Knowing how to make the most of your video ads can be a key driver of success when faced with constant competition and boundless creativity.
Based on performance insights from thousands of businesses that advertise on Facebook platforms, we’ve developed creative guidance for in-stream video. In-stream campaigns following these recommendations have seen a 6.5-point higher ad recall lift according to internal U.S. Facebook brand lift data.
Jay Altschuler, Petco’s VP of media transformation, has seen the right video approach deliver better results. I recently spoke with him to learn more about how in-stream video factored into the company’s recent rebranding.
Alicia LeBeouf: Petco IPO’ed in January 2021. At the same time, you went through a rebrand that transformed the company. Before we dive into the success you’ve seen with video, tell us about your strategic focus during this time of transition.
Jay Altschuler: The pandemic accelerated important pillars of our business, like buy online/pickup in store, curbside delivery, our mobile app and other virtual services. This aligns perfectly with our new brand mission. We’re a digital-first, disruptive brand focused on building a 360-degree relationship with more than 23 million active customers.
Mobile powers the services we offer. And in-stream video ads allow us to reach current and potential new customers on mobile, where they’re already watching video content. We followed Facebook’s guidance around how to approach the text, sound and characters in our video ads, which has helped us deliver longer-form messaging and tell our new brand story in an engaging way.
Often, video ads designed for TV aren’t legible on mobile. How are you building for cross-platform flexibility when it comes to your video creative?
To improve legibility and viewer understanding, we’ve learned to maximize our screen real estate by using a lower text count and a larger text size. This helps us clearly deliver our message and generate greater brand resonance, which ultimately drives higher ROAS. Visual branding is also key early on in the ad, as it helps us strengthen recall.
When talking about the rebrand, you mentioned the importance of sound, which can be effective for grabbing attention and telling a story. How are your new ads incorporating audio?
We’ve come to realize that the first few seconds of any ad are make or break, and sound is usually one of the first things to get noticed. We try to grab attention quickly by creating sound treatments that help us introduce our storylines from the first moment the ad plays.
TV ads can be easily reformatted for mobile, but advertisers aren’t always sure where to start, especially when it comes to character cropping. How are you addressing this problem with character-driven ads on mobile?
It’s the same approach as visual branding—we know it’s important to introduce characters as soon as possible. This helps us connect with people early on.
When repurposing TV spots for mobile, we edit them for a tighter crop on the characters, so they’re not lost on screen. This recently came to life in our “It’s What We’d Want If We Were Pets” ads, created with our creative agency Droga5. The characters and settings in these videos were successful in getting people’s attention as they scrolled, which is always the goal.
It’s always great to hear how brands and retailers are leveraging video to drive results. Can you share any successes you’ve seen from implementing your new creative strategy for in-stream ads?
Buying through In-Stream Reserve, we get significant incremental reach beyond linear audiences, and see great brand lift results across the metrics that matter most—from ad recall, to favorability, to message association. For example, our spring In-Stream Reserve campaign drove a 68% lift in favorability, compared with our comparable auction campaigns in feed.
Lastly, given your success, what advice can you share with other brands trying to maximize creative impact?
You should constantly strive to disrupt creative convention. Mobile environments are so important to business now, and they evolve almost daily. If you want to maximize business impact while growing your customer base, you have to be nimble and do work that breaks away from the norm.
You can learn more about Facebook’s video solutions, in-stream placements, and creative guidance by visiting Facebook for Business.
