Tag: Livestreaming

Twitter To Launch 24/7 News Livestream Channel With Bloomberg

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter has reportedly struck a partnership with Bloomberg to launch an around-the-clock live news channel in the fall, as the social media company continues its aggressive push into livestreaming. While Twitter has been hosting official live streams for various sports events such as NFL games and the Wimbledon matches, this would be the first continuous video feed to be hosted on the platform. The 24/7 live news channel is expected to launch this fall, and it will air  news reporting from Bloomberg news bureaus around the world while also incorporating “a curated and verified mix of video posted on Twitter.”

What Brands Need To Do
For brands with a global presence, this upcoming live news channel on Twitter could be an exciting new channel to look out for. While not specified, this live channel is expected to be ad-supported, giving brands an always-on channel to reach online viewers. Considering the finance-heavy focus on Bloomberg’s news reporting, it could become a particularly valuable channel for audience in that segment. As live streaming continues to gain momentum, more brands should seize the rise of this emerging medium to directly connect with consumers.

For more in-depth analysis how brands can leverage global mega-channels and niche micro-channels to effectively reach key audiences, check out the Global Culture section of our Outlook 2017.

 

Source: Wall Street Journal

Snapchat Debuts Live Video Ad For Turner

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Snapchat continues to experiment with new ad products, as it aired its first live-streaming ad last night for Turner network to promote TruTV’s “Upscale with Prentice Penny” series. Turner ran the ad spot during a red carpet event for the show, which invites users to swipe up on the ad to watch a 360-degree live stream of the event, which offers viewers a behind-the-scenes look. After the live event ended, Turner also ran Snap Ads throughout the evening that redirect users to watch a trailer for the series.

What Brands Need To Do
This is a commendable attempt on Snapchat’s part to bring livestreaming into its ad offerings, injecting a sense of immediacy that goes well with Snapchat’s now-or-never philosophy of phenomenal messages. It also serves as the latest example of brands exploring the unconventional ad products that Snapchat offers. Just last Friday, whiskey brand Jameson ran branded Snapchat geofilters at 75 bar districts around the country to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. As Snapchat doubles down on its ad business as its user growth start to slow, it is time for brands to reconsider their media mix and consider adjust the ad budget to include it to reach mobile customers where they already are.

 

Source: Variety

 

Oreo To Sponsor IMDb’s Oscars Live Streaming Party

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Oreo is teaming up with IMDb to tap into the buzziest event of the movie industry with a livestreaming campaign. To promote its new Chocolate Candy Bar, the Mondelēz-owned cookie brand has signed up as the official sponsor for the Oscars viewing party hosted by IMDb, which will be live streamed on Twitter, Twitch, as well as IMDb’s own website this Sunday. Over 300 Hollywood insiders will be invited to attend this event at Neuehouse in L.A., which will feature an Oreo Chocolate Candy Bar sampling station for the guests to try one during the broadcast.

What Brands Need To Do
Brand marketers looking to enter the livestreaming arena should take a cue from this partnership and learn to maximize their reach by piggybacking on a buzzy media event. Branded live streams during big media events offer brands a great shortcut to get their content in front of a mobile audience in real time. Previously brands such as GE and Toyota have leveraged live-streamed events to amplify their sponsorships. Therefore, brands that wish to stay connected to today’s mobile-first consumers would be wise to start working with content creators and exploring the vast potential this fast-growing media platform holds today.

 

Source: Business Wire

YouTube Opens Mobile Live Streaming To More Influencers

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
YouTube is now allowing content creators with over 10,000 subscribers to live broadcast directly from their mobile devices. This marks the latest roll out of YouTube’s mobile live streaming products, which the company first started limited testing in June. YouTube also noted it is working to roll out this feature to all users soon. In addition, YouTube also created a new “Super Chat” feature to let fans amplify their comments by featuring them atop the chat window and highlighted in various colors.

What Brands Need To Do
According to a recent AYTM Market Research survey, over 56% of U.S. internet users have viewed live video content from others on social media or livestreaming apps, with 11% reporting that they do it regularly. With this update, YouTube is finally catching up with its mobile-friendly rivals like Facebook Live and Twitter, making it easier to YouTube influencers to go live and monetize their content. Despite being late to support mobile livestreaming, YouTube still commands significant traffic as the world’s leading video destination site, making it the default choice for many digital marketers. For now, brands with a substantial following on YouTube should consider taking advantage of this update to connect with fans in a more spontaneous way, whereas other brands may consider teaming up with influencers to get their messages across with a sponsored live event.

 

Source: Marketing Land

McDonald’s Is Handing Out Big Mac Sauce Via Multi-Platform Livestreams

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
McDonald’s is gearing up for a big multi-platform livestream event where the fast food chain will give away its Big Mac Sauce to viewers that tune in in real time. The event, scheduled for 2 p.m. ET of Jan. 26,  will run simultaneously on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Besides the live giveaway, the chain is giving away bottles of the branded condiment at a number of its U.S. locations, which customer can use McDonald’s branded iMessage app to find more information about. The company has been quite active on Instagram as of late, consistently employing Instagram’s live video feature to engage with fans.

What Brands Need To Do
This is one of the latest examples of brands tapping into the surging popularity of live-streaming to reach and engage with customers at scale. As the major social platforms continue to improve their respective live video products, brands will have more and more channels to disseminate their live content and reach a wider audience. Brands such as Birchbox, Popeyes, McDonald’s, and GE have experimented with Facebook Live to reach customers while brands like Carl’s Jr, Coca-Cola, and Geico have sponsored livestreams on eSports sites. All these examples showcase the versatility of marketing opportunities that live streaming offers, which more brands should leverage to connect with their audiences in innovative, exciting ways.

