Tag: live streaming

Facebook Starts Testing Mid-Roll Ads In Live Videos

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook has started testing ads that appear during Live videos, the company confirmed on Monday. Live video broadcasts from Facebook’s top publishing partners will carry mid-roll video ads, which will reportedly last for 15 seconds or shorter and appear five minutes into a broadcast. Facebook says it will pull the video ads from promoted video campaigns already running on the platform, and it is giving brands the ability to opt out of showing their ads in live videos.

What Brands Need To Do
Facebook has been putting a considerable amount of effort into building out its Live video product in the past few months. It has reportedly been trying to lure YouTube stars and social influencers to switch to Facebook Live with the promise of an ad revenue share. Now with mid-roll video ads, Facebook is finally opening the door for brand advertisers to get their messages across via Live video. However, brands should be cautious about the type of live content that their ads will be served alongside and take proactive measures to make sure it is brand-appropriate or relevant.

 

Source: Mashable

Facebook To Live Stream Olympics Content From NBC

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook has scored an exclusive content deal with NBC for the upcoming Summer Olympics. NBC will share highlight clips and recaps of the Games each day via its Facebook Page and Instagram account. NBC will also be using Facebook Live to stream some interviews with athletes and commentators, but it won’t be broadcasting any live footage of the Games on Facebook.

This is not the first time NBC has turned to Facebook for amplifying its Olympics content – the two companies also teamed up for the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014. And despite getting some exclusive content from NBC, Facebook is not the only social channel the peacock network will be using this year as NBC struck a partnership with Snapchat in April to distribute Olympics-related content via a pop-up Discovery channel and custom Live Stories.

Why Brands Should Care
This is a major score for Facebook as it continues to build out its video products in a bid to attract more ad dollars. Although Facebook has yet to introduce any ad product for its Live video or announce any sponsorship opportunity surrounding the Olympics content, this content initiative adds to Facebook’s growing video content. As Facebook continues its efforts to attract more video viewers, early-adopting brands such as Popeyes and Birchbox have been hosting live events on Facebook to engage with fans. Brands should consider trying their hands at live streaming so as to connect with an online audience in real time.

 

Source: Mashable

Twitter To Live Broadcast Its First eSports Matches

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
In the beginning of July, reports surfaced that Twitter was in talks with Turner Broadcasting for the live-streaming rights of some of its eSports content. Now, Twitter announced that it has struck a partnership deal with Turner to live broadcast the semi-final and final games of ELEAGUE’s tournament for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive this weekend, marking the first time Twitter has branched out into the eSports territory that is typically dominated by Twitch.

What Brands Need To Do
ELEAGUE is a professional eSports league co-owned by Turner Broadcasting and talent agency WME/IMG that started this May. Its broadcast on Turner-owned TBS scored 509,000 total viewers during its first primetime telecast and has since consistently brought in a new audience to Turner network throughout its first season. Now by inking a deal with Twitter, Turner is looking to further extend the reach of its eSports content.  

In the past few years, the competitive gaming industry, which attracts a massive audience and generates billions of dollars, has quickly grown into a media opportunity that brands should not ignore. Some early-adopting brands, such as Coca-Cola and Geico, have been sponsoring eSports events to reach its young, male-skewing audience. More brands should consider leveraging the massive reach of eSports events to reach consumers via sponsorships or, in this case, Twitter ads.

 

Source: Engadget

 

Twitter Scores Live-Streaming Rights Of MLB And NHL Games

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Reports surfaced at the beginning of the month that Twitter was in talks with the MLB and the NHL in its quest for more live sports content. Today, Twitter announced that it has reached a deal with MLB Advanced Media to stream live weekly games from the two aforementioned sports leagues. Viewers will be able to stream games for free, no login required. Twitter will pay the leagues a set amount of ad sales it generates, and the companies will split the additional ad revenue.

What Brands Need To Do
With this pact, Twitter has now established relationships with the four big pro-sports leagues in the U.S. to broadcast their content. Previously, Twitter won the simulcast rights for NFL Thursday Night Football games in April and announced a deal with the NBA for original live shows during games last week. As Twitter builds out its live sports content, it emerges as a burgeoning media channel for brands to reach sports fans online. Agreeing to split ad revenue with content providers, Twitter demonstrates an ad-friendly approach toward live streaming that brands, especially those targeting sports fans, should take into consideration while seeking to reach an online audience.

 

Source: Variety

Facebook Updates Live Video While Seeking Content Diversity

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook continues to improve its Live video product and diversify its content. Earlier today, the social network announced that it is doubling the length limit of Live videos from two hours to four hours. Moreover, it is adding the option for viewers to mute real-time comments and Reactions during broadcasts, allowing users to focus on the content without distractions.

As for its quest for more content diversity, Facebook reportedly has committed to paying about $2.2 million in the coming months to popular video creators from YouTube, Vine, and other digital video platforms as incentive for them to use Facebook Live. The company also scored the rights to live stream nine U.S. Olympic basketball exhibition games starting July 22. The live coverage will be available on the Facebook pages of USA Basketball and the NBA and sponsored by Verizon.

What Brands Need To Do
So far, Facebook has not introduced any ad products for Live video, choosing instead to focus on improving the user experience first. However, adding Verizon as a sponsor for its live streams of basketball games suggests that Facebook may be open to brand sponsorships for Live video. The extended Live video length grants brands more freedom in conducting longer events on Facebook, and broadcasters can encourage viewers to temporarily hide comments to get their full attention during big moments.

