Tag: 360-degree video

NYC AdWeek 2016: Facebook Hits 4 Million Advertisers, Adds Two New Features To Canvas Ads

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook announced at its AdWeek event on Tuesday that it has hit the milestone of serving 4 million advertisers, adding 1 million advertisers in the past 6 months. COO Sheryl Sandberg cited the explosion in video ads and small business advertisers as key sources for growth. Facebook also expressed regret over the error that caused its reporting tool to inflate the average view time on marketers’ video ads, which the company disclosed last week.

In related news, the Menlo Park-based company also introduced two new features to its fast-loading, full-screen mobile ad unit Canvas ads. The social network is adding support for 360-degree videos to Canvas ads, which already support most rich media formats. Brazilian bank Itau has been testing the feature. Facebook is also letting advertisers link one Canvas ad to another, thus enabling brands to create a multipage experience to engage with users. Beats by Dre used the link feature to let people explore multiple Canvas ads that showcase its headphones in different colors.

What Brands Should Do
It makes sense for Facebook to add 360-degree video support in Canvas ads, as it fits perfectly with the focus on interactive rich media. And as long as video ads continue to drive ad revenue growth on Facebook, brand advertisers can expect to see video ads popping up in more of Facebook’s products. The two additions should help brand advertisers tell a more immersive and in-depth brand narrative with Canvas ads.

For more on how and why brands should consider Facebook’s Canvas ads, click here to read our Fast Forward analysis on the ad product.

 

Source: CNBC & AdWeek

American Family Insurance Works With AOL For VR Series And 360 Video Ads

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
American Family Insurance (AFI) is teaming up with AOL for a first-of-its-kind partnership that dives into immersive branded content. AFI will be working with AOL’s Partner Studio and HuffPost RYOT to develop a three-part, branded VR series on inspiring dream-chasers, 360-degree video ads that will be served across AOL’s ad network, as well as research on new metrics for 360 and VR video engagement.

What Brands Should Do
This partnership marks a big step for AOL as it looks to build a leading content creation platform for brands. And AFI is smart to leverage the power of VR and 360-degree content to tell inspirational stories that are tied to its brand message. As VR and 360-degree content continue to gain traction among consumers and publishers, brands need to start working with content creators to craft narratives that engage and resonate with their audiences.

The Lab currently has four VR headsets — an Oculus Rift, an HTC Vive, and two Samsung Gear VRs — ready for demos. Virtual reality is something that has to be experienced to be understood, so come by the Lab and ask for a VR demo to get a hands-on experience and figure out how your brand can use it to excite and engage with consumers.

 

Source: BusinessWire

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

 

Sony Pictures Found A Workaround To Run 360 Video Ads On Snapchat

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Snapchat has yet to support 360-degree video in its app, but Sony Pictures has found a workaround to incorporate 360-degree video into its ads on the messaging app. To promote its upcoming thriller “Don’t Breathe,” the movie studio bought 10-second video ads on Snapchat that prompt users to swipe up for more content. Once they swipe up, viewers will be treated to a 90-second “Don’t Breathe” 360-degree video on a web page inside the app.

What Brands Need To Do
360-degree content offers an immersive experience that brands can use to engage with consumers. While it is unclear whether Snapchat will add support for 360-degree video any time soon, Sony’s workaround shows that there is a way to reach the Snapchat audience with 360-degree video. With mainstream platforms like YouTube and Facebook now supporting the format, 360-degree videos are only going to become more popular among consumers. For brands looking to stay ahead of the curve, now is the time to start developing branded 360-degree content and make it easily accessible.

 

Source: Variety

 

Facebook Offers Advanced Metrics For Live And 360-Degree Videos

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook has added some advanced metrics for video creators, aiming to help them better understand who their audience is and what they are interested in. Among the new metrics are demographic information for viewers of all videos, a breakdown of the most engaging moments in Live videos based on viewer activity, and a heat map of where viewers are paying attention while they watch 360-degree videos.

What Brands Need To Do
Facebook has been making a strong push for its video products in the past few years in pursuit of user attention and video ad spending. For example, earlier this week, the social network added support for Apple’s AirPlay and Google Chromecast on its mobile app to allow users to stream in-feed videos and Live videos to their TVs. These new video metrics should come as welcome additions for brands publishing videos and hosting live events on Facebook, allowing them to delve into viewer behavior to gain insights that could help guide future video production.  

