The MTV EMA is a one-of-a-kind annual event that celebrates music from around the globe, from international superstars to local-favorite artists—and gives fans around the world the power to choose award winners. The 2014 event, hosted by Nicki Minaj, marked the EMA's 20th anniversary and was broadcast live from Glasgow, Scotland. The show aired in more than 160 countries and territories. The event was supported with a wide-ranging digital and social campaign including 34 regional websites in 21 languages, localized iOS and Android apps, and a massive international social media presence. The 2014 MTV EMA app was a key part of the campaign, offering mobile and tablet users content, voting functionality, exclusive features, and a night-of-show second-screen experience.
The 2014 MTV EMA app was designed to drive voting, by fulfilling fans' need for a simple and efficient voting experience that saved them time and effort, and was accessible on the go and at any time. It was also designed to drive user engagement and interaction throughout the EMA campaign; and to offer an immersive second-screen experience on the night of the show.
In 2014 for the first time, the MTV EMA app was available for Android as well as iOS users. The app, localized in 11 language versions, featured the rich breadth of content available on the MTV EMA websites, including news, editorial features, photos, videos, and artist pages. The content was displayed in a 'content wall' or tiled format, enabling users to sort/filter content by content type(s) and date range.
The app also enabled users to vote for EMA nominees. And for the first time, the app offered exclusive enhanced vote functionality: Users could set reminders to cast their votes, choosing how often they wanted to receive those notifications. iOS users could also cast votes directly from the notification without launching the app.
Music fans could also take advantage of a brand-new functionality enabling them to save a record of the votes they cast in various categories, and re-cast all of them with one tap. Fans raved about the convenience of this feature on social media, and even posted Vine videos and screen shots showing fellow fans how to efficiently recast their votes for their favorite artist in multiple categories at once.
The 2014 MTV EMA app also offered the popular Sing It feature, which allowed users to select a lyric from a nominated song such as Ariana Grande's "Problem" or Katy Perry's "Dark Horse," record video of themselves singing, and upload the video via the app. MTV UK VJs Laura Whitmore, Becca Dudley, and Bluey filmed a how-to video that was featured on the MTV EMA websites and social media to drive participation. And Bluey got in on the fun by recording his own Sing It submission. During the campaign, a mashup of selected Sing It submissions was featured on the MTV EMA website. And on the night of the show, a musical mash-up of some EMAzing fans was featured on the digital-exclusive MTV EMA backstage show.
During the live on-air broadcast, the app offered an immersive second-screen experience including a live stream of the red carpet show, main show, and digital-exclusive backstage show; multiple webcams users could toggle between; and a stream of social activity.
The 2014 MTV EMA app was a massive success, with downloads up 185 percent year over year. Fan engagement via the app helped drive 30 million impressions in the 3 days leading up to the show.
