Unruly has been studying what makes people engage with digital content for more than a decade. So the company knows that it\u2019s easier to emotionally connect with parents and that moms shouldn\u2019t get all the attention because dads like to buy lots of stuff.<\/p>\n
And while there\u2019s lots of attention paid by industry groups to user experiences with ad formats, \u201cThere should also be guidelines for how to make strong content,\u201d says Unruly SVP, Marketing & Insight, Devra Prywes. \u201cI think it\u2019s really important for advertisers to realize that content and distribution are two sides of the coin for success.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not that long ago, video views ruled the day. But now earned engagement metrics are coming to the fore and that\u2019s a good sign, Prywes says in this interview with Beet.TV at the Digital Content NewFronts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Unruly was one of the participants in the NewFronts Insights Lunch, the focus of which was original research around digital video. Despite the specter of Mother\u2019s Day looming large, Unruly shared its Parents Playbook research<\/a> to show that dads over index across all devices, are more likely to buy and are more emotional when watching video ads.<\/p>\n Other Unruly<\/a> research underscores that vertical video \u201cis the future\u201d because most people don\u2019t want to turn their phone to watch horizontal video. \u201cBut it\u2019s a little daunting for brands to have to make different types of video creative,\u201d Prywes says.<\/p>\n She\u2019s quite happy to hear more conversations about emotional storytelling and less of an emphasis on video run times. Except that some advertisers are \u201cstill locked into\u201d run times of 15, 30 or 60 second ads.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re making really strong ads, people will watch,\u201d says Prywes, citing the viral Kraft Swear Like a Mother effort. In this 1:35 video<\/a>, author and \u201cswearing expert\u201d Melissa Mohr offers advice to the 26% of mothers who reported never having sworn in front of their kids.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a long video,\u201d observes Prywes. But because \u201cthere\u2019s a lot of garbage out there, brands that are focused on quality will get that attention.\u201d<\/p>\n