The 4-Star Digital Ad Formula Revealed: 2 Seconds at the Right Moment

The shorter an ad in the digital realm, the better. Now Mars, the family-owned global company, is sharing exciting key findings in this direction – and we cannot agree more. The findings are based on one of the largest ongoing neuroscience studies in the world. Check out for yourself what a “four-star ad” really looks and feels like to make an impact:

• 2 seconds to capture consumers’ attention – that’s about how much time marketers have. The conclusion is based on Mars having tested 130 digital ads across key geographies from the US to China. The research includes various durations – 6, 15, or 30-seconds and even long formats on YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms.
• Attention is a strong proxy for sales impact – in partnership with Nielsen, Catalina, IRI, Kantar and GFK, Mars has gathered 4,000 campaigns. They have identified a direct sales impact from them. Of those thousands of ads, they’ve tested 250 for various elements of the cognitive process, attention, emotion, and memory. 
• The ultimate goal is memory encoding – as attention is declining, once you’ve gotten that attention, you can then start eliciting emotions. By doing that, you can encode your distinctive assets into the consumer’s brain much better. 
• One shot to say your message and that’s it – the study finds that it’s very difficult to elicit emotions in short form. For example, a Facebook ad on newsfeed is seen for 2 seconds and a YouTube skippable ad is skipped as soon as possible. This makes digital ads now very similar to what out-of-home or print ads were in the past.
• Peak attention is the key: Brands need to show their product or to highlight their brand at moments of peak attention. That’s the KPI that drives success in digital. 

To wrap up the extensive neuroscience study: What constitutes the magic formula of triggering purchases? Drawing attention and creating an emotional connection, all within seconds of peak attention. And that’s exactly the way SmartAd, our innovative media channel, works. Stay tuned to find out more on how we change the game and keep following our Marketing Bites.