Deutsche EuroShop streams CEO speeches via Periscope

Hamburg-based Deutsche EuroShop used free video-streaming app Periscope to allow investors and analysts the chance to watch the firm’s incoming and outgoing CEOs give speeches at its AGM yesterday.

Patrick Kiss, head of IR at the company, says Deutsche EuroShop had previously tried traditional live video feeds. ‘But it was extremely expensive,’ he says, costing in the region of €1,000 ($1,100) per viewer. ‘So the cost-benefit ratio was an argument not to do it again.’ With the free option of Periscope, however, he says there was ‘nothing to lose’.

A screengrab from Deutsche EuroShop's Periscope feed

In fact, Kiss and his team of one other IRO had decided just a week ago to give Periscope a try at the AGM. He says, however, that his interest grew as Periscope gained media attention. The Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao boxing match in May and the evacuation – due to a bomb scare – of the final of Germany’s Next Top Model were both streamed using Periscope and helped bring the app to Kiss’ attention.

The free mobile app, which is owned by Twitter, along with others such as Meerkat, allows users to live-stream video via the app, with viewers able to log in to watch for free as well.

But because Kiss tweeted only a few times about using Periscope at the AGM, and also shared the link only via Twitter, he didn’t expect the response he got. ‘I said to the CEO: There will be a second camera in front of you; we’re going to try out a new app for a cost-free live broadcast, but we don’t expect more than three viewers,’ he explains.

In fact, 117 users logged in during the 38 minutes outgoing CEO Claus-Matthias Böge and incoming CEO Wilhelm Wellner, who will succeed Böge on July 1, gave their speeches. That’s more than half the number in attendance at the meeting itself.

The app also allows viewers to give feedback and to ‘like’ what they’re watching: Deutsche EuroShop’s CEO speeches received 47 likes, says Kiss. Although he wasn’t able to respond to those on the live stream (Kiss was busy managing slides and working as the MC), he says, ‘You can see small hearts popping up on the screen. It’s nice to see that you’ve reached people.’

The data on how many people watched your video stream, as well as who they are and who ‘liked’ the video is also available in the app – offering a small IR department some free, valuable feedback. It also shows you how the stream was accessed. Kiss says that of the 117 people who logged on, 47 watched within the app, and the rest watched via the web link he posted on Deutsche EuroShop’s Twitter feed.

While feedback on the quality of the feed was good, Kiss says this is easier to achieve for a speech than it would be on certain other types of events. He adds that the video is available for only 24 hours after being broadcast.

But setting up with an iPhone connected to the end of a selfie stick attached to a tripod and placed in front of the CEO couldn’t be simpler. ‘If you have a WiFi connection it makes sense to use these channels,’ says Kiss, adding that the company will use the app again for its analyst and investor day in August. As free apps go, ‘it’s an unbeatable cost-benefit ratio,’ he concludes.