Tag: live streaming

Time Inc. Offers A Way For Brands To Sponsor Facebook Live Content

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Publishing powerhouse Time Inc. is offering brands a way to appear in their Facebook Live content via a Social Now ad product. As of now, Facebook has yet to officially roll out an ad product for Live video, although it has reportedly started testing mid-roll ads. Time is aiming to weave brands into the live broadcasts created by their publishers. For example, InStyle hosted a Facebook Live event where a beauty expert from La Mer conducted a skin consultation with an InStyle editor.

What Brands Should Do
With Facebook Live exploding in popularity, a number of brands and publishers are experimenting with Live video to reach and possibly monetize an online audience. Early-adopting brands such as Popeyes and McDonald’s have started organizing live events to launch new products and engage with fans. For smaller brands that don’t have the resources to produce their own Facebook Live content, the sort of sponsored Live video that Time offers should be a helpful way for brands to reach their target audience.

 

Source: AdExchange

Twitch Incentivizes Users To Watch Ads With Virtual Rewards

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Popular gameplay live-streaming site Twitch has started testing a new way to incentivize its nearly 10 million daily active users to watch ads. U.S. viewers can now choose to watch a sponsored video or fill out a short survey in exchange for some “Bits,” a virtual currency the company introduced in June to enable users to tip their favorite broadcasters. Previously, users could purchase 100 Bits for $1.40.

What Brands Should Do
Twitch is commendable for taking an innovative approach to counteract the prevalent usage of ad-blockers in the gaming community. This initiative should make it easier for brands to reach the much-coveted young Millennial audience on Twitch, offering an example of how media owners can deal with the rise of ad-blockers by improving the ad experience and proposing a value exchange to their audience.

For more information on how brands can deal with the increasing consumer aversion toward ads, check out the Ad Avoidance section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: Engadget

Periscope Introduces VIP Program To Give Popular Broadcasters A Boost

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter-owned live-streaming platform Periscope on Tuesday introduced a VIP program, offering popular broadcasters on its platform additional support and recognition. Any Periscope user that meets its VIP requirements for follower number, average views, and post frequency can enroll in the program for free to receive the VIP benefits. Besides special profile badges that denote their VIP status, enrolled broadcasters will also enjoy boosts in content visibility, such as being featured on a Suggested User List of sorts, as well as additional resources and support from Periscope to increase the quality of their content.

What Brands Need To Do
A recent study from Brandlive shows that 44% of companies created live video content in 2015. As Twitter opens up Periscope for monetization, brands gain new opportunities to work with popular content creators and influencers to reach an online audience in real time. If your brand is active on Periscope and has amassed enough followers to qualify for VIP status, then it is a no-brainer to enroll in the program and take advantage of the benefits that Periscope is offering. If not, this VIP program should make it easier for brands to scout key influencers for sponsored livestreams.  

 

Source: VentureBeat

 

Facebook And YouTube Join The Livestream War Over Presidential Debates

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Following Twitter’s announcement on Tuesday that it will work with Bloomberg to livestream the upcoming presidential debates, Facebook and YouTube have announced similar partnerships to simulcast the debates on their sites. Facebook is teaming up with ABC News to bring the network’s debate coverage to the social network, with the network creating Facebook Live content throughout the day on its Facebook Page. YouTube, on the other hand, will broadcast the debates as part of its #voteIRL campaign with some help from PBS, Telemundo, and the Washington Post.

In related news, NBC will broadcast the upcoming debates in virtual reality. Working with AltspaceVR, the network created an election-themed “Democracy Plaza” where interested viewers can watch the debate together virtually.

Why Brands Should Care
It will be interesting to see how these debate-related live streams stack up against each other in terms of viewership numbers and the user experience that each site delivers. Although it appears that neither Facebook nor YouTube will carry ads on their live feeds, brands still need to pay attention to how this plays out as it may offer some clarity on the ongoing platform war over live video content.

Livestreaming and VR content offer the kind of immediacy and immersion that brands can benefit from, and as mainstream consumers become increasingly familiar with these emerging formats, brands need to work with content creators and tech partners to develop engaging live and VR content.

 

Source: TechCrunch & Variety & Variety

Twitter Partners With Bloomberg To Livestream Presidential Debates

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter continues to ramp up its live content as the company announced a partnership with Bloomberg on Wednesday to simulcast the three upcoming presidential debates and the vice presidential debate on its platform. The livestream will be presented in a similar format as the one it designed for the NFL game broadcast last Thursday. The two companies will share revenue from ads aired during the pre- and post-debate coverage, similar to the deal they reached in July for Twitter to stream three daily news programs from Bloomberg TV.

What Brands Should Do
As Twitter continues to build out its live-streaming capabilities, it is also actively courting media owners to cover high-profile media events to attract an audience and monetize through ads. And its ad-friendly approach toward live streaming presents a viable channel to connect with an online audience that can be hard to reach via traditional media buys.

