Up-and-Comers: 数字媒体 Fetches Live Video Events

From the start, it’s been clear that 2013 will be the year of live video events. We’re not talking about a live stream of the CEO’s yearly address. We’re certainly not talking about a live cam in the owl cage at the zoo. No, 2013年主要音乐会, 奖项显示, 更多的视频被直播给了大量的观众, who would be able to watch and participate in the experience thanks to social networking features.

 

Signaling the big business that live has become is 数字媒体, a newly launched Los Angeles-based consultancy focused on helping companies do live streamed events right. While Bulldog has a staff of only two -- co-founders John Petrocelli and Joshua Lennox -- that hasn’t stopped it from steering some huge online events. Bulldog’s goal is to create broadcast-quality events that provide value to all the participants.

 

 

Petrocelli and Lennox decided to form Bulldog after they’d worked in the space for many years, 看着它成熟成长. 帕特塞利加入 AEG数字媒体 in 2009 when it purchased Incited Media, in which he was a co-owner. Lennox consulted on branded entertainment and led a 60-person team at Universal Sports before becoming a senior director of products at AEG. Their time at AEG gave both men the experience and knowledge to pull off large events (such as Coachella, 格莱美奖, 和皇室婚礼), 以及推动业务发展的关系. They could see that major brands were turning their ad budgets to live events, and that the rise in mobile viewing was delivering impressive audience numbers.

 

“Those shifts in the market got us thinking there’s an entire ecosystem that we can advise and strategize with, rather than just supplying the back-end technical services,彼得罗切利说. “我们现在准备为内容所有者提供建议, 哪个可以是音乐节, 音乐会系列, or a product launch; the distribution platform, 不管是Ustream, YouTube, Vevo, whomever; and also the brand that’s participating in that experience.”

 

The two started organizing 数字媒体 in the summer of 2012; they formally launched the company in January 2013. They’ve been working with clients since September, 虽然, including Ustream and Verizon Digital Media Services. Bulldog’s services include helping companies drive awareness through a series of live events and keeping an eye on costs.

 

“We’ve sold so much technology around these live engagements, we understand what the price points are and what they should be,彼得罗切利说. “To us the challenge in live has been you’re going event from event; you’re not making a commitment. We help our clients navigate that market in how to buy services and how to allocate costs and budgets around events.

 

"Clearly we do understand that the more manageable the event costs are, 就能促成更多的活动. 我们非常清楚这一点."

 

 

Live online video isn’t a new development, but it feels like it’s making a major push in 2013. 音乐会, especially major outdoor festivals such as the Global Citizen Festival, which took place in New York City’s Central Park in September 2012, 定期直播. In February, the Super Bowl was streamed live for the second time. 主要颁奖典礼的在线直播, 比如格莱美奖和奥斯卡奖, 现在被期望. Some see the rise of the connected living room as driving live video, since people can create an immersive “you-are-there” experience from the couch. 牛头犬的人, 然而, 移动设备也同样重要, 社交网络的主流化也是如此.

 

“You’ve got the ability to consume content on really almost any connected device, 从iphone和android到平板电脑, 游戏控制台, 连接电视机,彼得罗切利说. “如果你想享受一段经历, 你并没有被排除在外, you’re not tethered; you can really enjoy it from anywhere. 这是一个很大的因素. But also the ability to communicate about that event -- message, 推特, 文本, et cetera -- adds a whole level of interactivity where now the viewers are kind of transformed into participants.”

 

另一个主要因素是钱. Live video events wouldn’t be nearly as big if advertisers didn’t see them as an ideal opportunity to connect with customers.

 

“Brands want to find ways to connect to that very savvy user base, 但也要抓住他们的注意力,彼得罗切利说. 现场音乐会, a live festival -- anything live is something that they’re going to consume throughout the engagement rather than, ‘嘿, I’m going to record my show and then zap through the commercials.这是一个非常重要的品牌推广机会.”

 

在我们时代变迁的文化中, where the DVR now plays a central role in many people’s television viewing, 生活的兴起是一件奇事. 人们喜欢集体体验, 帕特塞利说, including the ability to 推特 and follow other people’s 推特s about the stream, 并参加现场投票. Of course, live video events aren’t only experienced live. 大多数都是以视频点播的形式提供的, sometimes gaining more viewers for the recorded event than the live event. 这是Bulldog推荐的一种方法.