MK thought leader Sandra Lehner: Vertical Videos

From 16:9 to 9:16 - the widescreen era is coming to an end

At the end of the 1990s, the first 16:9 widescreen televisions came onto the market, replacing the old 4:3 CRT sets. Widescreen formats have since dominated even the YouTube era. But with the increasing use of smartphones and the social web news feeds optimized for them, another screen format is now conquering the screens: Vertical videos.

Marketing industry should jump on board

Vertical videos are actually not all that new. Snapchat launched its Stories feature back in 2013, which Facebook then cloned for Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger in 2016/2017. This year also saw the launch of IGTV, Instagram's vertical video platform, as well as the launch of vertical ads on YouTube. For me, this means that the vertical video trend can no longer be ignored in the marketing industry in 2019.

User behavior has changed

Opponents of the vertical video format argue that it does not fit in with the viewing habits that humans have acquired over thousands of years. We see horizontally, our field of vision is larger in width than in height. However, since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 and the accompanying popularity of smartphones, our user behavior has changed dramatically. 96 percent of our smartphone consumption takes place vertically: we scroll through our social media feeds, read an article on a news platform or use the most original of all functions: making phone calls - all vertically. And since our video consumption is also increasingly taking place on mobile devices, it only makes sense to adapt the videos to our smartphone usage behavior as well. After all, having to turn your smartphone 90 degrees every time you want to watch a video in landscape format is simply impractical. And in today's fast-paced world, user-friendliness is a high priority.

Greater range with vertical video format

Arguments that also speak in favor of the vertical video format are, in particular, the ever-increasing number of users and the engagement rate of stories on social media (Here is an examplel) and the fact that they take up more space in the newsfeed of the timelines and therefore generally achieve a higher reach. What's more, they are played in full-screen format, so users are less likely to click away and, in the age of "people-led storytelling", it also appears more authentic and immersive when we see a person's human body in full, so it's not surprising that vertical videos are so popular according to the MOVR Mobile Overview Reports  have a nine times higher completion rate, i.e. users watch the video to the end.

Important: Which platform do I want to use?

However, when producing the content, you have to be aware of the platform for which you are creating and producing the content. If it's for TV or YouTube, then 16:9. If it's made for IGTV, Stories or Snapchat Discover, then 9:16. Recutting a video that was filmed in landscape format for vertical use usually doesn't work very well.

Generation Z target group

 Brands that want to reach a young target group in particular should take a close look at vertical content in 2019. Generation Z in particular primarily uses mobile-first platforms: Instagram, WhatsApp and Snapchat and prefers the vertical stories format to 16:9 or 1:1 newsfeed content.More information about the masterminds!

Sandra Lehner, Frequency / Neoviso

Sandra Lehner is a pioneer in digital storytelling. In London, she has worked as a Digital Producer for several original YouTube channels (including Jamie Oliver's Food Tube) and as a Social Media Producer for some of the biggest TV brands such as "Downton Abbey" (NBCU) and "Sherlock" (BBC). As Head of Content Acquisitions EMEA at Frequency, she now brings digital content to Liberty Global's pay TV channels. In teaching, she brings a wealth of experience in digital storytelling techniques and international examples as a speaker for Neoviso, and has focused on storytelling for Gen Z since seeing the inspiring and ambitious formats of Gen Z studios like AwesomenessTV and ZoominTV at Digital Fronts. She blogs on these topics and is a sought-after contact for various media.