MTV VMAs: Going Social Backstage
Driving Online Fan Participation
MTV created some of the most highly watched events on the planet, and the company has a history of providing innovative digital experiences alongside them. From the “Hope for Haiti” telethon to the Movie Awards, MTV.com has taken fans behind the scenes, streaming live video and providing ways for fans to interact with each other through the event. How could they bring new excitement and an innovative approach to their flagship event, the 2010 Video Music Awards?
Driving Engagement: Viral Promotion through Social Activity
MTV.com joined forces with both Gigya and attracTV to bring online viewers a completely integrated and state-of-the-art experience that took social viewing to a new level. The VMA viewing experience, built on the attracTV platform, included real-time polls, live blogging, instant replays, real-time announcements, an updated winners list, editorially selected and timed Yahoo! search suggestions and a seamless integration with the Gigya Social Live Chat plugin. The chat plugin enabled viewers to login using their Facebook, Twitter, or Yahoo identities, and chat with their friends as part of the experience. Chat comments were then syndicated to viewers’ social feeds for greater event exposure.
The Results: Record-breaking Performance on Every Metric
The study shows that the integrated experience clearly resonated with fans, outperforming the 2009 live stream by 17% in number of streams and 71% in unique views, with viewers spending an average of nearly twenty five minutes in the experience. The live chat had the highest number of participants and social network referral traffic to date for MTV.com.
