Live Moment Social Media Experiences

As brands look for more and more ways to ace consumer engagement, luxury brands too must find innovative ways to provide digital extensions to their onsite events. Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer recently used the latest live-streaming technology to stage a live digital ‘in-the-moment’ social media experience for its luxury clientele who couldn’t attend its live event in Paris. Tag Heuer hosted a tennis match outside its store on the Champs-Élysées, pitting brand ambassadors Maria Sharapova and Nei Nishikori against each other in a lighthearted game. By streaming the event on the mobile app Periscope, Tag Heuer ensured that consumers around the world would have real-time access to the event as it unfolded.

The match was part of Tag Heuer’s “Don’t Crack Under Pressure” campaign which highlighted the achievements of professional individuals with stressful careers. Both Ms. Sharapova and Mr. Nishikori are global tennis sensations who have won many tournaments and frequently face intense competitive situations.

The informal tennis match was staged on the street in front of the Tag Heuer store on the Champs-Élysées, a highly trafficked tourist destination in Paris, where many luxury brands have storefronts. The location attracted a large crowd, which Tag Heuer amplified by leveraging social media. The brand posted regularly about the match on Twitter, sharing pictures and links to the Periscope app live feed.

Tag Heuer concluded the integrated offline/online experience by sharing images of the two players on its Facebook page, giving consumers the opportunity to engage on a variety of social media platforms. The Swiss watchmaker’s “Don’t Crash Under Pressure” video, which featured celebrities and highlighted accomplishments of the brand, achieved viral results in the five weeks post release earlier this summer.

But this initiative wasn’t just about impressions, as the brand was able to effectively grow its customer database and hence its pool of potential new leads.

Why Call Tracking Matters

In today’s digital age there is no shortage of ways for prospective car buyers to connect with automotive retailers. Consumers can complete a short online form to receive more detailed information on a car or establish a dialog with the retailer site’s chat function. These are great communication starters, but the   tried and true act of making a phone call is still considered the most valuable path to eventual conversion.  And we live in a mobile obsessed society, where making a phone call is as easy as pressing a number on a screen.

That’s why call tracking should still be a very important part of a retailer’s metric toolbox. Here are some key stats to consider to highlight the importance of tracking calls from your digital marketing campaigns:

• There are more than 2 billion smartphones globally

• Google studies have found that nearly half of mobile consumers searching on their smartphones are more likely to explore other brands when they can’t call a business directly from their search results.

 • Click-to-call usage on mobile devices has increased exponentially in recent years, and call tracking analytics companies now drive more than 40 million calls per month in the United States from Google AdWords.

 • 71% of most advertisers search engine conversions occur on phone calls.

Tracking phone calls is important for every retail business, but it is especially important for businesses involved in high investment purchases such as car or home purchases. Integrated Pay-Per-Click type mobile ads as part of your digital marketing campaign allows you to track every one of your phone conversions and have the ability to listen to any calls on a 24/7 basis.

Can You Turn On The Digital Stream?

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that the act of watching “TV” is undergoing a major transformation. Just five years ago, live TV viewing in the traditional sense from a living or bedroom was how most people consumed TV content. But that was five years ago. Today, we live in a new video ecosystem, where online video and live TV co-exist amongst traditional cable offerings, apps, and digital streaming of live TV. In fact, a new GfK MRI study indicates that 28% of all “TV viewing” is now done via digital streaming.

GfK MRI reports that accessing subscription or free online platforms using a personal computer or mobile device accounts for 16% of time spent with TV content. Streaming via a connected TV set accounts for another 9% and using other devices, including game consoles, covers another 3%.

The study, which is part of GfK MRI's "The Future of TV" series, pretty much dispels that digital streaming is a trend. More so, it has become an integral way a growing number of viewers consume “TV” content.

That’s significant for both traditional and digital rainmakers. The new video ecosystem makes it more challenging for marketers to deliver brand messages in the right format and context. They must learn to adapt to a whole new population of TV viewers because while time-honored TV experiences are still the viewing preference of many, social, mobile viewing and second-screen activities continue to transform the TV viewing experience. And that makes for terrific message personalization and targeting opportunities. 

Just imagine what a local food marketer can do when they realize a geotargeted user has logged onto their online movie streaming app and have posted to their social accounts that they’re “extremely hungry” for a great snack. A sharp creative executive might even serve up a digital message that read “it only takes 5 minutes to get your favorite gelato before you press play on that great movie.”