5 Examples Of Impactful Hulu Ads

Intro to Hulu Advertising

In the growing advertising-video-on-demand (AVOD) space in the U.S, Hulu has established itself as a front-runner, offering brands a far-reaching advertising platform that enables them to connect with a new generation of tuned-in TV audiences. Hulu’s ad-supported viewer numbers are now in excess of 110 million, a number that is set to rise significantly as the platform expands internationally. 

In order to provide advertisers with an easy way of reaching  this growing audience base, Hulu’s self-service Ad Manager was launched. This has helped to open up Streaming TV advertising to brands of all sizes, with minimum spend coming in at a low $500. The central aim of Hulu Ad Manager is to make it easy for advertisers to launch, manage, and track their streaming ads with a central, user-friendly tool. 

But what about the ads themselves? What do they look like? And what are the best practices? 

Creative guidelines and best practices for Hulu Ads

Hulu offers a wide range of different ad products, each with their unique purpose and functionality. However, this article focuses on the standard video ad format that can be deployed via Hulu Ad Manager.

Basic technical specifications for Hulu video ads: 

• Dimensions: 1920x1080
• Display Aspect Ratio: 16:9
• Duration: 15–30 seconds
• Format: QuickTime, MOV, or MPEG-4
• File size: Max. 3 GB
  
  

(Full list of video ad specs can be found here)

Creative best practices for Hulu video ads

In order to get the most out of your Hulu Ad Manager campaigns, ensure that your ads follow these six key creative best practices: 

1. Hook viewers up-front with impactful visuals in the first 3–5 seconds.
2. Bookend the beginning and end of your ad with logo + branding.
3. Focus on a single, clear message. Avoid overcomplicating things.
4. Include a combination of text and voice-over to reinforce messaging.
5. Let your authentic brand personality shine through.
6. Tailor your creative to your specific audience.

Let’s now take a look at five examples of brands who have drawn on these best practices to build impactful Hulu video ads.  

Example #1: Fitness19

Fitness19 created a 15-second Hulu video ad in order to reach audiences living in the vicinity of their 40 gym locations. The ad is centered around their personal “A Gym Built For You” message along with the offering of a free 3 day pass as their CTA. 

The ad uses eye-catching visuals in the first couple of seconds in order to engage audiences early and transitions between various different shots that showcase the different aspects that the gym has to offer. Bold on-screen text is also used in an efficient manner to communicate a digestible message.

Example #2: Lifted Trucks

Repurposing existing long-form video footage, custom truck dealer, Lifted Trucks, created a high-energy video ad that utilized no-nonsense VO in order to drive home their “Work Hard. Play Hard. Drive Harder” key message.

The ad also utilized eye-catching transitions and multiple layers of video in order to keep audiences engaged until the end frame CTA. 

Example #3: Bifties 

Bifties, a gift box company that features products from black-owned businesses, turned to Hulu in order to drive brand awareness for their service. The video ad they created was colorful and upbeat whilst also effectively highlighting the core elements of their offering in a condensed manner. 

Example 4: Cosmic Crisp

Superfresh Grower's apple brand, Cosmic Crisp, created a vivid ad with a galactic theme and kaleidoscopic motion graphics inspired by the brand identity. The ad focuses on the characteristics and functionality of the product and shows these off with a diverse variety of visual elements that leap off the screen along with an accompanying VO. 

Example #5: Haven Life

Life insurance brand, Haven Life, utilized Hulu to promote their Haven Simple product. The 30-second video ad focuses on the brand’s key message of simplifying health insurance. The tone of the ad is friendly and calming, and was straightforward in terms of its visual approach. 

Create Impactful Hulu Video Ads with Shuttlerock

Each of the examples shown in this article were proudly produced by our team here at Shuttlerock. As an official Hulu Creative Partner, we help brands of all shapes and sizes to build impactful video ads for Hulu Ad Manager. If you’d like to learn more about our Hulu solutions, you can find out all you need to know by visiting our dedicated landing page.