Tag: Livestreaming

Tumblr Launches Live Video Through Syndication

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Tumblr launched a live video feature on Tuesday. Unlike its competitors, however, the Yahoo-owned company neither developed a native streaming product in-house a la Facebook, nor did it acquire a startup to integrate with its service like Twitter did with Periscope. Instead, Tumblr is teaming up with several live-streaming sites such as YouTube, YouNow, AOL’s Kanvas, and Betaworks-backed Upclose to allow broadcasters to cross-post their livestreams to their linked Tumblr blogs.

Tumblr users will receive a push notification when someone they follow posts a live video, and the posts will also be pinned atop dashboard feeds to boost visibility. Users will also have the option to save their livestreams as a regular video post on Tumblr once they are done. Besides syndicating content from other services, Tumblr is also working closely with publishers such as Mashable, Refinery29, MTV and The Huffington Post to promote their live video across Tumblr’s “owned channels.”

Why Brands Should Care
By joining forces with several livestreaming sites, Tumblr can help broadcasters on those services reach a bigger audience and offers them a good place to build an archive for their live video content. Although Tumblr has yet to lay out a plan to monetize this new product, it is still a new channel that brands experimenting with live content should heed. As live video starts to take off, brands should consider sponsorships or broadcasting their own events to connect with their audience and draw some new eyeballs.

While it is safe to say that Tumblr, along with all other services it joined forces with, has a lot of catching up to do to compete with Facebook, which just signed about 140 deals with celebrities and media companies for live content creation, it is important that brands try out different platforms to figure out which one best matches with their target audience.

 

Source: Marketing Land

 

Twitter Now Allows Users To Start A Periscope Live Stream From Its Apps

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter is experimenting with new ways to incorporate its live-streaming service Periscope into its mobile apps in the hope of fending off Facebook’s strong push into live video. Now users can tap a “Go Live” button to start a live stream right from Twitter’s iOS and Android apps provided they have installed the Periscope app. Moreover, Twitter also plans to roll out web-embed support for Periscope content in the coming weeks, making the live streams viewable outside the app.

What Brands Need To Do
Facing mounting pressure from Facebook Live’s rapid growth, Twitter is smart to start integrating Periscope into its main apps to make it more accessible. At a time when live-streaming platforms are quickly growing and increasingly drawing consumer attention, brands and publishers such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Tastemade are also rushing to this emerging medium to connect with customers in real time. For brands that are looking to try their hands at live video, it is important to keep an open mind and choose a platform that best suits your need and, perhaps more importantly, matches where your audience is.

 

Source: Engadget & IBTimes

Facebook Challenges Twitch With Blizzard Integration

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Following the launch of an eSports network and programming on Facebook last month, popular video game maker Blizzard is forging a bond with the social network by integrating Facebook’s login and Live video features into its PC games and online gameplay service Battle.net. This integration allows players to easily start broadcasting their gameplay on Facebook. Although Battle.net added support for Twitch last September, this will no doubt put some pressure on Twitch as Facebook gears up to compete for the game streaming market.

What Brands Need To Do
Given Facebook’s massive user base, its newfound interest in gameplay streaming should come as an auspicious sign for the gaming industry. Quickly growing from a nerdy niche to a legitimate new media segment that commands millions of eyeballs, the gaming industry has enjoyed rapid growth in the past few years. Meanwhile, Facebook has been making a strong push for its Live video product in the recent months, so it makes sense for the social network to tap into one of the most popular content segments in live streaming. For brands seeking to connect with a young, male-skewing audience that video games typically deliver, this provides a new channel to reach a wide audience. Therefore, now is the time for brands to include video game streaming and eSports as part of the media strategy via relevant sponsorships.

 

Source: VentureBeat

Facebook Adds New Features To Live Video

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook continues to build out its live-streaming product as it debuts two new features. The social network launched a Continuous Live Video API, which enables persistent streams on Facebook for things like always-on nature feeds for bird-watchers. Previously, live broadcasts on Facebook were capped at 90 minutes. Moreover, Facebook also added a graphical timeline of user engagement in Live videos based on numbers of real-time Likes and comments, allowing users watching the replays to skip ahead to the interesting parts.

What Brands Need To Do
The new features should attract more users and content creators to Live Video, giving Facebook a considerable boost over other live-streaming platforms. Although Facebook’s Live Video does not currently carry ads, some early adopting brands such as GE have started using it to broadcast sponsored events or branded content. For brands wishing to connect with audiences in real time, Facebook’s massive reach and the relatively low production costs of live-streaming content make Facebook Live an appealing emerging platform to explore.

To read more on how brands can reach the fragmented audiences on streaming platforms, please check out the Appified TV section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: TechCrunch & The Verge

Activision Blizzard To Livestream eSports Matches On Facebook

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Video game maker Activision Blizzard will be delivering live eSports coverage to a global audience via Facebook. The video game company will launch a new eSports network and programming on Facebook with the MLG Anaheim Open, a two-day Call of Duty tournament that is scheduled to kick off on June 10, 2016. That tournament is run by Major League Gaming (MLG), one of the biggest eSports leagues, which Activision acquired in January.

