- Feb 12, 2021
2020 was the year for cancelled plans. The Summer Olympics was cancelled for the first time since World War II, Glastonbury 20/21 was cancelled, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, The Rolling Stones and The Weeknd were all forced to reschedule their highly anticipated tours and ITV’s Love Island was unable to take place. The list goes on.
With the word of the year being “unprecedented”, the only thing we could be 100% sure of was that the events industry needed to adapt to accommodate for restrictions.
While some brands have refunded and rescheduled events, some have made the virtual transition to livestream. In fact, the occurrence of virtual events went up 1000% since the start of COVID-19 with 52,000 on just one platform, 6Connex.
Brands driving virtual events in 2021
Livestream Music
Online livestream venue StageIt has been helping to connect fans with lesser known artists for years. Here, acts stream live from the comfort of their homes via laptop cameras. Through an interactive chat room feature, fans can communicate with artists by asking questions and requesting songs. With venues closed, StageIt enables fans to financially support artists through a monetized system and acts can show their appreciation for viewers via a virtual tip jar. Through interactive video streams, fans can win prizes such as band merch or one-on-one Zoom sessions.
Bigger artists such as The Weeknd have held live, interactive virtual concerts. In August 2020 he took to TikTok drawing over 2 million total viewers and raising over $350,000 for the Equal Justice Initiative. Adam Lambert will host a series of live streams this February 2021 discussing Stonewall day and up and coming LGBTQ artists. Eddie Vedder, Phoebe Bridgers and more are set to perform virtually for the 34th annual Tibet House US Benefit concert with tickets starting at $25.
Livestream Fashion
Harnessing the magic of the internet, Dior streamed their Autumn 2021 Men's show live online as a part of Paris Men’s Fashion Week on 22 January 2021. The innovative, vibrant collection inspired by surrealism and science fiction reflected the limitless possibilities of combining technology with fashion. Featuring art from Kenny Scharf the show was streamed live using Amazon owned platform Twitch. The technology has also been used by Burberry in their Spring/Summer 2021 show. By contrast to Snapchat, Facebook Live, or Instagram, Twitch’s streaming service is more public, bringing the front row seat at fashion week to your device screen. The interactive video experience gave viewers the opportunity to connect with each other in live chat rooms. As a result, live streaming could bring the fashion community together during a socially distanced period.
Live Shopping
With store doors closed, interactive video is opening up new opportunities for ecommerce. Department store Brown Thomas partnered with Smartzer to create interactive and shoppable video events featuring brands like Laura Mercier and Bare Minerals. Customers could book onto breakthrough beauty masterclasses and tutorials to learn about makeup products and application techniques. They could shop the content shown in the stream via a product carousel and add items to their basket without leaving the stream. Through these exclusive events, customers were provided with a bespoke, live shopping experience that generated a community feel for like minded makeup enthusiasts.
By using Smartzer’s player that was fully integrated into the Demandware API, up-to-date product information could be instantly pulled into the Smartzer editor and player to be showcased to viewers. The private videos are now available on Brown Thomas’s ecommerce site for anyone to view. By using these videos for video content marketing, brands can engage and inform standard web visitors and turn general traffic into qualified traffic. Tests have revealed that a consumer who watched a video demonstrating a product was 144% more likely to add that product to their shopping cart. Through interactive, demonstrative video content brands can increase online engagement and build trust with their audiences to increase conversion rates.
In 1984 only 8% of US households had access to the internet. Now, 2.65 billion people in the world use social media. Undoubtedly, this is set to increase as 90% of the entire world’s data was created in the last two years. These astonishing facts confirm that the only way is up for the future of video content marketing technology.
Introducing interactive video
These are videos that promote interactivity. The videos include “hotspots” that perform an action when they are clicked on. The video may then display information about the product you have clicked on or direct you to a window where you can purchase the item. This video interactivity drives engagement and entices the customer increasing the chances of completing the sale.
The first examples of interactive video
Depending on the type of video, the first instances of interactivity vary. From film to music video to advert each type has a different date. All the way back in 1961, the first example of interactive film was exhibited by William Castle in his film ‘Mr. Sardonicus’. Here, the audience voted in a poll prior to the film to dictate the characters fate. Perhaps a less technological method but interactive nevertheless.
Technologically speaking, one of the first examples of interactive video commerce can be witnessed by Canadian fashion retailer SSENSE.com. By partnering with Diplo, Iggy Azalea and FKi they created the first ever shoppable music video for their song “I Think She Ready” in 2012. The interactive video utilised ‘hotspot’ technology, so if you really wanted to buy Iggy Azalea’s unmissable, neon pink blazer you could click the item in the video and be directed to the product page. The video featured pieces from designers Givenchy, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Rick Owens and Preen making the video a prime example of pioneering video content marketing.
The evolution of video content marketing
Since SSENSE and Azalea’s venture into video interactivity, even more brands are harnessing the technology provided by companies like Smartzer in ecommerce sites and advertising. Rapid tech advancements mean that everyone, regardless of skill, can create immersive, interactive video experiences to attract customers to their brand. Here are some of the ways brands have employed video content marketing and interactive video:
Volkswagen interactive video campaign with Smartzer (2019)
Volkswagen used Smartzer’s platform to create an interactive video to advertise the new Golf R. Their customers could easily explore the car’s features to find out more and book test drives without being redirected. The interactive video was linked to Instagram Stories and In-Feed Ads.
