KFC’s Zinger was expected to stay aloft for a couple of days and then land softly on a target thanks to steerable parachutes. The sandwich hitched a ride on a balloon system being developed by World View, which seeks to provide passenger flights, weather monitoring, and surveillance with its technology.
As hokey as the Zinger stunt may sound, KFC’s livestreaming is part of a much bigger trend that is being embraced by marketers and has sparked a competitive battle among social media platforms. Twitter and Facebook, for their part, are livestreaming Major League Baseball games this season. Social media platforms can benefit by streaming such events and building communities of viewers who interact as sporting competitions occur.
For Major League Baseball, engagement data generated by social media platforms can be used for marketing and for content development. Celebrities are also embracing livestreaming. Katy Perry recently livestreamed herself for 96 hours to promote her new “Witness” album. The event attracted 49 million viewers and resulted in Perry becoming the first singer to exceed 100 million followers on Twitter.
Livestreaming has found advocates among brand marketers. Adidas is just one example. The company has conducted more than 50 livestreams in the past months on Adidas.com, Twitter, and Facebook as part of its digital marketing, reports AdWeek.
To promote its new line of yoga pants, the company recently used Brandlive to livestream a celebration of International Yoga Day and the summer solstice. Adidas claims it has generated 2.3 million views with its livestreams.
Dunkin Donuts has also embraced the technology with a Valentine’s Day broadcast that featured the company’s test kitchen and a discussion of how new donuts and baked goods are developed, according to an article from Forbes. The presentation ended by showing a giant donut themed wedding cake.
Tough Mudder, which conducts endurance races, has also used live streaming to provide online presentations on physical fitness. Unlike recorded video displays, livestreaming is viewed as being highly authentic since the presentations are less likely to be scripted and are not edited. That characteristic can go a long way with millennials who tend to be less trustful of marketing messages.
Livestreaming is also appealing because it can help brands build communities of viewers who can interact as presentations are provided. Livestreams are also recorded, so they can be offered online after the initial presentation is done.
Livestreams are highly popular with web surfers. According to one estimate, 46% of individuals ages 5 to 64 stream content daily, according to an article from MediaPost. Marketers also maintain that offering livestreams involves a low barrier to entry. For the most part, a high definition video camera and a web connection are required and social media websites offer viewing platforms. Among social media, Facebook is the largest with 45% of market share and YouTube Live is the second largest with 44%.