Why Brands Should Care
eSports is outgrowing its status as a niche industry for gamers and turning into global entertainment. According to new research by market intelligence firm Newzoo, more than one billion people will know about eSports by the end of this year. While eSports is no stranger to live streaming, it is still an interesting move that Activision chose Facebook over other gameplay streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube Gaming for its live eSports coverage. Facebook has been making a strong push for its live-stream features, going as far as paying media companies to use it. Activision says it picked Facebook mainly for its unmatched reach among global Internet users. As Activision tries to engage part of Facebook’s massive audience, it can also increase the audience for brands sponsoring eSports tournaments or teams.

 

Source: Variety

Facebook Is Making A Brand-Friendly Live Morning Show

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook is venturing into producing live programming as it teams up with London-based marketing agency DigitasLBi to create Rise and Shine, a daily morning show that will be live-streamed to users via the News Feed. The show will include common morning show segments such as local weather reports or recipe recommendations, but it will also offer many branding opportunities. Each episode will be sponsored by a brand and appear on that brand’s Facebook Page, and DigitasLBi promises to work with sponsors to customize content. Besides the News Feed, users can also follow the show by subscribing to a chatbot on Messenger.

What Brands Need To Do
Facebook’s live videos do not currently carry ads, but some brands, such as GE, are already using it to broadcast sponsored events and branded content. This live morning show offers brands an opportunity to reach the massive audience on Facebook. As livestreaming continues to take off, brands should consider similar sponsorships or broadcasting their own events to reach a live audience.

 

Source: AdWeek

How Birchbox Is Using Facebook Live To Convert Customers

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Birchbox is joining the live-stream craze as the subscription-based, online beauty retailer recently started doing live shows on Facebook on a regular basis. The goal, according to Rachel Jo Silver, the former director of social marketing for Birchbox, is to build relationships with customers in real-time and convert interested social followers into customers. Birchbox has seen success in using livestreaming to acquire new subscribers and promote products. One of its best-performing livestreams lasted for 40 minutes and racked up nearly 50,000 live viewers with an average view time of 10 minutes. In addition, Birchbox is taking advantage of Facebook Live’s feature of saving livestreams as videos after they end to generate content for its various social media outlets.

What Brands Need To Do
Livestreaming is starting to explode across digital channels with Facebook making a strong push for its Live video feature in the past few months, which creates new opportunities for brands seeking to engage with online audiences in real time. Birchbox’s early success with Facebook Live is illustrative of how brands can use livestreaming to directly engage with online consumers. As this trend continues, we expect to see more brands start exploring live-streaming platforms to elevate brand image and attract new customers.

 

Source: Marketing Dive

Toyota Sponsors Yahoo’s Livestream Of The Stagecoach Music Festival

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Another brand has jumped on the live-stream bandwagon as Toyota announced it will be sponsoring the livestreams of the country music festival Stagecoach on Yahoo and Tumblr this weekend. The announcement came just one week after T-Mobile sponsored YouTube’s livestream of Coachella. As part of its campaign to promote the music content site “Music Moves You” that the company recently launched, Toyota says it is expecting the livestreams to reach “millions” over the weekend. The sponsorship includes Toyota branding at the top of the live-stream player’s page, as well as 30-second and shorter pre-roll video spots.

What Brands Need To Do
Livestreaming is starting to explode across digital channels with Facebook making a strong push for its Live video feature in the past few months, which creates new opportunities for brands seeking to engage with online audiences in real time. In fact, recent research from Brandlive shows that 44% of companies created live video content in 2015. Therefore, now is the time for brands to start exploring possible sponsorships with live-streaming platforms for events that may appeal to their target audiences.

 

Source: AdWeek

How Vox’s Facebook-First Gadget Blog Plans To Earn Revenue

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
On Monday, Vox Media launched a new consumer gadget blog called Circuit Breaker that will be primarily publishing its content on Facebook, making use of the social network’s publishing program Instant Articles and Live video feature to reach its massive audience. Besides the revenue the site can generate from ads in Instant Articles, Vox is also planning to offer brands editorial sponsorships and possible product placement in Facebook live-streams to help monetize the new content vertical.

Why Brands Should Care
Facebook commands a formidable amount of consumer attention as the app that U.S. mobile users spend the most time in. So it makes sense for Vox to experiment with the new site’s content distribution on Facebook’s platform. The plan it has for generating revenue beyond standard display ads in Instant Articles is illustrative of the new reality in brand advertising today, where marketers have to keep up with increasingly tech-savvy and ad-shunning consumers and figure out new ways to reach them, such as native ads and sponsored content.

For more information on why brands should explore new advertising formats, check out the Ad Avoidance section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: AdAge

 

Recycling PSA Campaign Marries Live-Streaming With Digital OOH

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
A PSA campaign by non-profit Recycle Across America live-streamed their celebrity-studded  photoshoot event in Los Angeles on 500 digital billboards across the U.S. on Thursday. The photoshoot was expected to generate over 3 million views on the billboards, which were donated by outdoor advertising agency Lamar Advertising to celebrate Earth Day.

What Brands Need To Do
According to Lamar Advertising, this campaign marks the first time a branded event was broadcast live on digital billboards at scale. Live-streaming has been gathering considerable momentum in recent months thanks to the popularization of Periscope and Facebook Live. So it makes sense to leverage the extensive reach of digital OOH to further expand the reach of live-streamed content. We expect to see more brands try their hand at this type of innovative OOH campaign.

 

Source: Digiday

Header image courtesy of Recycle Across America