5 x 5 Industry Study

The buzz in the ad trade press may be about brand marketers shifting to shorter-form units -- especially for digital video buys -- but a new study from direct-response TV ad research company DRMetrix shows that when it comes to "brand-direct" advertisers, the trend is in the other direction.

Forty-five-second units, in particular, have been on the rise -- jumping 584% in 2018, and an average of 245% annually for the 2015-2018 period it analyzed.

While some long-form ad units -- including :90s and :240s -- ebbed in 2018, the overall trend is longer-form.