The MTV EMA appeals to music fans in countries all over the world so live streaming videos of the event is a key way to reach our audiences, no matter where they are. When it came to live streaming the EMA events, our goal was to create exciting, immersive live streams that would engage fans worldwide and make them feel like they were a part of the action. We focused on driving up engagement by producing and covering highly anticipated events featuring artists and personalities music fans care about.
We aimed to make the digital experience of the MTV EMA just as exciting as the event itself by live streaming all performances, backstage interviews and red carpet moments on multiple platforms. To make our live streams accessible to as many people as possible we live streamed videos of EMA events on four different platforms: the official MTV EMA website, Facebook Live, Instagram and the MTV EMA app. Each platform offered a unique form of EMA event coverage.
The MTV EMA app provided fans with immersive and interactive live streams of the night's performances. The app's 360/VR live streams put fans right in the middle of the action while the app's AR features provided the Snapchat generation with familiar interactive objects that allowed them to customize their experiences of the performances as they were happening. We offered 18 interactive 3D objects in the app and 15 of them were custom-made to be engaged with during the live performances of some of the night's biggest stars including Demi Lovato, Camila Cabello and Liam Payne.
Over on Facebook, we used Facebook Live to bring exclusive coverage of exciting EMA events, like the red carpet and backstage show, to as many people as possible. We also employed tactics to drive up engagement during each stream. For instance, we prompted viewers to react with emojis by inserting graphics that called for emoji voting into the streams. We also had the featured celebrities and local influencers call out to the viewers and ask them to leave questions in the comments.
On the operational side, we have a unique challenge to deliver to a global audience. To reach our fans around the world and increase viewership of the EMA events, we developed internal tools to simulcast the MTV EMA page's Facebook Live streams on multiple local MTV pages. 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.
Additionally, a group of international influencers were on the ground to provide their fans in countries all over the world with relatable, authentic coverage of the EMA. The influencers hosted Facebook Lives on local MTV accounts while on the red carpet, capturing all the action in their native languages.
The MTV EMA Instagram was the place to find live coverage from influencers like Brasil's Hugo Gloss. In the days leading up to the show, MTV VJ, Becca Dudley, went live on the MTV EMA Instagram and filled fans in on everything that was happening.
By making the digital experience of the MTV EMA just as exciting as the event itself, we attracted a record number of viewers on multiple platforms and saw the amount of engagements reach new heights.
The EMA red carpet coverage that 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.
