Commentary

Two Seconds Of Traditional TV Commercial Time: What's The Value Of That?

by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 2, 2014

With respect to the new two-second viewability rule for online video, I have already seen many traditional two-second TV commercials. That’s about the time it takes me to realize I need to start some serious commercial-skipping.

The Media Ratings Council has now given its blessing, saying two-seconds worth of online video commercial message will be the lower hurdle when it comes to “viewability.” Along with that comes a TV-like rating guarantee. (And it’s not the same for static display ads: You need only one second there).

It doesn’t seem like much, though perhaps on laptops, tablets or smartphones two second of video -- at close range -- means something more.

Two second of video viewability also don’t mean much for TV marketers looking to amortize the full cost of those big budgeted 30-second and perhaps 60-second TV spots -- not to mention the higher media costs to place those commercials. Not that anyone would think about creating video with a two-second duration. But -- just for fun -- what kind of value would a traditional two-second TV commercial gave in the future?

After all, 30-second commercials gave way to 15-second and 10-second spots. Maybe we don’t need even that much time. Still, some short attention-span people -- both young and old adults -- might murmur, “What’s the problem with shorter TV commercials?”

Good news for those TV networks airing the Super Bowl: that $4 million 30-second price tag means just $133,333.00 per second and just over a quarter of a million dollars for the whole two-second TV commercial shebang. Such a deal.

5 comments about "Two Seconds Of Traditional TV Commercial Time: What's The Value Of That?".

Check to receive email when comments are posted.

Steve Berger from Patriot Media Group, April 2, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Agree with Wayne....are longer commercials necessary. With shorter attention spans and commercials being zapped, how about shorter, more efficient and effective commercials in better positioning. Need more info, I can help. sberger@patriotmediagroup.com
Reply

Bob Gordon from The Auto Channel, April 2, 2014 at 2:34 p.m.

It amazes me that advertisers would put up with this 2 second shit...

Unless we use full screen graphics that can tell a story in 2 seconds...

In the old days we sold TV commercials that used slides (hey kids ask your parents what slides are) with the complete sales message on screen all of the time, so just two seconds really did work...
In the 1960"s I was a sales guy with WCBS-AM NewsRadio 88 in NYC and invented and sold, with management approval, a 5 sec time check commercial: "It's 1:30 no better time to reserve a table for dinner at La Forge call now."

Maybe the new generation of tweeters, can be influenced by a 2 second condensed version of a 30 shown in fast forward...

Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston, April 2, 2014 at 2:34 p.m.

Two seconds displayed is greater than 30 seconds skipped over.

Doug Garnett from Protonik, LLC, April 2, 2014 at 7:17 p.m.

It all depends on your marketing challenge. Is 2 seconds enough for a very brief reminder? In some cases I'm sure it is - certainly no worse than a glimpse of the Home Depot logo somewhere on some car racing around a track. Or a glimpse of a coke bottle in a movie. Then again, if your need is to get across more communication or if your brand isn't recognizable, then 2 seconds isn't enough. We once had a 60 second spot tested by Nielsen. They were amazed - it was off the charts for brand recall, message recall, and intent to purchase. But the Nielsen guy then says: So you should make it a :30. Really? Why is it hard to believe that a WELL USED 60 seconds would be more powerful than a poorly used :30? Screwed up business..advertising.

Deg Farrelly from Arizona State University, April 2, 2014 at 9:18 p.m.

I don't know.... didn't Max Headroom show us that ... these "blip verts" cause people to spontaneous explode?

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blipvert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekg45ub8bsk