Google’s ABCD principles—Attention, Branding, Connection, and Direction—are more than just buzzwords; they’re backed by solid research from Kantar.

Effectively, these serve as a winning formula —when followed, they can boost short-term sales growth by 30% and increase long-term brand preference by more than 17% compared to ads that do not utilise the ABCD approach. Now that’s a win in our books, and certainly worth experimenting with as you roll out new video assets.

If you’re keen to elevate your ads, and want to implement these principles. Read on to discover how to harness the power of the ABCDs!

A is for Attention

The first second of the video has to demand the viewer to pay attention. Something funny, something exciting, something satisfying. Use all the tools in your arsenal both visual and audial. Provocative headlines, clips taken in the midst of an action – whatever will create intrigue to continue watching!

Some examples can be ‘hooks’ that are popular on short-form organic social platforms like TikTok: “here’s how I XYZ”, “you’d never guess what happened XYZ”, “come with me to XYZ”, or “people of X you’re going to love Y”. These grab attention, but also are familiar enough that people are engaged by simply knowing what is happening.

B is for Brand

Boom! You’ve got their attention, now remind them who you are. Insert your brand logo or colours, a slogan or other snappy identifying feature. For some brands, this can be a person or a place!

“People of X you’re going to love Y” becomes “Christchurch you’re going to love the Black Friday Deals at Papanui Supermarket!” You’ve quickly grabbed attention and also inserted your company into the story. A quick shot of Papanui Supermarket or the person speaking in the uniform is all you need to check off B from the ABCDs.

It’s worth noting, in digital media, you’ve got about 6 seconds to sprint through the ABCDs before you lose viewers’ attention – so don’t make it all about you. Quick brand insertion, and on to C!

C is for Connection

It’s time to connect, you’ve made it about you… now make it about them! Make things emotional, funny or appealing. What do you do for the viewer? Why do they care?

Papanui Supermarket’s Black Friday video asset is going to show a variety of special deals and discounts and create a connection with those looking for savings on their groceries. Whereas a personal trainer might use the C section of their brand to share a client testimonial that reinforces their talents, and will explain how they can enable the viewer’s success too.

Connection is different for every brand, but ultimately your audience is watching, and looking to you for some kind of solution that you offer. So offer it!

D is for Direction

Once you’ve connected to the audience, you need to send them on their way to being your next customer! What we generally refer to as a CTA or call to action. Remind them what they should be doing next, be it clicking the link, signing up or following your page. Whatever action you want, be sure to direct the viewer to it.

Research like that from Nielsen Catalina Solutions, proves that creative — everything from concept  to execution — is the No. 1 driver of campaign effectiveness and ROI. – Google Future of Marketing

A bonus tip from the Empire: A/B test your video creative, experiment with different lengths, fonts, audio, voiceovers, and sequences to uncover what really resonates.

If your creative is feeling repetitive or you suspect there’s room for improvement in campaign performance, your first step should be a creative refresh. By leveraging Google’s ABCDs, your video assets can follow a proven pattern that resonates with audiences while boosting your ROI.

As the digital landscape evolves, one constant is the growing importance of strong short-form videos and a diverse range of video assets. With strategic planning, you can create short-form social content, campaign materials, and website assets all from a single video shoot. Invest in video, and you might be surprised at how many ways you can repurpose that content.

By following Google’s ABCDs you can implement best practice strategies within your campaigns, and reap the rewards. So get creative, take these guidelines and see how your brand can apply them in your next round of video creative.

If you’d like to chat with our campaign specialists about the video assets that could work for your account – please get in touch!