What Happened
AOL acquired photo-editing app Kanvas last August and pivoted it to a live-streaming platform two months later. The live-streaming platform offers brand-friendly features such as animated, branded GIFs, branded filters, and branded live streams. Last December, clothing brand Guess became the first brand to use Kanvas to live-stream a sponsored event to promote its #GuessAllAccess campaign. Kanvas currently boasts around 3.5 million registered users and plans to attract more by expanding its in-house live coverage of popular events and music festivals.
What Brands Need To Do
With Facebook launching the Live API to allow live broadcasting from any device, live-streaming is set to hit full swing as publishers and content creators rush to Facebook and Twitter’s Periscope to try it out. Besides those two leading live-streaming platforms, however, brands should be aware of the other options available such as Kanvas and YouNow. Despite their relatively smaller audience sizes, these platforms seem to be more willing to collaborate with brands and offer customizable support for branded live-streams that is currently absent from Facebook Live and Periscope.
Source: DIgiday
