The Gen XY Lifestyle
The potential of live streaming for the entertainment and fashion industry
Live streaming is providing artists and brands with an alternate means of revenue. But it has been equally meaningful for audiences who are more demanding and hungry for good content.
The Internet is in constant evolution. Only 20 years ago, the world had yet to be introduced to smartphones and social media as we know it. Technology has evolved at an accelerated pace over the past few years and we have taken major leaps toward better, faster, and smarter devices and platforms.
While we have always known how important technology is for our lives, since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become abundantly clear how much we need and depend on it. If it weren’t for remote working capabilities and video chat platforms, the pandemic would have terminated even more jobs and made us all feel even more isolated.
When it comes to the entertainment industry, artists and performers would have found themselves with no source of income at all as social distancing measures banned all physical events and kept most of the hospitality sector closed for a long period of time. That is when technology came through for us once again: Live streaming became the go-to format for shows and performances.
Live streaming is not a new phenomenon, but during strict lockdowns, independent artists saw its true potential to keep their source of income alive. Performers were able to charge tickets for their remote shows and audiences were open to this new experience, especially during a time when everything else was gone. Live streaming shows have a myriad of benefits, as it is much more dynamic than the regular recorded performances.
Platforms such as HyperLive, which enables people to broadcast or watch unique content anytime, anywhere with highly interactive features, are already broadly used because live streaming allows for audiences to participate in an active way. Anyone watching a live stream can engage by commenting, sharing, offering virtual gifts, and even requesting songs, while also enabling the artist to see these interactions in real-time and reply as they go. In addition to this, with technology’s constant development, new features are available to performers to allow them to engage their fans even more by incorporating commerce from sponsors during concerts and pushing live polls.
Artists, however, are not the only ones who saw the potential in live streaming. The fashion industry is seeing a big push towards digital transformation with large retailers adopting live streaming shows to engage with their target audience. Brands such as Zalora, Bukalapak, Valiram Group, and many more are already big players within the live streaming space, investing in their own customised platforms to communicate directly with their customers.
Personalised platforms go beyond social media, as they maintain the brand’s design, hence enhancing recognition, and allow for consumer behaviour analysis, which can help brands develop meaningful marketing and communications strategies. Other features may include scaling new monetisation channels by offering audiences exclusive subscriber-only content, adding value to the material, and keeping customers loyal to brands.
Beyond that, non-profit organisations can also strongly benefit from live streaming solutions. They can use a live video platform to raise funds online via live streaming while reaching a broader audience, allowing anyone to help from anywhere.
Overall, live streaming is providing artists and brands with an alternate means of revenue. But it has been equally meaningful for audiences who are more demanding and hungry for good content.
Consumers have evolved alongside platforms, recognising what is important to them, as individuals are no longer happy to passively watch an ad, and this is why live streaming has revolutionised the way we communicate with customers. It allows for interactions, feedback, and analysis, aiming to help brands deliver what audiences want – and need.
This is only the beginning for live streaming. As technology evolves, live streaming solutions are set to grow even more and become an essential part of our lives. Recent research by J.P. Morgan shows the average online spending in Singapore is more than SGD 2,200 annually, with mobile commerce growing stronger and projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 13.6 percent by 2023. This proves how keen people are to welcome new technologies and engage with brands online and how now is the right time to embrace live streaming’s full potential.
Article contributed by Latif Sim. Latif is Chief Strategy Officer at BeLive Technology, overseeing the company’s strategic growth and direction. Prior to BeLive Technology, he worked across both private and public sectors, as well as within the startup industry. A strategic thinker, he brings the structured management and approaches of the public sector to the dynamism of a startup.
Photo by Libby Penner on Unsplash
