By Sneha Ullal
(Inputs from SalonI Dutta and Shobhana NaIr)
Two new formats of the TVC are making waves (literally!) these days – the more-than-a-couple-of minutes ‘long story ad’ and the few-seconds duration ‘super short ad’. Which is favoured more by marketers, considering the economic doom and gloom, crunched budgets and the imminent ad cap on television? Which one conveys brand messages best? And is creativity fettered in 10-second ads? We find out while creatives care more about the idea than the duration of an ad, most marketers are choosing to go the short TVC route
‘Ideas rooted in human behavior can work in any time length’
Two words in a five-second video stamp. If Monaco’s trying to stand out with its latest series of super short ads, it’s trying well, although the success rate is debatable. Do you get the message and does the ad stay with you? Cut to Tata Sky’s dramatic three-and-a-half minute Prison Break ad, and the new video song commercial for L’Oreal Paris (208 seconds) that encourages you to go back to your roots. The stories are great, but it’s hard not to wonder whether they’re way too long, considering the diminishing attention span of the mobile and Internet-savvy audience.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)’s diktat limiting advertisements to 10+2 minutes per hour on television may or may not have rattled brand marketers, but their constant endeavour is to rise above the clutter. To do this, they take both the long and short ad routes, trying to edge out the competition with better brand recall.
But which one’s really hitting the nail on the head and getting the consumer’s attention – the extra long format TVC or the short, SMS lingo ad? Marketers and creative heads we spoke to help us gauge what’s currently working and what will work in the future for the Indian audience.
When the super short is ideal
Considering the short attention span of the audience and budget issues for marketers, shorter ads would make eminent sense. With this format, brands resort to high visual drama (for example, the 12-second Cleartrip video montages) and short SMS-lingo copy (the Parle Monaco video stamps) to get the message across within a short span of time. When it comes to creating such super short commercials, it also makes sense for both the creative agency and marketer to be discriminating in terms of the message. The key lies in crafting the ad. “You shouldn’t need 30 seconds to communicate what you can do effectively and simply in 10 seconds,” says Komal Bedi, National Creative Director, Rediffusion-Y&R. “From a creative perspective, your message has to be simple, so it’s effective and memorable even in a 10-second ad. It has to be executed flawlessly.”
But does one assume that creativity is fettered in a 10-second ad? Most creative biggies disagree, as they believe it’s always been a part of the job to overcome the odds and make memorable, effective ads - no matter what the brand is, what category it belongs to or what’s the communication brief. “In fact, creativity will be sharper, and the client will have to make a choice about what he wants to say,” says Agnello Dias, co-founder of the creative agency, Taproot. “If he does not want to say everything about the brand in one ad, it makes sense.”
Marketers also agree with Dias’ point of view, adding that the TRAI ad cap might just force them to think and strategize more smartly. “If I can communicate my entire story in 10 seconds, I’d do it that way, instead of possibly wasting money on making something in 20 seconds or longer,” says Avik Chattopadhyay, Head of Marketing & PR, Volkswagen.
When the super long makes sense
What happens when there’s a clutter of these short ads? Brands need to see whether their ads will create an impact or get lost in the noise of other TV commercials. And this is probably where having a longer TVC is not a bad idea, though it could turn out to be a big investment. Sukhpreet Singh, Vice President, Sales & Marketing (Decorative), Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd, believes that a short ad isn’t really practical all the time. “From a planning perspective, a 20-second should be good, but from the creative’s point of view, it makes sense only if the brief and idea are clear,” he says.
For creative agencies, longer ads will always be relevant, whether the ad cap regulation is implemented or not. With the long format ad, there is the luxury of time, building the story and playing around with characters too. “In 10 seconds, how much are you really going to say? Yes, shorter ads can be impactful, but you have to be careful and sharp with the script too. There is absolutely no way you can tell a bigger story,” says Abhinay Deo, who directed the famous ‘I am Mumbai’ TVC (126 seconds) for the daily Mumbai Mirror.
Ad film-maker Ram Madhvani, who directed the Happydent White and Airtel Friendship commercials, is of the opinion that considering marketers’ budget situations, effective longer ads should depend more on word of mouth than frequency. Airtel, for instance, launched the full-length 85-second ‘Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai’ ad only over one weekend, after which it played snippy, edited versions on TV, and then took to YouTube. “The purpose of this long TVC was to become a ‘worm’, in a good way,”
Madhvani explains. “So, the television audience might not necessarily be your only audience. People will watch it and spread the word, and those who haven’t seen the ad, won’t wait for it to come on TV but just search for it on YouTube.” What about short attention spans in this age of hand-held devices? Does it pose a challenge for creative agencies, while making longer ads? Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & Creative Director, Ogilvy South Asia, sets the record straight: “Audience attention spans are decided by the content of a TV commercial and not by its length. The audience is well trained to watch a three-hour film, so give them some credit for their intelligence.”
So what’s the ideal length?