 

Source: AdWeek

How E-Retailer MeUndies Hosted A Successful Facebook Live Event On Black Friday

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
For this Black Friday, online underwear retailer MeUndies tried something different as it hosted a live sales event on Facebook, which attracted 13,300 viewers and scored a conversion rate of 25%, 13 times the average rate that MeUndies usually get on Facebook.

To promote the hour-long live event, MeUndies first sent out invites to its 314,000 Facebook Page followers and then ran a Facebook event ad targeting customers who opened MeUndies emails but hadn’t made a purchase in over a year. The event went live on the afternoon of Nov. 25, complete with a DJ and dance contests. Throughout the hour, MeUndies unlocked increasingly larger discounts as more viewers tuned in to get them to check out the Black Friday sales on its website.

What Brands Should Do
This event serves as a great example of how brands can leverage live video to reach a growing segment of the online audience. In particular, this MeUndies live event is illustrative of how brands can use live streaming as a direct sales channel to pitch to a captivated audience in real time and drive conversion. It also shows the importance of careful planning and pre-event promotions so as to drum up customer interests and maximize the event impact. As more and more brands and publishers rush into live video to capitalize on the growing consumer attention, brand marketers should start exploring live-streaming platforms to engage with online customers in real time.

 

Source: AdExchanger

Lead image courtesy of MeUndies’ Facebook

Facebook Starts Testing Real-Time Ads For Live Videos

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
After introducing a way for users to schedule a live video last month, Facebook has now reportedly started testing a real-time ad product for Facebook Live videos, allowing publishers and brands to advertise their live session to attract viewers as it happens. Facebook declined to share which advertisers and publishers are testing this feature or when this new ad product will roll out. For now, broadcasters can promote their Facebook LIve event via sponsored posts prior to the broadcast or drive viewers to the archived video once the livestream has ended.

What Brands Should Do
This potential ad product should be helpful for brands using Facebook Live to reach a wider audience with their live content. As Facebook continues its efforts to build out its Live video product, early-adopting brands such as Birchbox and Popeyes have been hosting live events on Facebook to engage with fans. As livestreaming continues to take off, brands should consider sponsorships or hosting their own events to reach a live audience.

 

Source: Digiday

How Brands Used Livestreaming And 360 Video At The Rio Olympics

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Livestreaming and 360-degree video have been gaining momentum among sports broadcasters and brand sponsors, and broadcasters and sponsors of the just-completed Rio Olympics were no exception. BBC created 100 hours of 360-degree video content to showcase the action from Rio, which is accessible through the BBC Sport 360 app for iOS, Android, and Samsung’s Gear VR headset. Brands such as Visa, Samsung, and automaker Lincoln worked with publishers to create Rio-themed 360-degree videos to engage the Olympics audience via their sites.

Some brands are also finding success using livestreaming to connect with Olympics viewers. GE, for example, created a series of Facebook Live video interviews of GE scientists who helped build the infrastructure for the Rio Games. Bradesco, the Brazilian bank, also used Facebook Live video in combination with Facebook Canvas and other video ads to follow the Olympic torch relay.

What Brands Need To Do
Both 360-degree video and live video provide new ways for brands to connect with their audiences. The immersion and immediacy they bring to sports make them ideal video formats for media owners and brands to explore. As both formats continue to gain momentum among consumers, brands need to start working with content creators today to produce branded 360-degree and/or live video content.

 

Sources: AdAge & AdWeek

 

How GE Is Using Snapchat To Drum Up Interest For Its Facebook Live Event

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
GE is sending a team into the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua, one of the world’s most active lava lakes, to install a wireless sensor network for monitoring purposes and it is using two of the hottest social media products to share this adventure with fans. Since Tuesday the company has been sending out Snapchat Stories that document its epic journey downward and is planning a Facebook Live event on August 12 straight from the site of the active volcano, allowing fans to ask the staff members all sorts of volcano-related questions.

Why Brands Should Care
GE is no stranger to livestreaming as the company has used Facebook Live and Periscope to broadcast interesting events to humanize its brand. Hosting a live event at an active volcano is an intriguing premise and using Snapchat to hype its Facebook Live event is a great touch. Brands looking to create live video content should take a cue and learn to use other social channels to properly promote Live events. In addition, Facebook has started testing mid-roll ads in Live video, something that brand marketers should look out for as well.

 

Source: The Next Web

YouTube Brings Live Video Broadcasting to Mobile

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Following major news from both Twitter and Facebook in regards to their live-streaming products, YouTube announced on Friday that it is bringing YouTube Live to mobile. The updated YouTube apps, both on iOS and Android, allow users to start and view live broadcasts on their mobile devices, complete with scrolling live comments a la Periscope. The feature is currently available to select partners such as SacconeJolys and The Young Turks with plans to roll out to all users soon.

What Brands Need To Do
As more and more people opt to consume digital video on their mobile devices, it makes sense that YouTube finally transplanted their live video product to its mobile apps. While YouTube lacks the social platforms that Facebook Live and Periscope can leverage to amass viewers, it makes up for it with its homegrown stars and massive reach as the de facto destination for digital video. For brands, this update levels the playfield among the competing live-streaming services and gives them a good reason to try out YouTube.

 

Source: Business Insider