All over the country, music-lovers this summer were pulling on their wellies and heading out into the open air to relish one of the joys of the summer: festival season. With hundreds of music festivals taking place in the summer months, making every event and seeing every performance on offer was virtually impossible… or was it?
Thankfully, nowadays no matter what the reason for missing an event, no-one needs to miss out. The advent of high-quality and reliable live video streaming means letting your customers join in on the action – be it festival fun or a killer conference - is easier than ever, wherever you (or they) are in the world.
In our modern day, tech-centric society, the offering of live content is proving to be a big boost for brands in every sector. Even charities are getting in on the act!
Last year Brightcove and technology partner Cleeng collaborated with ONE DROP, a non-profit group that aims to increase water accessibility globally, to extend the revenue stream of its one-night-only theatrical event in Las Vegas.
Rather than limiting the audience to only those in attendance, ONE DROP and co-event sponsor, Le Cirque du Soleil, integrated Cleeng’s online pay-per-view API system with Brightcove’s Video Cloud to stream the entire performance on–demand. By charging $5 to watch the performance - on any device - ONE DROP was able to access a global audience and has since been able to monetize the on-demand performance to raise further funds for its cause.
What’s in it for marketers?
With fierce competition on all sides, engaging with consumers through live video streaming has become a key way to increase brand profitability by widening content reach. So long as users have an internet enabled device and an internet connection, they can access your branded content from any global location.
No matter what your brand message, studies have shown that communicating via video content is quickly becoming an invaluable marketing tool. In fact, our research with the Aberdeen Group found that 95% of best-in-class companies - defined as the top 20% of companies based on aggregate performers from the industry average – are already using video content as part of their marketing mix.
But let’s face it, it’s no good providing quality live content if you can’t reap profit from it, too. The hurdle, of course, is the complex and costly process of setting up live pay-per-view (PPV) events. Fortunately, Cleeng is on hand to manage the challenging process of monetizing your live content from start to finish. With Cleeng Live!, your brand can knock down live PPV complexity and focus on what really matters – creating knock-out live content.
Make live streaming social
From driving a cross-screen experience in real-time like Puma at the Olympics, to using 3-D glasses to transform a fashion show like Hugo Boss (which received more than 70,000 live views), the sky's the limit on live stream video content.
Still not convinced? Check out our top four reasons for investing in going live:
- Live video streaming keeps things fresh! Complementing on-demand video with exciting live exclusives entices visitors and stops content from going stale – just what you need to get your brand message noticed
- Once they’re there, they’re not going anywhere! Drawing in viewers with live streaming bumps up your viewership for on-demand content too, as viewers stick around to check out what else is on offer on your site
- Engage more: browse more! According to comScore, online video viewers show increased engagement and longer viewing times while watching live video versus on-demand video, making it a great advertising and cross-promotion opportunity
- Live streaming is social! Engaged viewers will urge friends to join in on the experience as it happens, which makes for a more compelling invitation than on-demand content, which can be shared at a later date (or not at all!)
So if you’re not already streaming live video content – what’s stopping you? After all, if every summer thousands of festival goers are willing to brave the fresh air and unpredictable weather just to experience the unique thrill of live, then maybe it’s time that your business started thinking about getting involved with live content, too.
If you’re thinking about live streaming an event anytime soon, take a look at our whitepaper, "A Simple Guide to Streaming Live Video Events." You can download it here to learn more.