Dive Brief:
- Brands are forgiving Periscope for the persistent glitches in its live streams in an effort to attract young millennials.
- Unscripted Periscope broadcasts from brands such as BMW, Benefit Cosmetics and Royal Caribbean have attracted not only eyeballs, but also as hecklers and trolls.
- Royal Caribbean reported 30,000 views for a recent campaign streaming footage from its cruise ships and vacation destinations.
Dive Insight:
Combining live broadcasts and the near-anonymous interaction of the web, live-streaming platform Periscope is offering advertisers a similar, authentic unpredictability. A product demonstration from Benefit Cosmetics recently was trolled by a heckler, for example, while Royal Caribbean headed off one commenter's attempt to post the alphabet, one letter at a time.
Periscope allows its 10 million users to participate in live streams by sending comments and emoticons in real time. The potential concern there is obvious, and parent company Twitter recently was spammed with cartoon hearts during an earnings call streamed on Periscope.
Still, Periscope delivers millennial eyeballs. In spite of technical difficulties and user complaints, BMW North America’s debut of the M2 coupe on Periscope last month garnered 5,000 inexpensive views.
Not all brands are ready to embrace Periscope’s environment, but a few are coping. Royal Caribbean recently streamed footage from cruises and vacation destinations to digital billboards in New York, attracting so many viewers that Periscope’s comments feature shut down. The cruise company also placed a delay on the feed in case it needed to edit out any unsavory or inappropriate comments.