Moreover, some early-adopting brands have found some success in capitalizing on Twitter’s push into livestreaming by hosting their own live events. Earlier this month, Wendy’s scored 300,000 views on Twitter’s Periscope with a live event where social influencer Cody Johns made its “baconator” burgers. As more and more mobile users become familiarized with livestreaming, brands should consider partnering with influencers to effectively leverage live video to connect with consumers in real time.

 

Source: Re/Code

Twitter’s First NFL Livestream Posts Decent Viewership And Leaves Room For Improvement

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Last Thursday, Twitter live streamed the first of the ten NFL games it scored in April, attracting over 2.3 million viewers in total. While a decent viewership for a digital livestream, it is but a small fraction of the 48 million viewers that watched the game on live TV. The stream averaged 243,000 viewers per minute, with each viewer watching an average of 22 minutes. For comparison, the game averaged 15.4 million viewers on CBS and NFL Network.

The livestream received some positive feedback for image quality and smooth playback, but also left some room for improvement. Specifically, some viewers complained about the delay of Twitter’s livestream compared to the live TV feed, which caused problems for the Twitter viewers who saw tweets from TV viewers in the curated Twitter feed beside the livestream video player.

Why Brands Should Care
All things considered, Twitter made a solid debut with its first NFL livestream, delivering a pleasant digital viewing experience for free. Granted, Twitter’s viewership numbers pale in comparison to those of live TV, but this is still early days for live streaming sports events. Unlike most OTT streaming services, Twitter did carry a number of ads during the broadcast, allowing brands to reach online sports fans. As it continues to build out its video products and fix the delay issue, Twitter should be able to further optimize the viewing experience and attract more viewers, especially cord-cutters and cord-nevers, to its ad-supported livestreams.

 

Source: Re/Code & New York Times

Fox Sports To Broadcast Live Football Games In VR

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Following the deal it inked with NextVR in February to develop VR content from sports events it broadcasts, Fox Sports is now teaming up with live-streaming startup LiveLike to broadcast some of its upcoming collegiate football games in virtual reality. Viewers can download the Fox Sports VR app, which is available on iOS, Android, and Gear VR, and sign in with their cable provider credentials to watch games in several immersive settings. Besides standard 360-degree views from different viewpoints, the app also features a Virtual Suit mode that simulates a viewing experience from a VIP suite.

Why Brands Should Care
By combining the immersion that VR technology provides and the immediacy of live streaming, Fox Sports is creating a powerful viewing experience that more content creators and media owners should explore to fully engage their audience. With the quickening pace of VR content development and an increasing number of ad platforms testing new formats in VR and 360 video, brands need to start working with content creators today to produce branded 360-degree and/or live video content.

The Lab currently has four VR headsets — an Oculus Rift, an HTC Vive, and two Samsung Gear VRs — ready for demos. If you’re interested in getting a hands-on demo and figuring out how your brand can employ VR to excite and engage with consumers, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: UploadVR

Twitter Opens Up Periscope Livestreams For Brand Sponsorships

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter is now allowing brands to sponsor livestreams on Periscope as the company looks to monetize its live video app. Grey Goose and Chase are now sponsoring Periscope livestreams from former world champion Andy Roddick at the U.S. Open, who will name-check the brands during the live show. The sponsorship is said to be part of a larger ad buy that also includes promoted tweets and Twitter Amplify preroll ads for the two brands.

What Brands Need To Do
Twitter has been trying to keep up with Facebook in terms of building out live video products as it vyes for the ad dollars pouring into digital video. Periscope recently started testing the use of pre-recorded and graphics in livestreams to offer content creators more leeway. As Twitter opens up Periscope for monetization, brands gain new opportunities to work with popular content creators and influencers to reach an online audience in real time.

 

Source: AdWeek

Header image is a promotional image courtesy of the Periscope blog

Citibank Promotes Credit Card With VR Concert Initiative

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Citibank is working with NBC’s The Today Show to create a virtual reality concert experience to promote the Private Pass live event tickets program for Citi cardholders. As part of the ongoing Citi Concert Series on Today, this Friday’s show featuring pop group DNCE will be available via 360-degree livestreaming. Fans that showed up at the show will receive Citi-branded Google Cardboard headsets so that everyone can get a “front row view.” The branded VR headsets have also been distributed in advance to fans who cannot be there in person but requested a headset so they can watch the show live in virtual reality.

What Brands Need To Do
Virtual reality and live video enable brands to engage their audiences with immersive and intimate experiences, but the technical difficulties and relatively high cost they present at the moment have stopped some brands from exploring them. Yet with both formats gaining support on mainstream platforms such as Facebook and YouTube, consumers are getting increasingly familiar with and intrigued by VR and live video content. For brands that wish to stay ahead of the curve, now is the time to start working with content creators to develop interesting branded VR experiences.

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: GeoMarketing

 

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