Live Streaming in the Outdoor Industry: get in on this.

Ever since I read this terrific article about live video from the Outdoor Industry Association, one particular quote has been haunting my thoughts. It’s from Tony Pullen, the VP of Sales for Brandlive, a video streaming platform, and he said: “Live stream allows you to actually ask a question to the owner of Kuiu and he can answer directly. Produced video offers no interaction. We’ve gathered research from other companies, and the average view time for a Brandlive event is 21 minutes per viewer, whereas the average view time for YouTube is a minute and a half.”

21 minutes vs. 1.5 minutes. That’s a significant difference. 

I strongly believe that the greatest gift you can give or receive is a person’s time. If viewers are willing to give 21 minutes of their lives to a live video, we are talking about a very powerful tool.

Live streaming an event makes it dynamic, approachable, and it transforms the role of video from showing something to hosting a dynamic conversation and building true community around your brand. This is fascinating to my creative-directing brain.

You see, I love video. It’s my favorite medium because I think it’s one of the most difficult forms of communication to get right. Not only do you need great camera work, editing skills, models, props, lighting, etc, but you need a great storyline to produce something of value. Anyone can make an edit, but not everyone can write a narrative of substance and show it effectively. That’s where the craftsmanship comes in. I love it.

Live video breaking all the rules, and it is very exciting. 

• Brands are live streaming new product launches. 
• Athlete/ambassador/rep product trainings are hosted by brands so that product knowledge gets delivered straight from the mouths of the product developers.
• Brands are hosting live trick sessions where their athletes either land a trick or they don’t. It's raw. People like that.

As this "21 minutes" stat took my thoughts hostage all week, I noticedsomething else interesting that happened in our industry last week. RedBull TV announced that at 9pm MST last Sunday, they were hosting (streaming) the World Premiere of Travis Rice’s new shred movie, The Fourth Phase. For free.

I found this interesting for the following 4 reasons:

1. I could watch this highly-anticipated action sports film for free.
2. Better yet, I could watch this movie in my PJ's and ugly glasses from the comfort of my home in the middle-of-nowhere woods in Northwest Montana. I didn’t have to go anywhere because Red Bull TV was bringing the action to me. Awesome.
3. My best snowboarding friends were streaming it, too, and we were exchanging texts throughout the movie with our thoughts. We were interacting with each other without actually being in a local theater, bar, or middle school auditorium watching the movie on a big screen like we have historically done every fall.
4. My manfriend (and his snowmobile friends from their respective homes) tuned in and watched, and I guarantee there’s no way any of them would ever pay to go see a snowboarding movie. Yet they watched this one, and they even got all kinds of stoked. It was free and easy to do.

This was an interesting premiere tactic pulled off by RedBull TV, and I bet we will see this type of video premiere more and more frequently.Video streaming is where it is at.
How can you use live video to enhance your brand? Think about it.

I’m always pushing our outdoor industry clients to be creative, innovative, and genuine. It’s the best way to build a community around your brand.

So just for fun, to prove my point about how awesome live video is, and because I’m ever-stoked on hand drawn design, I’m going to do a LIVE ART EVENT on Facebook Live via the WheelieCreative Facebook Page from 2pm-2:21pm MST this Wednesday, October 12. I’m going to draw a mountain scene containing literally whatever anyone types into the comments section under the live stream (dogs, moose, a blimp, a T Rex eating a #vanlife couple), and if you type a  suggestion in, I’ll send you a signed print of this drawing we create together. 
It’ll be fun. 
And I know you love fun. 


See you on the WheelieCreative Facebook Page at 2pm MST this Wednesday. 
I’ll bring my freshest markers and an open mind,
-Lisa


If you'd like help integrating live video into your brand, I'd love to hear it. If you're interested in hiring WheelieCreative to make wild, meaningful, irreverent, or hilarious content for your brand, I'd love to hear that, too. Just hit the button below:

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