Unruly and Mindshare create manifesto to help brands curb ad-blocking
Video company Unruly and media agency Mindshare have issued what they call a “manifesto” for digital advertisers looking to engage viewers in the Asia Pacific region, where a survey revealed 90% of consumers are willing to turn to ad-blockers. The “interruptive video model” of hard-selling, out-of-context ads with no emotional connection to the consumer has to change, according to Unruly’s APAC CEO, Phil Townend. Instead, the manifesto suggests marketers be more “polite” in their approach, with authentic, relatable ads that offer a worthwhile user experience and are “content that’s worth watching”.

With ad-blocking costing the digital ad industry billions and publishers turning to desperate lengths to deter the 90 per cent of consumers who would consider ad-blockers comes welcome news from video company Unruly and media agency Mindshare.

The two have collaborated to create a manifesto for brands to follow to curb ad blocking.

After a survey of the Asia Pacific region found 90 per cent of consumers would consider using an ad-blocker as they’re inundated with “creepy” ads, Unruly and Mindshare realised brands need a helping hand.

“The industry has largely adopted an interruptive video model, which is a hangover from TV, and consumers are being bombarded with hard sell sales messages which deliver little emotional value,” said Unruly’s APAC CEO, Phil Townend.

“You could argue we’re hurtling towards an ‘adblockalypse’, where there’s a real risk that consumers will abandon advertising if brands don’t listen to the signals and adopt more engaging, non-invasive ad strategies for the long term.

“Consumers are fed up with ad clutter – too many anti-social, interruptive ads. The solution is polite advertising: polite-page loading, respectful ad formats that give a better user experience, and better ads in the first place – content that’s worth watching.”

The Mindshare/Unruly manifesto highlights seven findings from the survey that brands need to grasp in order to not lose another few billion in ad-blocking.

“Social media has grown more crowded than ever and consumers are traumatised by the flood of digital content in their feeds,” says the Manifesto. “Marketers must evolve their advertising if they want to connect with consumers, especially as trust in brands reaches and all-time low and ad-blocking usage reaches an all-time high.

“The 7 Pillars will make advertising a collaborative experience between brand and consumer.”

Brands need to:

Set goals

Be themselves

Make an emotional connection with the audience

Keep it personal and relatable

Make their video sharable

Not be anti-social

Test and learn

“The eruption of online video viewing in APAC creates the single largest opportunity and threat for marketers,” said Sanchit Sanga, chief digital officer at Mindshare APAC.

“Consumer-centric companies will recreate their content pipes and storytelling techniques at the core to address these fleeting, restless and picky audiences.

“Relevant, targeted, native and contextual video which doesn’t disrupt viewing patterns will be the mainstay for successful video delivery. Conversely, dumping and spraying 30-second commercials across the web, solely looking at old world metrics alone like eGRPs, will spell doomsday for brands of today and tomorrow.”

And if you thought ad-blocking isn’t that scary, here are some stats Unruly and Mindshare found which are sure to have a marketers’ knees quaking.

Almost two-thirds of Australian (65 per cent) consumers are put off a brand when they are forced to watch a pre-roll. South-East Asian audiences are more forgiving, with less than half (45 per cent) admitting they would feel negatively toward a brand after being forced to watch a pre-roll video

More than three-quarters of internet users (77 per cent) across APAC say they mute video ads

Some 67 per cent of South-East Asians find ads that follow them around the internet creepy – higher than the global average of 63 per cent

Some 86 per cent of South-East Asian consumers say they would lose trust in a brand if they felt an ad feels fake – the highest of any region. Authenticity is also important to internet users in Australia, with 77 per cent saying they would think less of a company if their ad felt fake

Control of video content is key in Australia, with 68 per cent of Australian viewers stating that they like to be able to control video ads, higher than the global average of 61 per cent

Lead image via Evan’s blog.