Brands Are Bullish on Commerce Video, but Consumers Are Annoyed With the Format

Commerce video ads are both high reward and high risk, according to new data from an IAB study. The IAB defines commerce video ads as video advertising that drives a consumer to take some kind of action—whether that's signing up for a newsletter, participating in a campaign, making a purchase, or anywhere in between. Advertisers are flocking to the format, according to the IAB's research in conjunction with market research firm Alter Agents: 95% of those surveyed said they're now using commerce video more often than other media to drive purchases. For the U.S.-based survey, 300 marketers and 1,000 consumers participated. Another 20 respondents agreed to be monitored over a three-day period to get a deeper sense of how they were interacting with and responding to commerce video ads. "If you are not implementing commerce video assets in your creative, you're not only going to miss an opportunity to win a new customer or repeating customer, there could be potential backlash—like frustration," Chris Bruderle, the IAB's vice president of industry insights and content strategy, told ADWEEK. That's because consumers' expectations have evolved as the purchase funnel has collapsed, meaning people don't necessarily research products before buying something. People are more willing to buy more often—and often immediately after learning about the brand for the first time. "Advertisers tend to think that commerce video is a bottom funnel, a bottom-of-the-consumer journey tactic," Bruderle said. "Consumers want commerce video assets even when they're discovering a brand, at the top of the funnel." The risk At the same time, 71% of consumers said they are annoyed by commerce video ads, or feel negatively in response to them, at least once a month. A third of consumers said that happens weekly. Those negative feelings can have serious repercussions, too. A majority (63%) of consumers said that when they're annoyed by a commerce video ad, they will take action against a brand. That could be anything from ignoring future ads, unfollowing or unsubscribing, complaining to friends, switching to another brand in retaliation, or posting negatively about the brand on social media. Nearly three-quarters (71%) said they skip or tune out messaging from a brand after feeling annoyed or negatively toward a commerce video ad. Consumers reported that overly repetitive ads that they see multiple times per day or irrelevant ads are most frustrating, according to the research. Retargeting is helpful, to some extent, but too much repetition can cause backlash. The opportunity The research also exposed a few misconceptions that advertisers have of their audiences regarding commerce video. A majority of advertisers (53%) worried that creators using their own messaging can muddy the consistency of a campaign, but influencer content was the second-most persuasive form of commerce video, according to the consumers surveyed. The top-most persuasive was a video on a third-party publisher like CNN, ESPN, or AllRecipes, the report said. And though advertisers are aiming to optimize ads for shorter attention spans, based on the assumption that shorter is better, consumers said they actually prefer longer ads in many cases—especially when they include a product demo that allows the consumer to see how it might fit into their life. While most consumers surveyed said they prefer 30-, 45-, or 60-second ads, advertisers are primarily using shorter formats at 15 seconds or less.

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Brands Are Bullish on Commerce Video, but Consumers Are Annoyed With the Format

Still, people expect—and prefer—brands to target them, according to a new report from the IAB

Kathryn Lundstrom

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Kathryn Lundstrom