Announced Nov. 20, Microsoft has officially entered the events industry with its Bing Pulse technology, a consumer tool that enables massive audience polling and instant feedback in real time. Within three steps, the tool is capable of determining the sentiment of any size audience.
Participants register for the tool via smartphone or laptop, provide basic demographic and then participate. Using the tool, participants vote on a question or “pulse” their reactions to statements every five seconds.
Results are calibrated in real time and displayed in graphs broken down by various demographics. Bing Pulse allows moderators to shift the discussion based on audience feedback, prompting a more in-depth and engaged program.
Available for participatory events, Bing Pulse 2.0 is applicable to board meetings, nonprofit and corporate events, conferences and tradeshows. Its self-service website and app allow meeting planners and show producers to create their own events and track delegates by demographics.
Catering to groups of 10 up to thousands at stadiums and concerts, the scalable voting technology allows attendees to directly participate in meetings and live events, during which 80 percent of people are plugged into a second screen such as a mobile device.
“With the proliferation of the second screen, audience attention is being quickly diverted.
Bing Pulse helps event producers take control of the second screen experience by keeping audiences actively engaged in the content at hand,” explained Josh Gottheimer, general manager, corporate strategy, Microsoft. “[T]he Bing Pulse voting platform will effectively incite people to pay attention and react to the programming, meeting or conference. Plus, organizations are immediately tuned in to their audiences and can quickly affect immediate adjustments of the programming.”
During keynote speeches and educational seminars, organizers, exhibitors and presenters can monitor when and to what participants are reacting by tracking the time and frequency of votes. Presentations can be adjusted accordingly based on the instant survey.
Audience results can be displayed live on in-room or on-air screens, integrating into video feeds or preserving insights to analyze and share later.
Offered as a “Freemium model,” Bing Pulse 2.0 is offered at no cost for a limited time and available to incorporate into events and broadcasts of any size, format or venue.
Beta-tested during live nationally-broadcasted political events, Bing Pulse, the first version, proved itself as an instantaneous method of both engaging and gauging a large audience.
Live voter feedback was obtained through Bing Pulse during CNN’s coverage of the 2016 Presidential campaign and October 2014 broadcasts of Florida gubernatorial debate as well as the New Hampshire U.S. Senate debate.
“CNN has long believed that the voice of the voters is an essential component to our coverage of televised debates,” said Sam Feist, Washington Bureau Chief, CNN. “[W]e’re pleased to add to this tradition our partnership with Microsoft and its Bing Pulse technology, which effectively creates a bigger and better nationwide focus group of thousands.”
Securing a partnership with CNN to pulse the next three State of the Union addresses, Bing Pulse allows voters to agree or disagree with questions posted by show producers based on the address.
“We are very excited about this strategic partnership with CNN,” said Josh Gottheimer, general manager of strategy, Microsoft. “Integrating massive audience feedback into live news broadcasts and events is changing the game for both production and viewing in television and online experiences.”
Fox News also beta-tested the President’s State of the Union address. Voters registered via smartphone or laptop and provided basic demographics including party affiliation in order to participate, bringing in 12.9 million votes.
For more information, visit pulse.bing.com.
