From start to finish, our digital campaign aimed to engage as many music fans as possible on their favorite platforms and amplify awareness of the 2017 MTV EMA. In order to grow the size of our digital audiences and drive engagement, we wanted our platforms to be places where fans could find original and entertaining content featuring the biggest names in music, watch live streams of exciting EMA events and unabashedly show love for their favorite artists. Since the MTV EMA is an international event, making our content relatable to people in countries all over the world was a top priority throughout the campaign.
Throughout the 2017 EMA campaign, we brought live coverage of highly anticipated events, featuring the artists and personalities music fans care about, to audiences on Facebook. Not only did we give fans on Facebook access to exciting EMA events and stars, but we also provided them with multiple opportunities to take action and participate in what they were watching.
We began providing fans with live EMA coverage weeks before the actual show. Shortly after international pop singer, Rita Ora, was announced as the show's host, we used Facebook Live to connect audiences with her and the 2017 EMA host city, London. During the Facebook Live interview with Rita Ora, which took place aboard the iconic London Eye, fans got to submit questions to her and take in views of London all in real-time.
When EMA weekend finally arrived, there was no shortage of live coverage of all the action on Facebook. The MTV EMA and local MTV Facebook pages streamed events, such as David Guetta's performance in London's historic Trafalgar Square, backstage interviews with performers like Camila Cabello, and many other star sightings on the red carpet.
The live commenting on Facebook Live made fans feel like they were part of the action and we employed multiple devices to encourage them to comment and react to what they were seeing on screen. We scripted the streams according to the types of interactions Facebook affords viewers, such as emoji reacting and commenting, and we also inserted lower third graphics, which instructed fans to vote for certain outcomes with emojis, into the streams.
On the operational side, we have a unique challenge to deliver to a global audience. Having considered the potential increase in viewership that Facebook Live afforded us, our team developed internal tools to simulcast the MTV EMA page's Facebook Live streams on multiple local MTV pages (like MTV Australia, MTV Italy and many others!). Simulcasting gave us the ability to broadcast MTV EMA live streams on local MTV Facebook pages without needing local social media managers to take action as localized meta-data was included in all cases. The simulcasting ensured that fans of the local MTV accounts received exclusive live EMA content in real-time and in local languages. During the campaign, we simulcasted 25 of the MTV EMA's Facebook Lives on 20 local MTV pages.
We also aimed to engage a global audience by drafting seven social media influencers who represented different world regions and could connect with local audiences in their native languages while on the ground at the EMA. The Social Squad included Hugo Gloss of Brazil, Madison Beer of the US, Bontle Modiselle of South Africa, Sophie Kasaei of the UK, Charlotte Crosby of the UK, Marcel aka KsFreak of Germany and Manuel "Krappi" Krappinger of Germany. The Social Squad members went live, on Facebook, from the red carpet or backstage, and appeared in produced segments—providing EMA fans all over the world with live coverage in their native languages.
The 2017 EMA campaign's Facebook Live videos were viewed 5.6 million times. Top videos included a Red Carpet interview with TRL's Dolan Twins (1.6M views), David Guetta World Stage performance (863K views), and @MTVBaseAfrica Red Carpet interview with Bontle Modiselle (823K views).
Simulcasting the Facebook Live streams of the EMA events on local MTV pages afforded us the opportunity to reach new international audiences. The simulcasted Facebook Live streams were special events that caught the attention of more than 2.6 million people.
Incorporating social media influencers who represented local MTV regions was a great way to connect global audiences on Facebook with the EMA. When South Africa's favorite Social Squad member, Bontle Modiselle, hosted a Facebook Live from the EMA red carpet it was viewed over 800k times on the @MTVBaseAfrica Facebook page.
The EMA red carpet coverage streamed on Facebook Live was viewed over 1.8 million times. The Facebook Live stream of David Guetta's performance was viewed over 800k times.
