Unruly & Alpha Grid Reveal Video Habits Of Top Business Leaders

Alpha Grid and Unruly release new survey into online video habits of senior executives at companies such as Google, Fujitsu and Deloitte; Research also finds evenings are most popular viewing times and majority prefer to share videos they like by email

LONDON, NEW YORK, SINGAPORE, HAMBURG – May 4, 2016 – More than half of business leaders never use their mobile phones to watch videos.

That’s according to new research by production company Alpha Grid and video ad tech company Unruly, which found that, while mobile video consumption continues to soar – with mobile now accounting for almost half (45%) of all global digital video views (source: eMarketer) – 51% of senior executives admit they don’t use their smartphones to watch videos.

The year-long study into the online video habits of C-Suite executives of companies such as Google, Fujitsu, McKinsey, Deloitte, KPMG and the Boston Consulting Group also found evenings were by far the most popular viewing times for business leaders and that the vast majority were narrowcast sharers, preferring to share a video they like on email rather than on social media.

Key findings from the ‘Science of Business Sharing’ report include:

• The overwhelming majority of business leaders preferred to share one-to-one as opposed to one-to-many. Their most common sharing methods were: email (76%), Facebook (32%) and in person (20%);
• After work was the most popular time for online viewing, with 54% saying they watched videos in the evening or night. Next was midday (30%) followed by first thing – ‘upon waking up’ – at 10%;
• The three most popular reasons given by senior executives for clicking on a web video were: ‘relevance to industry’, ‘referred by a trusted contact’ and ‘it was entertaining’. The importance of relevance and entertainment was reinforced in a later question, which explored the purpose for which they would seek out web videos. The two most popular responses were ‘to gain information for my job’ (49%) and ‘to be entertained’ (43%);
• When asked what kind of video they found most appealing, 69% said they liked video featuring somebody they respected such as a journalist or big thinker. At the same time they gave a resounding thumbs down to raw, unedited video, with just 6% saying they found this appealing;
• Less is more, with more than half said that if they were watching in the evening or midday they would only watch videos of 3 minutes or less;
• Fifty-one percent of business leaders admit they don’t use their smartphones to watch the latest online video;
• Eighty-two percent of those who answered the survey online used a laptop or desktop, while only 18% used a smartphone or iPad. 

Sarah Wood, co-CEO of video ad tech company Unruly, said: “There is no one-size-fits-all approach to video success. These findings will help B2B brands who want to use video to more effectively reach and engage time-poor, professionally-driven business leaders.”

Roslyn Shaw, Managing Director of The Alpha Grid, said: “None of our findings should surprise seasoned marketing professionals, but still we see these basic principles ignored time and again. We are hoping, if nothing more, this research will give marketers confidence to do what they know is right versus what has been done [and is therefore easy to get approval for].”

Methodology

The Science of Business Sharing report took a year to compile and combines online survey results with filmed, qualitative responses from 87 senior business and government leaders from across the US, UK, continental Europe, Africa and Asia.

Companies whose senior executives are featured in the study include Google, Fujitsu, McKinsey, Deloitte, KPMG and the Boston Consulting Group among numerous others. Sixty per cent of them employ more than 1,000 people and 37 per cent employ more than 10,000 individuals.

About Unruly

Unruly is the ad tech company that gets videos seen, shared and loved across the Open Web. Positioned at the intersect of video, social, native & mobile, Unruly uses emotional audience data and user-friendly video formats to massively increase viewer engagement, brand performance & publisher revenues.

With 3 out of every 4 video views now taking place outside of YouTube, 90% of Ad Age 100 brands have already used Unruly to connect with audiences at speed and scale across the Open Web.

Differentiated by a unique data set of 2 trillion video views and powered by a full tech stack, Unruly adds value by algorithmically evaluating content shareability and programmatically targeting custom audiences. Viewability is 100% guaranteed to an audience of 1.44 billion monthly unique users across mobile, tablet and desktop devices.

UnrulyX is the first supply side platform (SSP) for mobile video to offer scaled delivery of native ad formats and guarantee the viewability of premium video impressions bought via RTB.

Unruly employs 200 people across 15 offices, with regional HQs in London, New York and Singapore.

Its super power is emotional ad tech. Its secret weapon is passionate people on a mission to #DeliverWow. Unruly was acquired by News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) in September 2015.

About The Alpha Grid

Alpha Grid is a media company specialising in multi-platform content for decision maker audiences – broadcast, video, events, digital, print and social.

We also consult to corporates and to news media organisations on how to optimise content-led marketing, particularly web video. And, we have expertise in high-growth emerging markets, with a particular focus on China, Africa, Russia, Malaysia and Korea.

We’re about: quality content, elite audiences, a global outlook, a journalistic mindset and using smart content to grow your business.

We do: animated videos, interview-based videos, web shorts, event content & production, speech writing, custom publishing, digital and social content, studio TV production, webcasts, televised debates, interactive workshops. Alpha Grid also produces editorial content for pan-regional media platforms. It offers extensive knowledge of television and web video production, webcasts, live broadcasts and events and contract publishing.