“Skip Ad” button redux
Rhode Island based ad agency, Nail Communications, has created a creative ad spot that will make you scared to click that ol’ “skip ad” button on YouTube pre-roll ads.
The video lasts 35 seconds and features the most adorable puppy ever, hooked up to electrical wires on its collar. On the other end of the wires is a hipstery ad exec’s hand, explaining that as he “attaches” the cables to the “skip ad” button, the puppy will be electrocuted, should the button be pressed.
The agency then explains that every ad spend will be matched with a donation to the SPCA and on their YouTube channel, they ask for viewers to donate even if they don’t click the ad. Their goal was to create “a skippable YouTube [ad] that virtually no one skips.”
Check out the video and tell us if they succeeded:
In the words of Nail Communications
YouTube video description:
As marketers, it’s time we change the way we do YouTube preroll.
The current model seems to be to simply throw your TV commercial in front of any video a loosely defined demographic happens to be watching.
What a missed opportunity. The skip rates are unbelievable (94% is a generous estimate). And when there is no skip button, you can practically feel the resentment oozing through the Internet. Hardly the temperament most brands want to inspire from their customers, right?
Yes, content is king. But here, context is also king. (A gay royal couple if you will.)
Think about what we know at that moment: we know what they’re going to watch, we know what they just Googled, we know where they are, we know what device they are watching on, heck, we know they can skip the ad. All of this information is an opportunity to customize a message that respects the viewer and the platform. We need to stop repurposing content designed for other channels and start taking advantage of the amazing abilities YouTube is throwing at us.
It’s like we’re NASA and we’re only using the Hubble Telescope to look at our neighbor’s boobs.
YouTube ads should be designed for YouTube. They should use the tools and features given to us and interact with the user and the platform in a way that can’t be rivaled. They should be self-aware. They should talk to one person at a time.
What the heck are we talking about, you ask?
OK, here’s an example. We wanted to raise awareness and money for an organization near and dear to us: the ASPCA. We had virtually no money but had given ourselves a serious challenge: can we make a skippable YouTube that virtually no one skips? Did we do it? You tell us.
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