Livestreaming8/12/16

Live streaming is when someone sends or receives video and audio coverage of an event over the internet in real time.

Agenda1. Evolutions of Media Consumption

2. Live Streaming Platforms

3. Brands in Live Streams

4. Trends, Best Practices, and Challenges

Evolutions of Media Consumption

Increase in Mobile First

Longer Engagement

TimesMore

Personal

Becoming More Personal

One key element of live streaming is the interaction between broadcasters and viewers that make the one-to-many relationship feel like a one-to-one relationship. • Deepen relationship with audience

• Appetite for raw, unfiltered content

Increase in Mobile First*Most live streaming platforms are mobile first, which means they live in a more natural environment.• 72% of adults in the US own a smartphone

• People spend more time engaging with digital media on mobile than they do on desktop

Longer Engagement Times

We may see longer engagement times, as people can’t skip forward in the broadcast but don’t want to miss what’s happening next… because the watermelon’s definitely going to explode in the next minute. Okay, in the next one.• Taps into FOMO

Live Streaming Platforms

Twitter/Periscope

Periscope was founded in 2015 and acquired by Twitter before the app even launched.

Twitter’s livestreaming arm, Periscope, has been recently integrated into the Twitter timeline. Twitter has also been signing countless live streaming deals with major tv networks.

Twitter/Periscope

• Pro: People already see Twitter as somewhere to be updated on what’s going on in the world at the moment

• Con: Smaller audience

Facebook Live

Facebook unveiled live video to the public in January 2016. A select group of publishers were allowed to test it from their verified Facebook pages.

It was announced in August 2016 that Facebook would be testing mid-roll ads in Facebook Live.

Facebook Live• People watch Facebook Live 3x

longer than videos that are not live

• “Chewbacca Mom” was a Facebook Live video that went viral

• Pro: Larger audience

• Con: Needs promotion, most people won’t catch the stream when it’s actually live

YouNow

YouNow was founded in 2011. Popular broadcasters play music, chat with viewers, and/or broadcast their lives.

People can search topics through tags, and see a list of trending broadcasters.

In 2016, the Shorty Awards made a new category for “YouNower of the Year.”

YouNow• Average 4-5 million active users

per month

• Over 100 million sessions per month

• Paid out over $1 million to about 500 of its most popular live-streamers

• Pro: More niche audience (younger, more engaged)

• Con: Much smaller audience

Live.Me

Live.Me is a new app that has a lot of young star power behind it. Celebrities like roman Atwood have built a lot of fans for the app.

Users in the app can level up by watching, streaming, and giving gifts.

Live lenses and stickers are available during streaming.

Live.MeLive.Me wants to find its own superstars.

It is running a contest to find who’s most popular on the app and is offering a possible contract.

• Pro: If you’re on it, you know about the newest media

• Con: Too new to know whether it’ll attract an audience

Twitch

Twitch is a gaming spinoff of a general-interest streaming platform called Justin.tv. Twitch became more successful than its original, and Justin.tv was shut down.

Twitch was bought by Amazon in 2014. In August 2016, Twitch announced that it would stream Amazon Video pilots.

Twitch• Average 550K concurrent viewers

• Peak of 2,098,529 concurrent viewers

• Watched 421.6 minutes monthly

• Pro: More niche audience that is actually quite large

• Con: Most of screen is taken by actual video game, so limited opportunities for other brands

Other Notable Platforms

• Tumblr

• YouTube, YouTube Gaming

• UStream

• Stre.am

• Meerkat (now slightly defunct)

• Blab

Brands and Publishers

IHOP

On Facebook Live, IHOP ran a live stream of pancakes on the beach to promote its new “Paradise Pancakes.” This livestream “made the pancakes the hero” and conveyed the brand personality. The video accumulated 385,000 views.

Takeaway: Use humor and do something different.

Wendy’s

Wendy’s enlisted YouTube stars Rhett and Link to do a live stream on a microsite. Viewers waited in a queue for Rhett and Link to write a song or skit about the viewer. The site was full a majority of the day. Wendy’s also did a separate Periscope stream from Rhett and Links’ office.

Takeaways: Use video influencers, use humor, interact with audience.

Sponsored Livestreams

Sponsoring live streams of music festivals has become increasingly popular. 7UP sponsored Electric Daisy on Yahoo, Toyota sponsored Stagecoach on Yahoo, and T-Mobile sponsored a 360-degree video stream of Coachella on YouTube.

Takeaway: Sponsor a live stream from an event/festival to align the brand with the lifestyle of that event/festival.

Glamour UK

Glamour UK hosts regular Facebook Live sessions for beauty tips and tutorials. Videos have been getting around 25K views, with viewers watching for about 20 minutes. Since beginning the Live sessions, Glamour UK’s video views have sharply increased.

Takeaway: Live stream regularly, have content that viewers see as useful.

Awaiting the PrinceIn 2013, “Ahead of the birth of Prince George, Associated Press streamed a shot of the hospital’s front door to many of the UK’s online newspaper sites.”

Viewers stuck around longer, more like linear TV and less like a short site visit.

Takeaway: live streaming creates longer engagement times.

Other Ways to Use Live Streaming• Live auction

• Livestream podcast

• Behind the scenes

• Live weather updates

• Live breaking news

Trends, Best Practices, Challenges

Trend: 360 Live StreamingWith the rise of both these trends at the same time, the combination of the two is also rising. Some think that GoPro should be focusing on building live streaming into its hardware, and some other camera brands have already done so. YouTube is so far the only platform that is able to live stream a 360 video.

Implication: 360 and VR live streaming will become very popular

Trend: Mukbang

Mukbang is a Korean phenomenon where people live stream themselves eating mass amounts of food. Viewers tune in to watch and chat, and sometimes eat a (normal-sized) meal along with the broadcasters.

Implication: People want conversation and intimate experiences.

Best Practices• Be candid and spontaneous, but organized

• Interact and listen to viewers

Challenges• Only small percent of whole audience will catch it

live

• Nobody knows what works and what doesn’t yet