As Facebook continues to build out Live video, early-adopting brands such as Popeyes and McDonald’s have started organizing live events to launch new products and engage with fans. For brands considering trying Facebook Live, it is important to craft engaging content that truly resonates with the target audience, but also to be flexible enough to roll with whatever happens and allow the audience to influence the narrative. For more suggestions on how brands can leverage live streaming for marketing, you can read this CMO’s Guide to Live Video on AdAge.

 

Sources: VentureBeat, WSJ, and Variety

Twitter Adds Bloomberg TV Shows To Its Live-Streaming Lineup

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Right on the heels of striking a deal with CBS News to live stream the upcoming Democratic and Republican conventions, Twitter is adding more content to its live-streaming lineup with an announcement that it will be carrying three daily news programs from Bloomberg TV starting this fall. Moreover, Twitter will be sharing the ad revenue with Bloomberg.

What Brands Need To 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. Since scoring the simulcast rights for ten NFL games in April, Twitter has reportedly already sold over 60% of its NFL ad inventory. This Bloomberg TV deal sets a precedent for splitting ad revenue, which gives media owners more incentive to distribute through Twitter to explore live video content. For brands, Twitter’s 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.

Source: AdAge

Facebook Live Adds New Features, Readies For Ads

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook continues to make a strong push for its live-streaming product as the company unveiled some upcoming features of Live at the 2016 VidCon on Thursday. Soon, users will be able to add another broadcaster to a live video, pre-schedule a live broadcast to enable Facebook to send viewers notifications, and create a virtual waiting room for viewers before the broadcasts commence. Moreover, the social network is also getting ready to test different monetization models for Facebook Live over the next couple months according to Fidji Simo, head of Facebook’s video product, who indicated that in-stream ads are part of the plan.

What Brands Need To Do
The new features should be helpful for content creators and brands to spice up their broadcasts with celebrity guests and cameos and amass an audience for their live videos before they start. Some early-adopting brands, such as Birchbox and GE, are already using Facebook Live to build relationships with customers and convert interested social followers into customers. The confirmation that Facebook is getting ready to introduce ads to Live videos should also come as a promising sign for bringing brand marketers more opportunities to reach the massive audience that Facebook Live captures.

 

Source: TechCrunch & Marketing Land

 

Guess How Much Twitter Is Selling Its NFL Ad Packages At

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter, which struck a deal with the National Football League (NFL) to exclusively live stream 10 games this season, has been reportedly hawking their NFL ad packages for as much as $8 million. The 10-game bundle is said to include in-stream commercials with sponsorships of NFL highlights. Brands and agencies can also go for a $2 million package which does not include ad spots during the game, but instead gives advertisers pre-roll spots on other NFL content shared on Twitter. So far, it has sold half the live-stream inventory to sponsors, including Sony, Budweiser, Ford, and Nestlé, and it is promising category exclusivity to the big spenders to sweeten the deal.

Why Brands Should Care
It is interesting to see how Twitter is essentially acting like a TV network as it tries to figure out the bundling and pricing of its valuable yet limited NFL-related ad offerings. The microblogging service reportedly paid around $10 million to secure the simulcast rights for the 10 Thursday night games, a cost that should be easy to recoup if it manages to sell the ad bundles at their reported pricing. As Twitter pushes for more video ads, brand advertisers and agencies should keep an eye on this development as it may set a precedent for future ad buying in sports live streams.

 

Source: Digiday

How GE Is Using Live-Streaming To Humanize Its Brand

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
GE is pulling out all the stops for live-streaming, as the mega-conglomerate hopes to engage consumers with interesting narratives and humanize its industrial brand image. The company has experimented with several live-streaming platforms, such as Meerkat when it first came out. It also started using Periscope the day it launched and ran a couple campaigns on the Twitter-owned live-streaming platform, including the “Drone Week” campaign last summer. Most recently, GE launched its Pi Day campaign via Facebook’s Live Video, the newest of the emerging live-streaming platforms, showcasing the different applications of Pi in GE’s engineering.

What Brands Need To Do
According to GE’s global digital marketing manager Sydney Williams, live video content lends a very authentic and human feel to brands, which is especially appreciated by a younger Millennial audience. A lot of branded videos often end up a little too polished and over-produced, and live video provides a good medium to remedy that. For brands looking to experiment with live-streaming, they should be prepared on the technical front to ensure a smooth broadcast, but also willing to roll with the punches and embrace the unexpected.

 

Source: Marketing Land

Facebook To Add Support For TV-Quality Live-Streams

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook is planning to add support for studio-quality live broadcasting to its live-streaming feature to make it more appealing to content creators and publishers. Previously, Facebook’s Live Video only allowed a single smartphone or tablet to stream content. With this change, capable content creators like TV networks would be able to plug Facebook’s live-stream into their broadcast control rooms, allowing for live content that has multiple camera angles, remote segments from correspondents, and, in general, higher production value. Facebook is reportedly going to announce this new capability during its upcoming annual F8 developers conference in April.

What Brands Need To Do
Facebook has attracted a number of publishers and media owners, including MLB, E! Network, and TMZ, to create live content on its platform since it rolled out the live-streaming feature in December. Now with this added support, content creators will be able to leverage their production prowess to create more polished live content. Brands should consider working with content creators to develop ads or sponsored live content to take advantage of the new tools.

 

Source: Digiday