To gain and maintain attention, longform is gaining traction

We’ve heard it countless times. If you want to grab the consumer’s attention with a commercial, you have just a couple seconds to do it.

With this tactic, consumers have become more and more allergic to traditional advertising and advertisers have noticed.

If that is the situation we are in, how does one gain the attention of his target audience and how can they maintain it so that their brand can actually get the results they want?

One way some brands are using is to go longform. I’m not saying make a feature film (although Lego seems to have done a good job at it this year), but tell a story, a relevant story that people will enjoy watching.

And remember, don’t put your product too much in front. That’s the hard part.

In the past year, digital ad views in longform video have been up 86 percent. Not too bad don’t you think?

Struggling to get performance out of your content? If your content team is living through content chaos on a daily basis, schedule a quick call with us to discuss Content strategy and content operations. We can help you get all your ducks in a row.

The article I am sharing with you this week focuses on that specific tactic: telling a longer story, putting the brand second and watch the results.

Nike, Guinness, Cornetto (an ice cream company based in the UK), Chipotle, they all do it, with success.

At Toast, coming from a storytelling and documentary background, we know the value of content that sticks. Content people will enjoy and find usefulness in watching (and remember, being entertaining can be useful at times).

I invite you to read Bill Kolbenschlag’s article. Some great examples in there.