The Holy Grail Of Verticality
Just a couple months back I wrote a post that is already boomeranging back into relevance. In May, I posed the question: “Will Radio Be The Last Medium With A ‘Clips’ Promo Strategy?” It told the story of Amazon’s Prime’s launch of a “Clips” vertical feed, the hottest online trend of the year.
At the time, Amazon Prime execs sang the praises of “verticality,” especially among young people. In fact, the fascinating conclusion of the post was that many Gen Zs would rather watch shortform promo videos than the actual full-length content.
Now, just one quarter later and we’re seeing the vertical boom showing up virtually everywhere. HBO Max now has new video feeds in beta for select iPhone owners in the U.S. The appropriately named “HBO Max Shorts” takes an interesting approach. Rather than using any old Game Of Thrones scenes to promote the lengthy multi-year television series, the streamer utilizes AI to find the catchiest clips from a show. Viewers can start watching the series. Thus, this tool specializes in content discovery, something HBO Max programmers are excited about.
And a key component is the use of the vertical video format. As a story in Yahoo! Tech points out, “Vertical video has gone from a social media oddity to the dominant format for mobile viewing. Apps like TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts trained users to expect full-screen videos that fill a smartphone display without requiring them to rotate the device.”
A new story in The Verge, “The vertical video takeover is here” has an interesting subhead: “How TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube copied their way to victory.”
Editor-at-large David Pierce credits this trend to Snapchat, the first platform to successfully embrace the vertical format, based almost entirely on how we use our smartphones. Parent company, Snap, launched this viewing consumption trend way back in 2013, and now virtually every social platform—not to mention companies like Amazon and HBO Max have flipped their content vertically.
It turns out Mark Zuckerberg may have been the first copycat, cloning Snap’s format for Instagram “Stories.” It wasn’t long before the vertical format started making appearances on platforms that include Tinder, LinkedIn, Medium, Facebook, and YouTube.
Pierce, however, credits TikTok with being the catalyst that has made vertical video nearly ubiquitous. Time spent scrolling on video platforms like “Reels” (Meta), “Shorts” (YouTube), and of course, TikTok are consuming a minimum of 50% of time spent on these platforms.
Obviously, cloning is an art form on the web. Pierce notes Disney built their version on ESPN and another for Disney Plus, both branded “Verts.” And Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Paramount Plus all call their versions “Clips.”
Pierce also notes the advertising world has figured out the popularity of vertical videos, converting most ads to this format that can be converted to any length of time desirable. Combined with AI to zero in on target consumers, verticality is everywhere and showing no signs of running out of steam.
It’s a reminder that standards can change very quickly on the web (although Pierce quotes a New York Times story way back in 2015 that made the case that “The future of video, it turns out, just may be vertical.”
In the light of today, it is essential for content creators to adopt what has become the vertical standard. Not only is it everywhere, but it is the format that millions (billions?) have become comfortable watching.
And if you’re going to repurpose those clever morning show videos you shoot on social media (and of course, that makes sense), you’ve got to use the format that now defines how we stream video content on the web.
All that said, going horizontal has its advantages, especially for YouTube and also capturing a widescreen look for a vast space like an air studio. So, how do you shoot both horizontal and vertical, without using two cameras. I ran into this handy video from Jay Wilson Media that offers some helpful advice.
One final note on the power of video for virtually any digital content brand. Reddit—a decidedly non-video platform—told TechCrunch last week they’re experimenting with a new concept aptly named “video Reddit” that will let users watch video. But here’s a twist—Reddit fans will also be able to listen to the posts in the background while doing other things.
Even LinkedIn has a beta of a TikTok-esque short-form video feed. A new “Video” tab takes you to a feed of short videos users can swipe through.
TechCrunch refers to the phenomenon as “the TikTok-ification of the web at scale.”
For radio—the original audio medium—it begs the question of how video can be used the most sensibly, to both enhance the experience and to also create another source of revenue. Both would be welcome additions.
