Article: http://adage.com/article/news/pepsi-launches-social-viewing-platforms-x-factor/230473/?utm_source=mediaworks&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=adage
Quick Summary: X Factor’s sponsor, Pepsi, will launch its social campaign built around the show’s content this week. The campaign is comprised of two social platforms. One, called Pepsi Pulse, is a visualization of trends within the online conversation, like a beating heart when three commentators like competitor, Tiah Tolliver. The other is a conversation stream similar to Twitter called Pepsi Sound Off. It provides not only a constant stream of comments in real time, but also perks when your comment is liked the most. Your comment could even appear on a Pepsi commercial during that same show. Pepsi hopes the platforms are a hit, so they can use them for other events such as The Oscars or festival streams like Coachella.
PW: On first thought, I didn’t see the point to building a new destination for socializing about a TV show. We have GetGlue. Well not many people know about that site yet... wait, we have Twitter! But the article brings up a good point: when you tweet, ALL your followers see it. If half of your followers don’t care about X Factor, they will not appreciate your comment entering their stream. By providing a platform specific to X Factor, Pepsi can attract (and data mine) only the loyal X Factor socializers. It is a brilliant way to attract their target audience THEN gather substantial data about the audience to use in their brand promotion. The tough part will be attracting users to the platforms. People are used to Twitter and Facebook, so it might be overload to adopt another stream (see our Google+ analysis). With that said, I think this will work and will help the Pepsi brand because as an avid watcher of X Factor, I want to discuss the show with other fans. Every viewer is judging the contestants alongside Simon (just from their couch not his million dollar mansion.) This new platform gives them a way to connect to other home judges without alienating their friends/followers, who just plain don’t care about a silly singing competition. Pepsi will benefit from “hosting” this conversation with the branded content surrounding the stream and the insights it gathers from “mining” the stream.
SM: Social TV/Co-viewing is the new hot topic in advertising, but I think that it will take time to truly catch on. The concept is based on the ability of television users to multi-task while watching a show. The nature of shows like X-factor, award ceremonies, and political debates present a small inconsistent mental engagement that can allow the viewer the chance to successfully multi-task. I like the platform that will present the general trends, but for anyone who’s tried to simultaneously use twitter and watch a show understands the information overload of just irrelevant tweets. I think for this to gain momentum, either the program in question needs to be watched on a computer or this platform needs to simultaneously function on a television set, which for the time being is not the case. Until that day comes, I project this concept will also suffer a major setback when it’s tried for shows like Dexter, AHS, or even the Office where if you don’t give your full attention you’ll miss something. Overall, there’s definitely something innovative here, but I project only a small group of viewers to actually adopt this technology at the current time.
Let us know what you think by voting and/or leaving comments. Vote:
Patrick if you like this new social platform and plan on trying it
Or
Sean if you aren’t sold on the idea of this new social concept
Check back later today for the Ad of the Day
Quick Summary: X Factor’s sponsor, Pepsi, will launch its social campaign built around the show’s content this week. The campaign is comprised of two social platforms. One, called Pepsi Pulse, is a visualization of trends within the online conversation, like a beating heart when three commentators like competitor, Tiah Tolliver. The other is a conversation stream similar to Twitter called Pepsi Sound Off. It provides not only a constant stream of comments in real time, but also perks when your comment is liked the most. Your comment could even appear on a Pepsi commercial during that same show. Pepsi hopes the platforms are a hit, so they can use them for other events such as The Oscars or festival streams like Coachella.
PW: On first thought, I didn’t see the point to building a new destination for socializing about a TV show. We have GetGlue. Well not many people know about that site yet... wait, we have Twitter! But the article brings up a good point: when you tweet, ALL your followers see it. If half of your followers don’t care about X Factor, they will not appreciate your comment entering their stream. By providing a platform specific to X Factor, Pepsi can attract (and data mine) only the loyal X Factor socializers. It is a brilliant way to attract their target audience THEN gather substantial data about the audience to use in their brand promotion. The tough part will be attracting users to the platforms. People are used to Twitter and Facebook, so it might be overload to adopt another stream (see our Google+ analysis). With that said, I think this will work and will help the Pepsi brand because as an avid watcher of X Factor, I want to discuss the show with other fans. Every viewer is judging the contestants alongside Simon (just from their couch not his million dollar mansion.) This new platform gives them a way to connect to other home judges without alienating their friends/followers, who just plain don’t care about a silly singing competition. Pepsi will benefit from “hosting” this conversation with the branded content surrounding the stream and the insights it gathers from “mining” the stream.
SM: Social TV/Co-viewing is the new hot topic in advertising, but I think that it will take time to truly catch on. The concept is based on the ability of television users to multi-task while watching a show. The nature of shows like X-factor, award ceremonies, and political debates present a small inconsistent mental engagement that can allow the viewer the chance to successfully multi-task. I like the platform that will present the general trends, but for anyone who’s tried to simultaneously use twitter and watch a show understands the information overload of just irrelevant tweets. I think for this to gain momentum, either the program in question needs to be watched on a computer or this platform needs to simultaneously function on a television set, which for the time being is not the case. Until that day comes, I project this concept will also suffer a major setback when it’s tried for shows like Dexter, AHS, or even the Office where if you don’t give your full attention you’ll miss something. Overall, there’s definitely something innovative here, but I project only a small group of viewers to actually adopt this technology at the current time.
Let us know what you think by voting and/or leaving comments. Vote:
Patrick if you like this new social platform and plan on trying it
Or
Sean if you aren’t sold on the idea of this new social concept
Check back later today for the Ad of the Day
