Short and long form content are best planned together, and brands must leverage both to drive sales, according to TikTok UK global business solutions general manager Kris Boger.
Speaking at Advertising Week Europe last week to discuss TikTok and Warc’s recent ‘When attention meets effectiveness’ white paper, Boger argued that a choice of long or short form content should no longer be considered a luxury and should instead be viewed as an imperative.
“When you compare the impact by second of short form video versus long form video, the impact and the attention quality is greater on short form video,” Boger said, explaining that this means the content itself is more “attentionally efficient”.
He went on to highlight the benefits of short form video – that it is immersive, multisensory and has the ability to capture attention at a fast speed.
Joining Boger on the panel was H&M global client lead at Performics, Thiago Correra, who revealed how retail brand H&M is tapping into short form content to be used across platforms including TikTok.
He said that if brands have a creative idea that doesn’t work for short form, the whole approach probably needs a “rethink”.
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“The spine of your media planning should probably be TV, especially in the UK, but actually there’s reach you just can’t have without short form,” he added.
Correra went on to highlight that it is crucial for brands to think of short form as more than just a performance-driving opportunity.
“We’ve lost sight of the fact that every ad fundamentally is a brand ad and when you’re running ads that are just about getting clicks, you’re fundamentally hurting the perception of your brand,” he said.
He also highlighted that brands should view the increasing focus on privacy and the limitation of cookies and difficulties with attribution as an opportunity.
“As we start to measure the impact of those ads in different ways, you’ll start seeing that you can run what we traditionally see as brand ads in the performance space and you’ll get an uplift in sales,” he emphasised.
Featured image credit: Advertising Week Europe
