The MTV EMA – MTV's global celebration of the hottest stars in music – recognizes artists from around the world and across genres, and brings together music fans everywhere for a one-of-a-kind experience in the weeks leading up to and at the show. The 2013 MTV EMA aired across MTV's global network of more than 60 channels, reaching nearly 700 million households around the world as well as through syndication. Fans around the world choose the winners of the EMAs, and this year for the first time, the winner of the Biggest Fans EMA was determined exclusively by gamification activity. The 2013 MTV EMA’s Biggest Fans campaign used gamification to tap into fans’ passion for their favourite music artists, to drive buzz for the show on social media, and to drive engagement with our digital content offering. The campaign began with 15 artists in contention for a Biggest Fans category nomination. Users on mtvema.com desktop and mobile sites, and on the MTV EMA app, could join a Fan Team and earn points for their artists by consuming content (e.g., watching a video, viewing a flipbook, or reading an article) and sharing content on social media. After a week of gameplay, we began narrowing the field of contenders by eliminating the lowest-ranked artist daily, until the start of official EMA voting began and 5 final nominees remained in the running. The official MTV EMA social media accounts heavily hyped the campaign, urging Fan Teams to rally for the lower-ranked artists at risk of elimination. This helped drive buzz, traffic, and engagement in the lead-up to the launch of voting. Once voting officially opened, a Facebook app allowed users to download a ‘fan kit’ with images to customize their profile in support of their favourite artists, and a leaderboard of tweets using the hashtag #EMABiggestFans. This hashtag was used 10.5 MILLION times between 17 September and 10 November, the duration of the voting period. On social media, fans relentlessly rallied their fellow Beliebers, Little Monsters, Aliens, Directioners, and Echelon members to earn points for their artist. And artists used their own social media accounts to mobilize their Fan Teams. The Biggest Fans gamification campaign empowered and mobilized fans, built buzz for the show, and fostered a sense of community among artists and their international fan bases. The winning band, Germany’s Tokio Hotel, recorded a special video message thanking fans for their support—a fantastic reward for all their passion and dedication.
