Revealed: Google’s Top 20 Six-second Ads (Including The Works’ Optus Campaign)

We all know it’s never been easier to put out a message. For brands today, the challenge is not just reaching audiences but capturing their attention.

Mobile offers brands the perfect way to meet audiences on their terms. With marketers increasingly using short-form stories to deliver impact for their video marketing, we set out to find the most popular six-second ads on YouTube.

Bumper ads were designed with mobile in mind, for shorter sessions when people are in a hurry or on-the-go. The format is proving popular with brands. Globally, nearly one-in-three large advertisers are buying six-second bumpers and this has increased significantly in the first half of this year.

Google has put together its first ever YouTube Ads Leaderboard: Bumper ads edition, to celebrate twenty brands from around the globe that are giving viewers snackable spots and capturing the audience’s attention.

The list features works from global brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Duracell and Samsung. One Australian brand, Optus, made the list with their simple but effective Usain Bolt campaign, demonstrating that sometimes less really is more. The campaign is the brainchild of by The Works.

Here is the full, global list:

Nicole Smart, associate director of acquisition marketing at Optus, said: “Usain Bolt is Optus’ Network ambassador because he represents speed and relentless improvement. The 0:06 format was the perfect vehicle to demonstrate our message ‘at the speed of Bolt’.

“Our message was single minded and we felt strongly that our creative was engaging enough to communicate our message in this format.”

Kristie Thistlethwaite, creative project leader at creative agency the Works, said: “Our digitally savvy audience has an insanely short attention span, so the whole campaign had to be instantly engaging and dynamic.

“The quick cuts and animated world created the perfect canvas for short, snackable content like in the 0.06 ad, as well as the longer formats where we needed to deliver specific product messages. Our one piece of advice is to create the campaign firstly for the small screen, not the big screen.”