Objectives

MTV International's MTV EMA is one of the biggest global music events of the year that celebrates the hottest artists from around the world. The MTV EMA brings music fans a unique, multi-platform experience across MTV's global network in nearly 180 countries and 450 million homes around the world. The 2018 MTV EMA took place in Bilbao, Spain.

The goals for the EMA digital campaign were simple: Drive as many video views as possible and create engaging content that fans will continue to watch and come back for more. Ultimately, we aimed to increase overall digital video views over the 2017 show, with ephemeral platforms like Instagram Stories being a pivotal platform in which to achieve that.

Strategy and Execution

The digital campaign at the 2018 MTV EMA was focused on engaging global music fans on digital platforms and reaching them with digital video as much as possible in the lead up to, during, and immediately after the show.

Driving fan engagement and video views is paramount to our business. We strategically used various platforms to engage fans wherever they view content and encouraged them to tune in to the main broadcast.

Social:

• MTV Platforms:
  • Published more than 700 pieces of localized video content across dozens of local MTV accounts (e.g. MTV UK) on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
• Instagram Stories:
  • Drove real-time engagement with fans, giving them behind-the-scenes looks at all of the action.
  • Provided direct access to some of our fans' favourite stars with shoutouts and Q&As with Camila Cabello, David Guetta, Hailee Steinfeld, Jason Derulo, and more. Little Mix took over the entire day of the show.
• Facebook Live:
  • Broadcasted live from the red carpet in local language in six key markets, hosted by local influencers.
  • Aired the MTV EMA backstage show throughout the night globally across dozens of Facebook accounts and used Facebook Polls to let viewers choose where backstage co-hosts went in each segment.
• Snapchat:
  • Partnered with Snapchat to provide exclusive backstage content to a global MTV EMA "Our Story" and featured exclusive content across our Discover network.
• TikTok:
  • Partnered with TikTok to host ticket competitions and broadcast the red carpet show globally within the app.
• YouTube:
  • Posted select lead-up content and the key destination to see all performances after the show.
• Influencers:
  • Strategically partnered with six global influencers who had cultural resonance, on-camera experience, and documented their lives on Instagram Stories. They attended the EMAs, shared their experiences with their followers (in English and local language), and were co-hosts in pre-show content and during the live red carpet and backstage shows.

Site/App:

• MTVEMA.com:
  • Key destination for voting, viewing short form video, and key talent announcements.
• MTV EMA app:
  • First-of-its-kind AR voting experience allowed fans to create AR sculptures of Biggest Fans nominees and share them with friends to count as a vote.
  • Gave fans a front row seat with live 360/VR videos of entire show and performances.

The MTV EMA is a global show, airing live around the world in 180 countries. Creating content that is relevant and localized in dozens of languages makes producing a global awards show infinitely more complicated: localizing text/audio, featuring artists that are relevant around the world, supporting locally-nominated artists in specific countries, and ensuring that key announcements and content are deployed at the same time in every country, cohesively and strategically.

In 2018, we produced a website & iOS and Android apps in 16 languages and created more than 700 pieces of localized social content. New workflows ensured that global announcements were truly global, being released on MTV platforms & via local and global press outlets at the same time to make a true global splash.

Results

The 2018 MTV EMA broke records across key categories, including total digital video views and influencer engagement.

• Total social video views increased by 25% over the previous year's show.
• MTV EMA was the #1 global trending topic on Twitter the night of the show.
• Instagram Stories views, our key platform for audience engagement, were up 4500%.
• Influencer video views reached more than 94 million across their social platforms (a 2500% increase over the previous year).
• Twitter video views were up 92%.

By using social platforms in specific ways (for example, Instagram Stories to document all the backstage action in real time and YouTube as the only place to view full performances immediately post-show), engaging with artists and their fans, and strategically choosing influencers who could help us achieve our goals, we were able to drive massive growth and far exceed our campaign KPIs.

Media