Should marketers cut down on length or overspend because of the length, as long as it meets the objective? Unless the brand or message demands it, most creatives believe choosing the length of the film is secondary to the idea and should never be dictated by the budget or economic conditions. “The Fevicol ad with the blue elephants would’ve been flat if it was done in three and a half minutes,” explains Abhijeet Avasthi, Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy & Mather. “And there was no way I would’ve been able to create drama and intrigue of the prison break in the Tata Sky commercial in a short film.”
That said, media forecasters believe that creatives need to be prepared once the ad cap regulations are in place. Shorter ad durations will lead to saving costs, which means most marketers will want 30 seconders cut short to 20 seconds or less. “At the end of the day, they’re buying reach and GRPs; so the lesser the duration, the more the GRPs,” explains Suresh Balakrishna, CEO of BPN India. “Thus, creatives will be under pressure. The fact is the marketer’s budgets aren’t increasing, so he will have to cut corners, and creatives will have to communicate in 10 seconds; and so, the message will suffer.”
For marketers, on the other hand, shorter ads may be an easy go-to solution, but not necessarily the best one, especially once the ad cap regulations are implemented. “If it takes you 10 seconds to communicate your message, so be it. But if you are making the short ad, just because of the inflation scenario, then it doesn’t make sense,” says Krishnan Chutani, Executive Vice President, Marketing, Dabur India. Praveen Tripathi, CEO, Magic 9 Media & Consumer Knowledge Private Ltd, agrees too, adding, “There’s no correct formula. I think it’ll depend on what you’re trying to communicate. While the 10-seconder might look sexy, it might not necessarily be effective.” “Every year, we hear of money constraints and the economic slowdown. But what happens is, these issues dominate the discussion for marketers, and then budgets are slashed. Short formats emerge as a consequence, which is not the best way for communication to emerge,” says Abdul Khan, marketing advisor at Reliance Foundation.
So we come back to the core question: is there really an ideal length? Josy Paul, Chairman and CCO, BBDO India perhaps summarizes this best: “I see no limitations but only opportunity with short and long formats. Both work for me. Both are needed. Sometimes we use a judicious mix of both. If advertisers can only afford 15-seconders, then make the best of 15 seconds. As a creative person, you’ve got to be open. Your idea has got to be elastic. That’s the strength of a great idea.”
“Audience attention spans are decided by the content of a TV commercial and not by its length. The audience is well trained to watch a three-hour film, so give them some credit for their intelligence.” Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & Creative Director, Ogilvy South Asia
“With super short ads, creativity will be sharper, and the client will have to make a choice about what he wants to say. If he does not want to say everything about the brand in one ad, the short ad makes sense.” Agnello Dias, Co-founder, Taproot
“All our advertising comes with a strong belief that ads are not about selling, but about telling an engaging and entertaining story. We wanted to tell the story of Tata Sky+ HD, and that story turned out to be more than three minutes long. Did we start by telling the agency ‘Make a three-minute ad’? No. We said we want a story. The story turned out to be a long one and we are very happy with it.” Vikram Mehra, CMO, Tata Sky
“Whether the short format works, around the TRAI ad cap and our budgets, we will have to wait and watch. Certainly the total amount of advertising minutes on TV will come down. That would mean many brands will have possibly shorter commercials. But there’s also going to be lesser clutter, and maybe my chances to stand out will be much better and hence I might still continue with the longer format.” Anil Jayaraj, Chief Marketing Officer, Pidilite India
“Shorter duration is definitely the ideal way to go, because the consumer attention is very short. But, normally, advertising briefs are so long and complicated, the short ad can be a challenge to execute. But, ideally the smaller the ad, the better it is.” Vivek Balasubramaniam, Head of Marketing, Renault India
What will the TVC of the future look like?
Thanks to the economic slowdown and TRAI’s impending ad limit, most brands are wary of playing 30-second ads all through the year. Today, brands will typically launch full-length ads, which will run for a day or two at the most (as opposed to a few weeks), and then shift to the shorter 10- to 20-second ones thereafter. Tata Sky HD did the same with its Prison Break ad. This also means that even before the 10+2 ad cap regulations are implemented, marketers have already started to reconsider their budgets and media mix, perhaps giving a little more preference to Radio, OOH and Digital. Sunil Kataria, COO, Sales, Marketing and SAARC, at Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), is pretty certain that marketers will veer more towards using 20-second ads, and “start using a lot more of Digital to run longer edits”. He believes other media will largely benefit too. “Even though marketers become conscious about more 20-second ads, 30-seconders won’t go away completely,” he adds.
View the full ad on YouTube!
Today, a brand needs to be absolutely certain about investing in a niche media like Digital. For youth-centric brands catering to a generation that’s increasingly mobile phone and social media savvy, for instance, it makes sense for them to play 30-seconders on YouTube, and then letting TV play the 15-second ones; but not in the case of rural-centric brands, where the Internet is still neither a necessity nor a luxury. As mobile and internet penetration improve with better 3G and 4G streaming speeds, more people will opt for viewing short-format videos on their mobile devices. Which will again challenge the creative to think better and faster. “More people saw the theme song of the TV series Satyameva Jayate on YouTube than on TV. The next step might just be making ads that say, view the full ad on YouTube, instead of the other way round!” says ad filmmaker Ram Madhvani.
Feedback: sneha.ullal@exchange4media.com
