Countdown commercials: the new advertising trend?

Online luxury retailer Yoox has launched a new type of YouTube ad: the flash offers are only valid for fifteen seconds. If you do not click during the ad, you are too late. The ad campaign will run until mid December.

Fifteen seconds to “save” exclusive Christmas outfits

Yoox’ new ads are fifteen-second countdown commercials, each focused on an exclusive and unique item. They are actually very exclusive, because the items are only available in the ad and will not be available on Yoox’ website. It is really a case of “now or never”.

To put the shoppers under even more pressure, they are encouraged to “save” the item: laser beams and other dangers are lurking, waiting to destroy the unique item as the timer relentlessly counts down to zero.

Yoox unabashedly focuses on scarcity with these ads, created by Google and Stink Studios: it is a classic sales technique, but now transferred into a digital ticking time bomb. Countdown commercials are becoming more popular, according to digital marketing specialist, Alexandra Spiliotopoulou. It remains to be seen whether people will now block the YouTube commercials even more or less.