontal formats, “producing a much higher conversion rate and creating a lasting impression with the advertiser.”
“The objective for our campaign was to provide a lasting impression of the Sephora brand beyond the video,” said Julie Forbes, account manager at Havas, in a release. “As our strategic mobile partner, we came to Addictive Mobility looking for a way to improve performance of our mobile video campaigns. LVMH (which owns Sephora) is always looking for ways to push the boundaries and give their audience the best experience possible with their brands.”
