Mr Porter uses new style of storytelling to reach shoppers
Overview
Cutting through the holiday noise is a tall order for any brand, especially in a flourishing market like luxury fashion. With so many options to choose from, people are becoming less brand-loyal in favour of brands and creative that speaks to their personal needs.
Mr Porter knew one-size-fits-all creative wasn’t going to cut it. So, rather than simply uploading one core ad to YouTube, it partnered with Google’s Unskippable Labs to test the impact of video ad sequences and reach new shoppers.
The team set up an experiment to discover whether using a sequence of online video ads drives greater awareness among new audiences and, if so, the best combination and order of creative assets.
For the first time, the brand curated a suite of creative assets to appeal to both new male and female shoppers. It was able to package these up for existing customers, too.
It shot a two-minute hero video with different narratives for each audience. It also shot two-step and three-step sequence videos, as well as a shorter, 15-second holiday montage and other 15-second cuts from the hero films.
It then experimented with video ad sequencing, arranging its creative assets into four different sequences.
What was the role of digital within the media mix?
Many marketers today are using online video. When it comes to sparking lower-funnel action while capturing people’s attention – especially during periods of competition – developing creative with a personal touch, harnessing insights from data to tell relevant stories and experimenting makes for a great place to start.
To gauge the impact of sequential storytelling, it also used Brand Lift surveys and AdWords Video Experiments to measure lifts in recall and awareness.
Key statistics
What results did you attain? What was the biggest achievement?
Mr Porter set a new benchmark for holiday season success.
The results reveal how video ad sequencing can drive greater impact than a single piece of creative.
Two of the sequences, on average, drove 16.3% higher awareness for new female shoppers, while one sequence alone drove 10.4% higher awareness for new male shoppers.
Mr Porter also found a receptive audience abroad, with view-through rates on some nearly twice as high for male and female shoppers in the U.S.
Overall, it is clear that sequenced storytelling effectively drove both upper funnel metrics, such as ad recall and brand awareness, as well as engagement.
Mr Porter’s Senior Brand Media Strategist, Jack Wensley, concluded: “We knew from previous campaigns that multiple assets targeted sequentially had a positive impact on results. We now know exactly what combination and in what sequence assets best drive business results. The results of which have shaped future campaigns.”
In a sentence...
Mr Porter experiments with a digital video storytelling to reach holiday shoppers.
