Hearst Goes Vertical With New Mobile Video Ads

What Happened
Hearst is no stranger to vertical video, as it has several subsidiaries, including Food Network and Cosmopolitan, running Discover channels on Snapchat, where vertical video is the standard format. Now, the publisher is working with select brands to create vertical video ads for its mobile sites. The new ad units are available on all Hearst sites and delivered via Hearst’s own Media OS platform. Ralph Lauren is the first brand to run a vertical video ad on Hearst sites.

What Brands Need To Do
As media consumption on mobile continues to grow, vertical videos are quickly gaining legitimacy as they incorporate viewing experiences native to the mobile platform. Snapchat, which propelled a number of brands including Coca-Cola and Dunkin’ Donuts to create vertical videos, says that vertical video ads have up to nine times more completed views than horizontal video ads on its app. Now, as Hearst brings vertical video ads from apps to the mobile web, it is time for brands to adopt this emerging mobile ad format and create videos that keep up with the changing user preference.

 


Source: Digiday

Instagram Finally Allows Non-Square Photos & Videos

What Happened
After years of sticking with its signature square format for all posts, Instagram has finally added native support for photos and videos of other aspect ratios, allowing users to post vertical or horizontal posts without the unsightful margins created by third-party apps, which some used to employ in order to post uncropped photos. Brands such as New Belgium Brewing and Disney’s Star Wars were already spotted testing the new formats.

What Brands Should Do
While the loosened restriction on post format gives brands more creative freedom to deliver content without compromises, brands need to be mindful that Instagram grants much more screen space to vertical posts than horizontal ones. And given the inherent mobile nature of Instagram and that users tend to prefer a one-handed, vertical orientation, it’d be smart to choose the vertical over other formats in order to achieve maximum visual impact.


Source: AdWeek