2017 MTV Video Music Awards

MTV's Video Music Awards is hosted every year and is currently one of the most popular and influential award shows. A list celebrities join together for a night of celebration that is broadcasted nationally, and it has a large scale impact on the social media world. Although majority of the audience is made up of about 15-25 year olds, it captures the interest of may other age groups as well. After watching the 3 hour long show on MTV, my friends, family, and I always make sure to get on Instagram and Twitter to look at the humorous memes created, the best and worst celebrity outfits, and comments about the announcers and awards given out. During the show, there are even opportunities to see the show "live" through Snapchat, and cast a vote with hashtags. Last year, Snapchat was able to reach a total of 12 million viewers, and the show was the most tweeted about of all time. Social media takes great responsibility in the success of an award show. Before the use of social media, it was difficult for fans to feel engaged, re-watch performances, people to interact with others' opinions, and ratings to be increased. Digital media creates a real experience for digital users, and MTV certainly focuses on this aspect.


Since 2016, marketers began focusing on integrating advertisement for the show with social influencers. A social influencer can be defined as " a user on social media who has established credibility in a specific industry, has access to a large audience, and can persuade others by virtue of their authenticity and reach". Forbes currently has lists of social influencers of 2017 listed out by category, which can be very useful for potential advertising outlets. Last year for the 2016 awards, MTV began implementing this process. Starbucks sponsored a video series with social influencers and YouTube stars Damon and Jo, and included an episode devoted to the VMA show. Each video has received hundreds of thousands of views, and advertises the sow in a subtle but easily reachable way.




Twitter has become the most popular source for VMA discussion pre and post show. Along with average tweeters, celebrities have made VMA advertisements and promoted the content of the show. Britney Spear tweeted tis photo and quoted, "My favorite yellow python just became a custom #VMAs @Twitter sticker! Can't wait to see your pics #BritneyonVMAs"





 Crowd Tap marketing agency discovered that 20% of VMA non viewers kept up with social media despite not watching the show. Last year 21.4 million tweets were made about the VMA's, which is a 69% increase from the year 2014. In just 2 years, social media has managed to increase VMA coverage by way more than half. With these success rates, I believe that MTV will continue to use social media as their main platform for advertisement and information, and I see this become a major trend with millennials.







Citations:
https://digiday.com/media/mtv-working-influencers-brands-vmas/
http://www.creativenerds.org/mtv-video-music-awards-became-social-media-event/