Social Media Case Study: U2, You Tube and Twitter
This case study is so sexy I can hardly stand it.
We’ve got U2 – a huge band – teaming up with You Tube – a huge force in social media – and the community sharing the experience with each other in real time on Twitter.
In this world first – U2 have broadcasted their Los Angeles concert live over the internet via You Tube – allowing citizens of the world to share the experience with people live at the concert.
U2 have changed the way that music concerts are watched and given us an example of how free content works within social media.
Free content
U2 are giving away free content but they will still profit from playing live concerts – people will go to the concerts for the live experience. This is a great example of giving the content away for free and monetising “The Souvenir” (if you follow Seth Godin.)
Leverage
U2 are leveraging their free content with four call to actions located in prime page real estate next to the video – directing the viewer to complete an action that is a meaningful conversion for the band.
- Buy the album
- Join the newsletter
- Visit their website
- Donate to their chosen cause
Functionality
- You can follow and add to the conversation on Twitter without leaving the concert page
- It’s easy to send a link to the content to your Twitter and Facebook network through the two distribution buttons
- Video and sound streaming is extremely high quality
Here’s some stats
- First concert broadcast live across the world in real time
- People across 7 continents viewing it as it happens
- Roughly 530 new tweets every 60 seconds during broadcast
What people on Twitter said
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Yesterday’s U2’s 360° World Tour Concert from The Rose Bowl was simply out-of-this-world. I saw them in person when U2 played at Chicago’s Soldiers’ Field a couple of weeks ago :: amazing, thanks in part to that robotic spider and huge cylindrical multimedia screen above the stage.
To be able to experience it again (live), my first global music concert Webcast, and be able to enhance the whole social experience via Twitter was indeed a treat.
I took pleasure in reading tweets from people around the world, in English, Portuguese, Spanish and German, and all the other languages I do not speak, simply marvelous. It made me reflect on the world at large, our differences and similarities. What a second to none performance. What a special feeling, all united, thanks to U2, Google, YouTube, Twitter and that wonderful one-in-a-lifetime invention, called :: The Internet.
YouTube showed once again the high fidelity, quality and flexibility of Adobe Flash Video technology. 1.3 million people watching it live, simultaneously around the world, connected by art, YouTube and Twitter.
Last night’s “social case study” was something, alright, the first ever crowd-attendance of music concerts to come, enhanced by social networking tools like Twitter.
#U2webcast was/is an awesome unforgettable experience.
Why, I am watching the YouTube on-demand archive of the whole concert at http://www.youtube.com/u2 and rewinding pieces of it at will.
Welcome to The Social of this flexible digital continuum.
Thank you again, U2, YouTube and Twitter.
Nice explanation, Clare. It will be a hard for anyone (or any other band) to top this type of performance – but I am sure it will happen eventually!