I have heard the discussion of ad length for as long as I have been in the advertising biz.  Everyone tends to believe the more time you have to tell your story the more effective it will be, until the research shows us something very different.

When television began as an advertising medium, the standard commercial was 60 seconds in length but :30 second spots came shortly after.  In the late ‘80’s early ‘90’s the :15 second commercial started showing up more and more.  Primarily this was recommended for well known brands to give a “reminder”.

And now walks in…the :06 second ad…

But today with commercials being sent out in so many ways the shorter formats are getting more traction, they are a flirtation, if you will, a tease… and are better received by todays attention spans.

• 6 second ads are grabbing similar attention as longer ads, according to marketing research, especially for digital natives.
• 6 second ads are 26% better at grabbing attention on mobile devices than its :15 second older and larger sister.

Creative types report that for the 6 second ad to be effective it must not be a cut down version of a longer message but a message that always stood on its own.

Legend has it that Ernest Hemmingway won a bet by writing a six-word story

“For Sale: Baby shoes. Never worn.”

So maybe this idea is not so new?…

~ Cynthia Metler, VP Media Solutions