Why Long form Anchor Videos Work
Last Thursday, I had my friend, Jacques Spitzer of Raindrop Marketing, on my PGS Live! Show. And it was quite the conversation. We discussed the history of critiquing advertising’s effectiveness as well as the kind of storytelling that works in the modern age.
Traditional ad gurus often have an overly dogmatic view of channel-content fit in media advertising. The idea is that each media channel needs content to be tailored and fussed over to work. Yet, Jacques’ team has found that the 2-3 minute anchor video with an early hook in the first 2-3 seconds is actually extremely effective at sustaining eyeballs on large screen TVs as well.
Most traditional advertisers will claim that no one watches a 2-minute ad on a big screen. But this isn’t actually true.
What’s more interesting is that relatively cheap-to-produce video content if it’s engaging enough (usually humorous) is perfectly adapted to ultra-short attention span media channels like IG/FB newsfeeds. Yet, the same length content with the same structure can outperform on most channels, even the Big Screen of cable/VOD.
As I’ve always said, it’s often the behavioral extremes that drive the most powerful innovations for tomorrow’s masses. And this appears to be true when we look at the growing phenomenon of anchor videos or long-form video content to drive sales through edutainment.
It’s basically impossible without tons of cash to get a static brand photo/image to generate any kind of either a) awareness or b) sales on social platforms today. Not when TikTok is raising the bar on energy/excitement across the internet.
I’ve said it many times. Premium consumer brands require a more extensive symbolic/emotional argument about why their approach to achieving common consumer outcomes is superlative. This is not done with a photograph and some bullet points very well. Except to category geeks.
If you want to reach that broader audience, you have to be willing to let go of your geekiness as a founder and speak to a killer outcome that appeals to a broader audience than you, the founder, represent.