AMPERAGE Marketing & Fundraising

One-Minute MarketerThe 5-second Message

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The 5-second Message

The media habits of Millennials and Gen Z will have a major impact on media. Most watch video to fill time or kill boredom (77%), but others are finding it is the best way to stay in touch with others (58%), stay up-to-date (61%), lift moods (57%) or learn how to do something (47%).

YouTube is the dominant force in young people’s lives, followed by Netflix and Facebook (video). You would think that advertising would be something to avoid, but most see the value to help support digital celebrities. But just like other generations, the length of advertising is an issue of acceptance.

A study by Defy Media found that the longer the preroll, the shorter the acceptance level. For most in this age group, a micro-ad is always or sometimes okay, especially if the content is relevant to the target audience (that has not changed from the beginning of time).

Ad length for GenZers

We all need to get very good at what we called in the broadcast TV business, “station IDs.” These are ads on TV that are only 4 seconds in length. So the length is not new, but it has not had widespread use like it will now and in the future. The key to the 5-second ad is not to tell the entire story, but to tease it enough to get you to watch the longer story. As you can see, the 5-second tease is much more acceptable than the 60-second tease.

Written by:

Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.