While brands and publishers are singing the praises of mobile video, a new study from video ad tech company Unruly and production company The Alpha Grid says more than half of business leaders never use their mobile phones to watch video.

Yes, mobile video consumption is on the rise, with eMarketer putting the figure at a 45 per cent penetration, but half the c-suite ain’t in that percentage.

The Alpha Grid and Unruly conducted a year-long study looking at the mobile habits of big wigs at companies such as Google, Fujitsu, McKinsey, Deloitte, KPMG and the Boston Consulting Group. The study found 51 per cent of leaders admitted to not watching video on mobile devices. Some 82 per cent use a laptop or desktop to watch video, and only 18 per cent said they used their mobile and tablet.

“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to video success,” said Sarah Wood, co-CEO of Unruly.

“These findings will help B2B brands who want to use video to more effectively reach and engage time-poor, professionally-driven business leaders.”

Roslyn Shaw, managing director of The Alpha Grid, added: “None of our findings should surprise seasoned marketing professionals, but still we see these basic principles ignored time and again. We are hoping, if nothing more, this research will give marketers confidence to do what they know is right versus what has been done [and is therefore easy to get approval for].”

Evenings are the prime time for mobile consumption in the leaders, says the report. But many share one-to-one (such as via email), rather than one-to-many (such as social media).

And not ones to be distracted during work, at least not by mobile, the survey found after-work was the most popular time for online viewing. Some 54 per cent watch videos in the evening or night, then midday, then when they wake up.

Another finding from the study included the reasons executives click on video content: ‘relevance to industry’, ‘referred by a trusted contact’ and ‘it was entertaining’. The two most popular responses were ‘to gain information for my job’ (49 per cent) and ‘to be entertained’ (43 per cent).

And who has time to watch hour long bits of content now? The study found the most popular videos business leaders clicked on were three minutes or less.