SPP “Earth 2045” with M&C Saatchi Stockholm (2015)
Here M&C Saatchi partnered with Swedish pension company SPP to deliver a thought provoking advertising campaign depicting the need for sustainable investment. By dragging left and right the customisable ad shows two versions of the future, either an ecologically advanced utopia or a derelict dystopia overwhelmed by human activity. The video campaign suggests that while the viewer can change the outcome of the ad, they can make changes within their lives to help build a sustainable future.
“Focus on the con” for the film “Focus” by Warner Bros (2015)
Warner Bros used interactive video technology to promote the film, “Focus”. The mobile friendly ad takes the consumer through a series of interactive scenarios to see if they have what it takes to be a con artist.
“Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” Netflix (2018)
The interactive, “decide your destiny” film successfully incorporated video interactivity to deliver five main endings for the viewer. Although, even writer, Charlie Brooker could not agree on how many variants of these endings there actually were. The viewer clicks on the options shown on screen using their mobile device or smart TV, ultimately deciding whether the protagonist succeeds or fails, lives or dies.
The benefits of video content marketing
According to Optinmonster, video marketers get 66% more qualified leads per year (2019). They also concluded that video marketers achieve a 54% increase in brand awareness. Additionally, 93% of marketers say they’ve landed a new customer thanks to a video on social media. This is largely due to the following reasons:
Single click product discovery and shopping. Consumers are able to shop and to discover more information about items featured in brand videos by simply clicking on them. This is particularly beneficial for the increased mobile users where easy and seamless navigation is essential.
Gamification of the online shopping experience driving engagement. Shoppable and interactive videos provide a new fun way to experience their content, brands see higher engagement and a new revenue channel across their digital platforms.
Convert a video into a revenue channel. By adding the interactive layer to their content, brands are able to convert a video that has traditionally been a top of the funnel asset to create awareness, into a format that allows for consumers to enter the purchase funnel.
Valuable performance and creative insights. Brands have access to detailed interaction data, building a better understanding of how their customers engage with their content across different online channels.
By observing the undeniable benefits of interactive video, it is understandable that video marketing is here to stay.
- Feb 11, 2021
Updated: Sep 7, 2021
Online shopping made up 21.3% of total retail sales for 2020. Amazon counted for nearly a third of all online sales in the US. With a 44% increase over the year, 2020 saw the highest annual growth in US e-commerce in at least two decades. Perhaps an unsurprising figure considering the world was told to “stay at home”. Nevertheless, the pressure is on for brands to optimise online shopping experiences for their customers.
Offline meets online in livestream shopping experiences.
Through live shopping, brands can connect with customers to sell products in real-time. Viewers can watch a live stream and purchase the items shown in the clickable side-bar, a call to action encourages viewers to complete a purchase without leaving the stream. Using this “see now, buy now” mentality, some shows saw their sales reach $1 million in just ten minutes.
For merchants, platforms like Bambuser and Smartzer make it easy to broadcast a live shop. Through the Bambuser app, brands upload URLs of the products that they plan to showcase in the live stream then “go live” with their content to potential customers. Smartzer allows brands to build a shoppable carousel of products by importing directly from a product catalogue or manually. Merchants can then connect the platform they wish to stream on to Smartzer using the RTMP ID and a Stream Key to go live.
Live, Camera, Action
Using Amazon’s livestream gaming platform “Twitch” Burberry took their Spring/Summer 2021 show online, live from London Fashion Week.
The stream received 42,000 concurrent views and offered multiple perspectives from celebrities like Bella Hadid and Erykah Badu using “squad stream mode”. Viewers could simultaneously watch and discuss the show in real time in a communal viewing experience. Unless you are Kim Kardashian, it can be pretty hard to secure a front row seat at a Burberry fashion show. Through live stream, this can be possible for anyone and with in-person audience’s discouraged, live stream offers an immersive, digital alternative in unprecedented times.
Clarins unveils its first virtual shop to connect with customers at home.
Through several interactive online features, Clarins has reimagined beauty e-commerce by partnering with Vee24. Through a virtual and explorable online boutique, viewers can explore the store for information. The skin workshop teaches visitors everything there is to know about Clarins application techniques and a virtual try-on feature allows customers to test makeup using camera filters. Using VeeStudio and VeeSchedular, Clarins is bringing the in-store shopping experience online. Customers can book face-to-face, highly personalised live consultations with beauty coaches and view live streams with guest influencers. As a result, all the benefits of in-person shopping are replicated online.
Brown Thomas has partnered with Smartzer to deliver shoppable beauty masterclasses.
Like Burberry and Clarins, Brown Thomas has reimagined the online shopping experience for customers with department store doors closed. Using Smartzer’s platform, Brown Thomas created a fully customised shoppable video. Fully integrated into the Demandware API, the player allowed for up-to-date product information to be instantly pulled into the Smartzer editor and player. When viewing the live shop Customers could click items in the video and add them to the basket without leaving or pausing the video. Through a variety of beauty tutorials customers can click, learn and buy in a matter of seconds.
Each of these brands prove that interactive video technology can help businesses to sustain customer connections in unprecedented times.