Nissan boosts mobile engagement 8x with Google's 3D ad format

Brief:

Nissan boosted viewer engagement by eight times above benchmarks in a test of Google's Swirl, the search giant's 3D mobile advertising format that's now available worldwide. The carmaker also saw a 5.8-point lift in brand awareness and 8.7-point gain in purchase intent, according to information that creative agency QReal shared with Mobile Marketer.
Nissan was among the brands, including Adidas, Belvedere Vodka and Purina pet food, that participated in the Swirl pilot. Google last week made the format available to all Display and Video 360 customers, per a blog post announcing the worldwide rollout.
Swirl ads let mobile users swipe a 3D view of the ad creative so they can see products from all angles. Brands can create the ads by uploading 3D assets to Google Web Designer, the company's creative authoring tool, and using Swirl templates.

Insight:

Nissan's promising results with Google's Swirl mobile ad format are indicative of its potential for engaging consumers with a branded experience. The carmaker, which tested the ad format in Spain with its agency Nissan United, showed off features such as "lane intervention" and "lane keep assist" that were more difficult to demonstrate via static display ads. Instead, mobile users were given a chance to interact with the ad and control the experience.

Google provided several other examples of how brands used the ad format in their Swirl pilots. Purina worked with creative agency Mediaworks to test a 3D ad to highlight how its Purina One pet food can improve pet health. The ad let viewers play a game of fetch with a 3D dog to show off healthy pet behavior. Purina saw engagement with the Swirl ad that was six times higher than 2D ads, according to Google. The result is a sign of how gamification can help to immerse viewers in a branded experience that creates a lasting impression about a brand.

Adidas tested the Swirl format in Latin America to show off a new model of shoe. The maker of athletic apparel worked with creative agency EdgeDNA to create a 3D ad that let mobile users see close-up views of the Ultra Boost 2019 shoe. Engagement levels were four times higher than rich media benchmarks, while the average viewer time was 11 seconds. In Colombia, Adidas experienced a return on ad spending (ROAS) of about 2.8 times, per Google.

For the holiday season, Belvedere Vodka tested a Swirl ad that offered a gift set to mobile shoppers. The spirits brand worked with production agency Mediamonks on the ad, which let mobile users see the gift set as if they were in a store. Belvedere's Swirl ad helped to boost brand favorability by 6.5 times and purchase intent by 4.9 times higher than benchmarks, per data from researcher Kantar cited by the brand. The results indicate that Swirl can help brands to boost engagement, purchase intent and awareness more than static ads.