No longer does branded content have to be an awareness piece that may or may not drive any performance. Whole live experiences can be created, first party data generated and your target audience can purchase without leaving the experience.

Think of this as a cross between teleshopping and Facebook Live. This has been huge in China and Asia for years given the prevalence of smartphone technology and will be adopted more and more in the West over the next few years, especially with COVID accelerating how comfortable people are with mobile shopping and live streaming.

Influencers or experts in a brand’s area are essential to tap into in order to either drive reach of the streams or to actually host and provide value. Whether it’s a masterclass or a new product drop, having engaging hosts who can draw the audience in to participating and purchasing is key. A lot of brands have a bank of ambassadors to lean on, making this format easy to launch and scale quickly.