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.” “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. Lead image via Evan’s blog.
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, Unruly. 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”.