The day has finally arrived for Vine to shut its doors. Unless you’re the NFL or MLB — which have notoriously reprimanded violators posting video content — you’ll probably miss the six-second looping platform for its highlight-reel functionality and ability to create snackable footage via a unique format.
With the app transitioning to Vine Camera on Tuesday, users will still be able to post looping videos under 6.5 seconds to Twitter or save them in a camera roll. How seamless the posting process will be remains to be seen. Yet, there’s still the potential for other platforms, like Overtime, to replace the Twitter-owned Vine.
Vine lasted nearly four years, but its future took a turn for the worse throughout the first half of 2016 as top executives departed the fledgling social company. The platform may have been doomed from the start, though, as digital marketers were — for the first time really — constrained to a video limit, a feature that arguably deterred some leagues and teams from adopting the app and ultimately, put it on the back burner in terms of importance.
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“Too many feeds, not enough time is the short answer,” said Gavin Blawie, Head of Digital at digital creative agency MKTG, when asked about why the app didn’t take off.
Blawie, who has worked with brands such as IBM, Coca-Cola and AT&T in addition to teams like the Dallas Mavericks, said that the platform’s “biggest handicap” when it came to brands was, unlike its parent company Twitter, there was no promoted or sponsored post capabilities; all content occurred through Vine artists, influencers and content creators, according to Blawie. The opportunity to gain real insight into how advertisements performed on the platform just was never there nor was there an adequate advertising business model in place.
In spite of its shortcomings, the platform — which Blawie described as a “pioneer” and still thinks its six-second functionality will continue — was integrated into a number of professional and college sports teams’ social strategies, including the Carolina Panthers. Dan LaTorraca, Manager of Digital Content and Strategy, said that the team incorporated Vine the most during its 2015 Super Bowl season.
“Once I think you figured out how to use that six-second limit to your advantage, it really took off for us,” he said.
Whether it was quarterback Cam Newton dabbing or a Panthers player giving a hug to a “Make-A-Wish” child, LaTorraca found that some of the best content for Vine was captured video that resonated with fans on an emotional level.
On the other end of the spectrum, there were teams such as the Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Vikings which developed content specifically for the platform, with the latter soliciting the services of Vine artists for its #VineKings creative initiative over the past two seasons. Still, that included additional time, resources and of course, a marketing budget — something most teams weren’t willing to do.
Even with the platform not being at the forefront of most teams’ digital strategy, a few organizations — like the Clemson athletic department — gravitated toward the platform. In 2015, Clemson football became the first sports team to have its own featured Vine channel during a home game against Notre Dame.
“Either through comedy or visual effects, opening Vine was like walking into an internet art gallery where you’d see some weird stuff you didn’t understand but then also watch and be amazed at pieces you connected with,” wrote Jonathan Gantt, Director of New and Creative Media at Clemson Athletics.
Through some inspiration from Vine creators King Bach and Thomas Sanders, Gantt and his creative staff devoted the time and resources to creating high-quality engaging content, with short-form video finding a home on Vine. It was a conscious choice that captured the industry’s attention along with fans and recruits, too. The snappy videos wove together trending music in pop culture along with different graphics and behind-the-scenes footage to create compelling pieces of content.
“It was nice that we got to have that unique, quirky, perfectly-built-for-mobile community for as long as we did,” said Gantt, adding that the NBA and ESPN Twitter accounts might stand to miss Vine the most because of their heavy use of the platform.
All-Star users who complemented their traditional media coverage with various Vines will also mourn its demise.
“The program made it so easy to edit, cut, paste, filter, you name it — Vine had it,” Rob Perez of FoxSports.com told SportTechie last Fall.
For now, the six-second looping feature won’t disappear completely, but teams have certainly directed their attention away from Vine. As Blawie of MKTG explained, the social media platform lines will continue to blur as content which might have lived on Vine will somehow find a way to other mediums.
“Social is now ubiquitous, a moveable feast, and promiscuity across content and feeds is inherent in all of us. The highlight-reel and player moments that Vine helped spread (as well as the personal inspired moments that connect us) will always be the most shared moments across feeds, now live and often face-first through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and who knows what else to come,” said Blawie of MKTG.