Victoria's Secret? Short (commercials) work great. But shift to 15-second spots pushes larger brand story to the web

 USA Today reports that TV advertisers are shifting to shorter commercials.  The number of 15-second television commercials has jumped more than 70% in five years to nearly 5.5 million last year, according to Nielsen.  

The trend isn’t all that surprising. Today, people are pretty adept at tuning out tiresome commercials and research now shows that longer spots aren't necessarily better. With the right creative marketers can get a bigger bang running a heavier schedule of concise blips. 

Case in point: Victoria Secret’s new “Bombshell Bra” commercial  packs a heck of lot of sell into 15-seconds, though I wonder why this spot doesn't work harder by driving traffic to the VS website. Short format commercials airing on Hulu do this seamlessly because they are clickable. The fusion of broadcasting and web browsing should evolve quickly as new interactive television platforms such as Google TV become mainstream.  

iTV, tablets, smartphones: why consumers are ready for multi-media marketing

What is it about commercial breaks that evoke such negativity among TV viewers?  My guess is that it's not so much the commercial breaks, but rather the irritating nature of commercials themselves. Could it be that the web-savvy public has outgrown advertising's modus operandi of cramming dull, convoluted USPs into forced-fed 30 and 15-second blips? 

 

In AdWeek, Jacquie Corbelli, CEO of BrightLine iTV Marketing Specialists, opined it's time for marketers to embrace multi-platform campaigns that bridge traditional advertising and digital/social media. She cites Unilever’s success with "The Rookie," a webisode series created for Degree deodorant by Mindshare Performance/ Entertainment with 20th Century Fox's hit show "24." By combining web, mobile and iTV  the campaign achieved average engagement times of more than seven minutes -- 14 times that of a traditional 30-second TV spot. This media strategy worked, boosting Degree sales 22 percent over a three-month period - making it the fastest-growing brand in its category. 

Understandably, most marketers have been slow to experiment with digital integration. But with ultra-smartphones, tablet computers, interactive/ iTV, and social/digital media all becoming mainstream, the pressing question is, "if not now, when?"