Periscope and Meerkat: Live from your Twitter, it’s…

Remember the beginnings of Twitter when everyone told everyone what they were doing at that moment whether everyone else really cared or not.

Oops, that’s still Twitter…

Imagine that but doing it using live video and you’ve got the current state of Periscope and Meerkat. Those are the new live video apps that allow folks to live broadcast whatever they are doing wherever they are doing it and promote viewership through Twitter.

This post will not debate the merits of one versus the other (Periscope was acquired by Twitter pre-release so it is more embedded while Meerkat might be more easy to use and it was first), this post will explore what this means for marketers and brands.

As referenced above, most people are using the apps to play. This means live shows featuring their pets, what they’re eating or cooking, where they are driving, etc. This will get old very quickly (and has) but for marketers and brands the possibilities are much greater than that.

• Sports Marketing: NBC broadcast the weigh-ins for its widely popular Saturday Night boxing series on Periscope and actually broke some news when one of the boxers failed to make weight thereby changing the terms of the fight. At the Final Four, athletic departments broadcast practice sessions as a way of keeping fans engaged. Overall the ability to provide additional and complimentary live content for fans is a great opportunity for all sports platforms.
• Scheduled live shows: Brands can share their expertise by scheduling live demonstrations, shows, interviews featuring their experts. Periscope allows viewers to ask questions on the screen for experts to answers. Viewers can also “like” responses by tapping the screen generating floating hearts and providing instant feedback.
• Breaking news: Yet another way for reporters or citizen journalists to “broadcast” live from the scene of events or news stories. Twitter is already know as the “breaking news” social platform, so this takes it to another level.
• Personal branding: People have created personal brands on social platforms for the last six or so years without a great deal of video content, now they can easily add live video to their arsenal as they schedule shows or have impromptu sessions.

These are just some of the ways to seriously incorporate these new platforms.

Hey, I like watching people cook or drive as much as anyone but…

What other ideas do you have to use Periscope and Meerkat in “big boy” integrated public relations?

Would love to hear them.