Users spend a majority of the time holding their smartphones vertically, but most video ads are presented horizontally. Juice Mobile is looking to change that perspective.
Acknowledging that marketers have long been conditioned to produce content for desktop and television audiences in a landscape format, the Toronto-based programmatic advertising platform has announced a partnership with PHD Worldwide to create a campaign for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission featuring mobile video content that doesn’t require a twisting of the wrist.
The 15-second mobile video spot, which can be viewed on both iOS and Android devices, features racehorses bursting out of the starting gate carrying professional jockeys and one everyday spectator. Crossing the finish line with her arms raised in the air, the cardigan-wearing spectator is then seen again in the same pose from the stands as a voiceover says, “for a few glorious moments, it’s your horse.”
“On YouTube, you often see those black bars on either side [of videos] because people are instinctively holding their phones to take videos and photos in the way they use the phone,” said Veronica Holmes, the general manager of Juice Mobile. “I think it’s about time we started to consider making assets that are more native, that fit the form factor, that gel with the user experience.”
Holmes said the vertical format not only fits the patterns of mobile users, but “to have to turn your phone sideways to watch an ad simply calls attention to that ad, and I think what we’re trying to do is make sure the ad is part of the overall experience so that’s its seamless,” she said.
John Shilton, the supervisor of trading and analytics, digital at PHD Worldwide, said, “the proliferation of social networking tools like Snapchat that leverage the real estate afforded by the medium speak to the value of a mobile-first experience. Consumers like it and brands are all the better for it.
“PHD is pursuing this format because it represents an opportunity to play in the mobile space while fully embracing the real estate afforded by the medium,” he said.
Shilton and Holmes agree that vertical video ads will be produced more often in the coming months.
“I do not believe the industry has an aversion to vertical video format,” Shilton said. “The limited number of brands using the medium for vertical is more likely due to a slow adoption rate. More importantly, consumers do not have an aversion to vertical video.”
