Brandlive is known for providing brands with a platform to broadcast live, interactive videos via owned channels. The value of operating via owned channels, versus third-parties, is an enticing one as it removes variables beyond brands’ control when managing the live experience.But the draw and growth of live social video has been pretty strong as well, which is why Brandlive’s platform now has expanded simulcasting with both owned and social channels all at once. As Facebook recently announced, 20% of videos on the site are live. That’s a major portion of the market Brandlive partners can dive into -- and a trend they can also grasp onto elsewhere.Twitter and YouTube’s own live video offerings have made headlines lately (Brandlive’s an official partner of Twitter’s new livestreaming API) , and are poised to create even more explosive growth in the live industry.Brandlive’s new platform will allow simulcasts with all three of those major live video services. Those features (and more) will be rolled out (via live video, naturally) on April 27 at 11 a.m. PT.What’s most important for Brandlive with this release is the opportunity it creates for the company to become the space’s go-to enterprise solution for live video. CEO and co-founder Fritz Brumder expanded upon that a bit in concert with the platform launch:

“We’re in year three of live video -- out of the experiment phase and far beyond the initial debut with Meerkat in 2015, followed by Periscope and Facebook. This is the year that live has become a key part of the marketing mix. Marketers are looking at what enterprise platforms they use for each aspect of their marketing: social, mobile and email.”“Tools like Urban Airship for Mobile, Sprinklr for Social, Constant Contact for email exist to manage those portions of the marketing mix. But there is no clear enterprise tool for live video. There are enterprise content management platforms like Brightcove and Vimeo’s business-focused solution, but none of these are looking specifically at enterprise live.”

For Brightcove, their recent live video platform announcement is largely focused in on the nuts-and-bolts of the management process, instead of the experience.Vimeo’s business solution, which launched in September 2016, is also more back-end oriented; a safer and more secure version of their consumer offering.Brandlive’s focus on more customization with regard to the brand experience and viewers should help significantly there, too. The revitalized dashboard also provides more data-based viewer insights than the social platform back-ends. That makes Brandlive far more essential to the brand experience of going live. The data- and feedback-based approach makes it an easier sell within campaign budgets as well.Reporting is critical to adoption on the marketing front. Brandlive gets this, and enhanced the data analysis capabilities of the platform with that in mind. The company not only gives insights into viewer preferences and activities around branded content, but can provide proof points on the value of live video and longer engagement windows.Brandlive has hosted 6,000 events to-date, with leading brands such as adidas, Cabela’s, Levi Strauss & Co., The North Face, REI, and many others. . As live video continues to explode as a platform for branded initiatives, expect to see a lot more names added to that roster soon.