Robin Hassan is digital VP and chief of engagement lead for social and mobile at Starcom MediaVest Group, MiC asked her to weigh-in with thoughts on the potential impact of Twitter’s latest social media offering, Vine, on brands.
There’s been much excitement about the hottest new social media network backed by Twitter: Vine. What is interesting is that Vine’s functionality is not new in and of itself. In simplistic terms it can be described as the video version of Instagram. There are several apps that provide users with the ability to simply create very short video clips, one app called Cinemagram, launched about 12 months ago with similar service features, has had greater traction with organic growth. This is likely due to its ability to sync up with Facebook contacts, which Facebook has blocked from Twitter’s Vine App.
Granted, Vine is just one week old. That said, some of the areas that it still has to solve against for it to really be a tool for Canadian brands would be: sensitive/adult content (which Vine had issues with last weekend), better user experience (you currently can’t save private videos or upload videos not shot using the app) and perhaps the most critical when it comes to Canadian brands, search by location (i.e. city or neighbourhood).
At this point there are no paid media placement opportunities available for these platforms, but what intrigued me is that within 24 hours 15 brands posted their #firstpost. Most of the brands were media brands from NBC to BuzzFeed, but it speaks to this race to provide a unique perspective/curate content. From a consumer perspective, many of these platforms are allowing consumers more of a chance at expressing their views quickly.
The bigger opportunity around these types of “expression engines” to me is how brands and media companies are watching and adjusting their approach to content. It’s the ultimate resource in real time insights, the trick will be for brands to think about how they can be ready to be agile and engage consumers in this exciting new landscape.
Do you think Vine will be picked up by brands the same way Twitter and Facebook has been? Or will it be a flash in the social media pan?
Robin, great points. I think Vine is promising and the shortcomings you mention will likely get worked out. Online video is the future, and looking at (for example) how brands have benefited from Youtube it’s hard to imagine they won’t be enthused about “expression engines”. It’ll be interesting to watch.
Thanks Mark, appreciate your comments. Agree video has an important role to play as next step in this new landscape of expression engines. Remains to be seen which player will lead, but twitter is certainly taking the right next steps to keep rich sound bites of content in its echo system. Exciting times!