What each length can carry
A 6-second bumper carries one idea and one image, with the brand visible throughout; on YouTube, bumpers run up to 6 seconds and cannot be skipped. A 15-second spot can hold a problem and a payoff. A 30-second spot has room for a story, a demonstration and a clear call to action, and is still the standard unit on TV and connected TV. Skippable in-stream ads can run longer, but viewers can skip after 5 seconds, so those seconds must do a bumper's work. Plan the idea at each length rather than trimming the 30 and hoping the story survives.
The first seconds are the ad
In feeds and skippable placements, many viewers see only the opening. Put the product or the payoff on screen immediately, show the brand early and more than once, and open on movement or a face rather than a slow logo build. Test genuinely different openings: a problem, a result, a person, a product close-up. Generation makes openings cheap, which helps only if each one tests a different idea. Ten near-identical first frames teach nothing and cost as much review time as ten different ones.
Designed for sound-off, finished for sound-on
Feed placements often start muted, while TV and connected TV play with sound, so every version needs both. Burn in captions for dialogue and voice-over in feed cuts, carry the key message in on-screen text, and make sure the story reads from pictures alone. Then mix properly for sound-on: broadcast ads must meet loudness rules, and most UK TV ads are cleared by Clearcast against the BCAP Code before they air. Keep supers inside each placement's safe area, because interfaces cover the lower part of vertical video and broadcast specifications still define safe areas for text.
Cut-downs and placement versions from one master
Build the master in modules: an opening, two or three self-contained scenes and an end card with logo and call to action. The 15 is then the opening, one scene and the end card, and the 6 is a single shot with the brand locked on. Versions follow the placement: 16:9 for in-stream and TV, 1:1 or 4:5 for feeds, 9:16 for Reels, Shorts and TikTok. The studio's video editor cuts these from one master while product-lock keeps the product pixel-accurate, and voice-over and on-screen copy are localised into 30 languages with timing preserved.
Updated 25 September 2026