 

Source: TechCrunch

Lowe’s Uses 360-Degree Videos To Guide Customers Through Projects And Drive Sales

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Lowe’s is trying a new way to engage consumers with 360-degree videos. Unlike most brands that use 360-degree videos to showcase an immersive narrative, Lowe’s is leveraging the emerging video format to create interactive instructional videos that guide customers through  DIY processes. The videos are distributed on Lowe’s Facebook pages and consist of looping, gif-like demonstrations showcasing each step of the process that are stitched together in a 360-degree video. The videos are linked to a Tumblr landing page that showcases featured products that can be ordered via Lowe’s ecommerce site. You can watch one of the videos here.

What Brands Need To Do
With 360 video content gaining traction among consumers, it is important for brands to start working closely with content creators to produce engaging and immersive content. The unconventional approach that Lowe’s is taking showcases a different use case for 360-degree videos as it aims to provide customer support and drive sales in a way that elevates the customer experience. Brands wishing to stay ahead of the curve need to take a cue from this Lowe’s initiative and start developing immersive content that can engage their audience in innovative and helpful ways.

 

Source: AdWeek

Teads Enables Brands To Buy 360-Video Ads On Popular Sites

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Teads, an online ad marketplace that handles the video ads on sites such as Mashable, The Guardian, and Forbes, has added support for 360-degree video to its inRead toolkit for advertisers. This addition allows brands to buy this immersive video format on those popular news sites to reach a wider online audience with 360-degree content.

What Brands Need To Do
As popular platforms such as Facebook and YouTube have started to support 360-degree video content, the vieo format is gaining momentum among mainstream consumers. But compared to regular video content, 360-degree videos are not as easy to produce, and the ad network infrastructure for 360-degree video is still in its infancy. Therefore, early adopting brands should consider giving Teads a try to amplify the reach of their existing branded 360-video content. For other brands, we suggest working with content creators to build up a library of branded VR content to engage with their audience.

 

Source: The Drum

A German Beer Turns Its Bottle Cap Into A 360-Degree Camera

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Beck’s, an Anheuser-Busch-owned beer brand, has come up with an interesting way to add value to its packaging. Working with BBDO Germany, the company is holding a Facebook contest to give fans a chance to win so-called “CapCams,” which turn its beer bottle cap into a clip-on camera lens that people can attach to their smartphones and start shooting 360-degree videos. When finished with filming, they can easily upload the videos to Facebook to share with friends.

Beck's beer

What Brands Need To Do
With the proliferation of virtual reality and 360-degree content on mainstream digital platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube, consumers are getting familiarized with the emerging format and eager to create their own. Beck’s campaign taps into that curiosity and smartly integrates a gadget into its product packaging in a fun way. For brands that wish to keep abreast of the digital curve, now is the time to start thinking about integrating this type of immersive content into your media strategies, and a way to do it that truly excites and engages your audience.

 

Source: AdWeek

Images courtesy of BBDO Germany’s promo video on YouTube

Adtile Launches 360-Degree Video Ad Unit

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Adtile, an ad tech startup that focuses on incorporating smartphone sensor data into the mobile ad experience, announced a product called Adtile 360 that delivers 360-degree videos. The new ad product will allow brands to create 360-degree video ads that have adjustable viewpoints based on how the user is holding their device.  

What Brands Need To Do
With 360-degree video content quickly gaining momentum and mainstream platform support, virtual reality is primed to become the next frontier for ads. Unlike other emerging platforms, however, VR and 360-degree videos are not easy to produce, and the ad network infrastructure is still very much in its infancy. It is commendable that Adtile is pioneering a 360-degree video ad unit that early adopting brands can dip their toes into. For other brands, we suggest working with content creators to build up a library of branded VR content to engage with the audience.

 

Source: VentureBeat

How St. Giles Hotels Is Crowdsourcing 360-Degree Content From Its Guests

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
St. Giles Hotels is inviting its guests to help it create VR content by lending them 360-degree cameras to document their stays with. The hotel chain, which manages nine properties across multiple continents, is also launching a contest to find interested consumers around the world to contribute some 360-degree footage to add to its content library. This summer, thirty guests will be awarded with a free one-night stay, given a Samsung Gear 360 camera, and tasked with shooting 360-degree videos around the hotels and the cities they are located in. The final cut of the crowdsourced VR content will be incorporated into a digital and social campaign planned for September. The company is also making a mobile app to allow viewers to watch the content with Google Cardboard.

Why Brands Should Care
With more and more platforms supporting VR and 360 video content, branded VR content continues to gain traction among consumers as brands started working with content creators to produce engaging, immersive content. St. Giles Hotels is taking a different approach here, as it outsources the VR content creation to its guests in exchange for one night of free accommodation. It is a good way to drum up consumer interest and get some authentic material that truly reflects the customer experience. Brands looking to get in on the VR trend should consider taking a cue from St. Giles and devising a similar initiative.

 

Source: AdWeek