GE set to kick off Olympics-based 'Drone Week'

Dive Brief:

Following last summer's success, GE is gearing up to kick off the second season of Drone Week, which will happen begin on June 13 and run through June 17.
This year's event will feature live content filmed from drones spotlighting GE technology involved with the Summer Olympics. The week will be a five-episode series broadcast daily on GE's Facebook page.
"Drones give GE a unique perspective in the fields of service robotics and storytelling," Sam Olstein, director of innovation at GE, told Marketing Dive. The week last year was broadcast via live streaming app Periscope. For GE, the week helps highlight its growing use of commercial drones and online streaming.

Dive Insight:

For marketers Drone Week offers two different emerging marketing opportunities to learn from – live video and drone marketing. In a statement, GE explained that the Drone Week episodes will feature interactive content, such as on the ground interviews and aerial live shots.

"Anytime we are able to give people more access to the GE brand, and in this case a glimpse at our work in Rio, we will always embrace and invest in those opportunities. Drone week has become a new tent pole moment to do just that," Olstein said.

Though GE has been leading the pack testing new technologies, live streaming is still seen as an emerging marketing category for brands, but one that is gaining momentum quickly. For one, Facebook has been pushing live video through its Facebook Live feature heavily this year, and marketers have been embracing live streaming video as a way to take advantage of real-time marketing opportunities. Live streaming has also served as a way of reaching an audience that has become more elusive on linear TV. GE’s Drone Week will give marketers a chance to watch how a major brand crafted and executed an effort around online streaming video.

As far as marketing channels go, drone, virtual reality and augmented reality can be fairly described as bleeding edge. All three are relatively untapped, but all three are new tools that marketers should at least be aware of. Drone Week will also provide marketers a look into how drones can be used to enhance video marketing efforts.