Unruly launches ad format and content creator network for vertical video in APAC
Almost a third of ASEAN consumers find it annoying to have to turn their phone round to watch horizontal video, 14 per cent above average, according to Unruly.
Unruly launches vertical video ads in APAC
The findings of the Unruly Mobile Video Survey has led the company to launch a vertical video format in APAC, something already rolled out in the US, UK and Germany.
Unruly’s new ad unit, on iOS and Android, displays ads the same way viewers consume videos on their mobile devices.
Unruly isn’t the first to have to rethink online video into vertical in APAC, TBWA\Hakuhodo created the first vertical music video earlier this year in response to how the young target audience of pop act Lyrical School were using their phones to consume content.
Changing ad format does mean that the content needs to be rethought, therefore Unruly is also launching a network of content creators for vertical video alongside the ad unit called Vertical Video Collective.
Phil Townend, Unruly’s chief commercial officer, APAC, said; “The landscape is changing fast and our vertical format will help brands connect more authentically, intimately and effectively with mobile audiences. The Vertical Video Collective, also launching today, will give brands access to some of the freshest video makers, creating content that’s engineered to succeed in a mobile viewing environment.”
The South-East Asian markets are most sensitive to watching content in full screen vertical, according to the research. Other key findings from the report revealed that 43 per cent of South-East Asian consumers use rotation locks on their phone to keep their phones in vertical mode - 27 per cent more than the global average. Thai consumers are the most likely to use rotation locks worldwide, with more than half admitting they lock their screens to vertical;
South-East Asians are twice as likely to prefer watching mobile ads in full screen than the average global user. Two-thirds of Malaysians (65 per cent) say they prefer to watch an in full screen rather than in a small window, according to Unruly.