Ever wanted to ‘explore the world in real time through someone else’s eyes’? Well now you can with Periscope! Launched in March, Periscope has captured the attention of social media PR users, keen to participate in the very latest sharing medium – with no restrictions.
Periscope says ‘we wanted to build the closest thing to teleportation. While there are many ways to discover events and places, we realised there is no better way to experience a place at the moment than through live video.’ And that’s just what they’ve done, giving users a platform to bring their articles, blogs, hobbies, and travels to life. Live, with no time delay.
Breaking down the walls of the previous 15 second Instagram video clip, or six second Vine, Periscope brings the eyes and ears that we’re only used to seeing online from live event streaming, and of course television broadcasts – to our phones. At the press of a button on the app you can now broadcast and share your story and experiences with others – be it baby’s first steps, knowledge sharing, world events, or just a humble holiday brag. And for viewers, it really is as easy as stepping into some else’s shoes – travel the world and explore things you’ve never seen or heard of before, all from the comfort of your own surroundings.
As Periscope is integrated with Twitter, users have a ready built community with which to share, meaning it’s super easy to follow the people and brands you like, in real-time. If you miss a broadcast, you also have 24-hours to catch it on replay.
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve found myself watching beauty and fashion bloggers talk viewers through their latest shopping hauls, a trip to the zoo, backstage at tech events, trackside streams from Le Mans, photographers on a trip to Dubai, a DJ selecting playlists and BBC Click’s LJ Rich taking song requests to play on her piano (you need to check out #LJTunes, Monday will never be the same again!) – all live.
It will be interesting to see how Periscope plays out for brands. At first glance it seems to be an ideal platform for customer interaction. Viewers are empowered by tuning in live, to comment and interact in real time – and share their appreciation via likes (hearts). Whether it’s unboxing first look new products, behind the scenes campaign footage, or an exclusive Q&A event, Periscope has the ability to become a ‘go to’ platform for a brands’ social media.
According to The Drum ‘Live video streaming will only increase in popularity thanks to our unquenchable desire for 15 seconds of internet fame. And for brand owners, the chance to ‘be’ the conversation in a unique and original way rather than just being part of it is too good to miss.’
Of course it’s early days and Periscope has its naysayers too. The quality of footage can be questionable – it’s dependent on connectivity, and is captured via mobile device. The Next Web states: “they’re a niche prospect right now – neither a source of compelling viewing, nor a place where broadcasters can easily build up truly significant audiences.” But according to Nuvi, Periscope users shared their live-streams on Twitter 1.5m times in between its March launch and May. It’s an exciting one to watch unfold, although probably not live!
Our consumer lifestyle PR team specialise in connecting everyday brands with everyday people across four core sectors; Consumer Lifestyle PR, Food & Drink PR, Consumer Technology PR and Sport, Health & Wellbeing PR. More information on these areas of knowledge can be found at www.escapadepr.com/about-us.
