Experiential Marketing Summit virtual program key results

CHALLENGE

Future-proofing video production amid rapid change

As a company with team members and clients located across the globe, beedance wanted a cloud video production platform that supports both dispersed and in-person collaboration. beedance also needed a way to communicate virtually with talent behind the scenes to ensure programs run smoothly.

Additionally, beedance required a flexible solution that worked for their short- and long-term needs. “We turned to Socialive because we really required a sustainable solution that was going to serve our clients throughout the virtual-only period of the pandemic, all the way through the hybrid movement, and then move us into an in-person environment again. Socialive was able to accommodate and support us through all of those periods of time with all of our clients,” Levine said.

SOLUTION

The new industry standard

With Socialive’s cloud video production platform, beedance has found the flexible solution needed to create dynamic experiences for its diverse client base. In fact, Levine envisions cloud technology as pivotal to the industry moving forward. She even coined a term to describe the new industry standard: cloud mixing.

“I come from a studio space where I was executing productions with a camera switcher, that was separate from a graphics machine, that was separate from a live streamer, that was separate from an audio panel,” Levine said. “Cloud mixing allows us to take all of those functionalities, hardware, and tools into the cloud. Now, all of the manual mixing that was being done — the camera mixing, the graphics mixing, the audio mixing, the monitoring of the stream — is all being managed in a single location. And that location is Socialive,” Levine continued.

Cloud mixing enables beedance to stay agile and meet shifting production needs. When clients started wanting to shoot in-person productions again, beedance’s production team leveraged Socialive’s cloud mixing capabilities on site. By eliminating the need to rely on traditional complex and resource-intensive hardware, beedance was able to create more efficiency in its onsite productions.

Levine describes this marriage of cloud mixing and onsite production activities as a hybrid production model. “Socialive allowed us to use cloud mixing technology alongside our onsite hardware. It's the first time anything like that has really been done in the history of our agency,” Levine explained.

This flexibility allows beedance’s team to remain nimble in response to last-minute changes. Levine was once given 24 hours notice that she had to produce a program on site with someone who was shooting on their iPhone. Despite having little time to prepare, Levine was able to execute a highly successful broadcast simulcasted across multiple channels using Socialive.

Another way beedance is able to mimic traditional video production in the cloud is through Socialive’s Virtual Green Room. “Even though all of us are in the Green Room right now,” Levine said during our interview, “it doesn’t look that way for the audience. The ability for the producer to speak directly to talent without being on air is a huge game changer. No other platform we’ve used has provided a similar experience, which is such a wonderful safety net and support system for the clients we serve,” Levine continued.

OUTCOME

Unlocked creative potential

Not only is beedance disrupting the traditional ways of video creation, they’re completely redefining the space. And the results prove they’re on to something:

• Better reach and engagement: beedance’s team attended the 2022 Experiential Marketing Summit (EMS) in Las Vegas, Nevada, to produce a full broadcast series that incorporated keynote speakers, interviews with attendees, exhibit hall interviews, and more. “It was like a news-style TV show that ran over several days,” Levine explained. “We set up a booth that we converted into a TV studio with four cameras, full lighting, and a tech table, at the center of which was the Socialive platform on my computer.” By broadcasting content from EMS, beedance was able to engage with in-person attendees while also reaching a much wider audience online — somewhere north of 800,000 viewers over the course of the event.

• Upskilled producers: Part of Levine’s role involves training and upskilling producers across the agency. “I help them become the best producers that they can be. Because Socialive offers such ease of use as well as flexibility for creativity, one of the most gratifying parts of my job is seeing my producers really come into their own,” Levine said. “When there isn’t a really high barrier to entry or steep learning curve like many other platforms, you can suddenly unlock more creativity from your producers. It’s been so gratifying to watch my team hone their skills since deploying Socialive,” she continued.
• More efficient workflows and new use cases: In addition to reducing their tech stack, Levine noted that the intuitiveness of Socialive’s platform has dramatically reduced the amount of lead time, configuration, and setup traditionally needed to produce videos. Now, beedance is expanding its use cases to further maximize the platform’s potential. “Most recently, we’ve been able to execute a vodcast series. We love that you can export the audio separately from the video, so when we’re dealing with distribution there isn’t the additional process of ripping the video away from the audio. You can just download the audio directly from the Socialive platform and upload it across distribution networks. It’s an extremely efficient workflow,” Levine said.

Experiential Marketing Summit virtual program key results