The Rise Of Vertical Video: How Top Brands Are Adopting A New Content Format

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Nathan Peterson | 2 February 2018

When the action is in front of you, like billions of people around the world, you pull out your phone to record a short video. How did you capture the moment? Did you hold your phone sideways or vertically? If you held your phone upright, you’re like most people and are helping to accelerate a growing trend -- the rise of vertical video.

Today, the vast majority of content captured on smartphones is shot vertically. In fact, research has shown we hold our phones vertically 94% of the time. In line with this trend, we’ve seen Snapchat, Instagram Stories and Facebook all move to embrace vertical content formats.  

Adopting A New Format

The rise of vertical video presents both opportunities and challenges when it comes to brand storytelling. The vertical format inherently requires a closer cropped, more refined take. With society used to the traditional widescreen format, it can be difficult to share the same depth in terms of the context of a short story. However, the vertical orientation offers immediacy, an intimate view and interactivity as the consumer holds their touchscreen smartphone in the upright position.  

Snapchat arguably pioneered the vertical video content format, which is likely why ESPN took to the popular platform to launch a vertically oriented version of its flagship show, SportsCenter. The segments are shot and built for younger viewers who are consuming stories in short bursts, with each segment lasting a couple of minutes and viewers skipping through uninteresting subjects with a tap of their finger.

“Vertical video has changed our editing process,” said Steven Braband, director of digital video operations, ESPN. “Prior to launching SportsCenter on Snapchat, virtually every highlight we created would first use the traditional ‘game angle,’ then go to replay angles on some of the biggest plays. Now, if you look at our SC Snapchat show, we’re often going straight to the replay angle of a big LeBron dunk, for example, and that’s all we need.”

Keys To Great Storytelling On Vertical Storytelling Platforms 

As viewers hold their phones upright and sift through mountains of content with the tap of a finger, brands have to produce stories that grab attention from consumers in the moment. Relevance, authenticity and action are all important, but even the most visually stunning story can fall flat if it doesn’t captivate. A successful vertical story starts with grabbing your audience’s attention while also letting the passion and character of people shine through.

“If you follow best practices and spend time producing specifically for each platform, you’ll be able to better position your content in fans’ news feeds,” shared Braband. “We’ve focused on the best way to grab the attention of our fans with animated, provocative text and thumbnails. Also, we produce differently for special events than we do for TV. For the NFL draft, we produced a completely original Instagram Stories experience for the five days leading up to the draft. We didn’t use footage from TV or elsewhere because it had to be an entirely original production to fit Instagram.”

In the last year, we've seen NBC's Golf Channel and NFL Network pioneer the use of vertical video content syndicated on broadcast to aid in the art of storytelling. The content gives fans a more intimate look at their favorite athletes in the moment, pulling in coveted views from behind the scenes using Snapchat and Instagram and producing it directly into their stories live on air. 

“Snapchat allows us to engage with golf fans by giving them further access into the lives of professional Tour players, as well as their favorite Golf Channel talent, in a fun, unique way on air,” said Tina Lloyd, director of digital marketing and social media of Golf Channel, a Tagboard partner.

In the coming weeks, NBC is hosting the Super Bowl and has also announced plans to stream 1800 hours of live footage during the Winter Olympics; keep an eye out to see how they make use of the vertical format.

Early Adoption Of Emerging Features

Holding your phone upright with your left hand gives you the opportunity to interact with your right (or vice versa if you are a lefty). New video features from interactive polls to geofilters, stickers and augmented reality continue to reshape both the storytelling and the consumption experience -- opening up more ways than ever for brands to engage fans.

Last fall, Instagram Stories launched interactive poll stickers following a popular polling company, Polly, that launched as a feature for Snapchat users. Meanwhile Facebook’s “World Effects” allows brands to build and share amazing AR experiences -- where you can augment the story you’re telling with 3D objects. Be bold, try new features and give your audience the chance to use their other hand.

Looking Forward

With smartphones flying out of pockets everywhere, vertical content is captured nearly every second of every day, changing the entire landscape of how world events are reported on and consumed. Whether it’s the 2018 Olympics, the World Cup or even natural disasters (storms, fires, etc.), you can discover breaking news content faster from powerful platforms like Snapchat than you will ever be able to again by way of reporters and news trucks. We are currently witnessing the democratization and disruption of the way news breaks and is consumed in real time.

As we see continued innovation across the major platforms encouraging vertical video creation and consumption, brands across categories, as well as media networks, will continue to invest in ways to capitalize with solid content and precise delivery. New interactive features will continue to change the way we tell stories, opening up opportunities to engage with viewers all around the world.

Horizontal video will continue as a format, of course. TV, movies and longer live streams are all widescreen, but we’ll continue to see more investment than ever in vertical video, simply because of the ergonomics of how we all hold our phones.

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