Marketers flocked to Periscope, Twitter's new live-streaming
application, within hours of its launch on Tuesday. Some brand accounts
used the service to broadcast exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage;
others held spontaneous question-and-answer sessions with customers and
fans.
Others went straight for what works best on the Internet: puppies. In this particular case, brands had some practice first: the opportunity to test the live-video sharing waters with Meerkat, a similar application that launched a few weeks earlier and received tons of press. Ben Rubin, Meerkat's creator, has repeatedly said brands were very much on his mind when building the app — particularly the scheduling feature, which lets users alert followers to an upcoming broadcast.
Periscope does not offer a scheduling option (though some brands are using workarounds) but the app's polished feel, ability to share replays and, of course, its close tie-up with Twitter, has quickly attracted some big names.
For now, some brands are double-dipping in both Meerkat and Periscope — a light lift considering it just requires someone to hold up a phone. But that will certainly change if and when it becomes clear that one app has pulled far ahead of the other.
Here's a tour of how businesses are using Periscope:
Barkbox
General Electric
Image: Screengrab, Mashable
Adidas
Mountain Dew
DKNY
NBC
Viewers of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon got a sneak preview of his monologue on Thursday via Periscope. Fallon did the same thing with Meerkat earlier this month.
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