#STANMAIL - MTV VMAs
In 2021 we began a new partnership with MTV.
We created #VMAStanMail and the Video Music Awards made history as the first awards show to intentionally design a globally-inclusive experience on Twitter. Not only did the @VMAs account Tweet in multiple languages from Portuguese to Indonesian, but it sought to bridge the language barrier between music artists and their worldwide superfans - and in doing so meaningfully drive VMA conversation around the world.
In 2022 we ran it back again. It was a no-brainer to bring back #VMAStanMail as an integral piece of the VMA Stan Cam live co-viewing experience. Examining previous insights, we determined we could find ways to expand the VMA global audience even more, engage a whole new segment of stans, and bring new people to the #VMA conversation.
Awards
Winner, Shorty Award – Live Video
Silver, Shorty Award – Globalization
2022
#VMAStanMail V.2
The Stan Mail team analyzed insights from 2021 to rethink the strategy for V2. Rather than livestreaming #VMAStanMail video clips in our feed as we had done in the past, we distributed clips as Twitter native in-feed video to help amplify viewership. Also contributing to #VMA Nielsen Social Content Ratings, a major metric of success for MTV.
To create a more versatile Stan Mail production, a responsive app was developed to visualize custom curated Tweet displays for every artist. The app was capable of being used on any screen in any location; each user would open a custom profile to see original-language Tweets which would translate to their preferred language.
On VMA night, the final videos were Tweeted and each clip was posted in two languages (taking into account each artists’ most active fandom languages) - and as an extra bonus, featured fan submissions were quote Tweeted by @VMAs with special delivery celeb responses for them to enjoy, react to and share.
Results
Overall global VMAs conversation doubled YoY
#VMAStanMail Tweets were 32x more likely to be seen by people new to the VMAs conversation than the average @VMAs Tweet
#VMAStanMail Tweets were 39x more likely to be seen by non-US audiences than the average @VMAs Tweet
Talent who participated in #VMAStanMail saw a 160% increase in follower growth vs those who did not
YoY, #VMAStanMail saw a 5x lift in Global conversation, and a 5.7x lift YoY in total conversation
159 markets tweeted about #VMAStanMail in 46 languages
84% of #VMAStanMail Tweets came from outside of the US (159 markets total compared to 135 in 2021)
40% of #VMAStanMail Tweets were in languages other than English
14M people saw VMAs content on Twitter for the first time
#VMAStanMail videos averaged 1.4M views each (14.5M views total!) - higher than the most-watched Stan Mail video in 2021 (1.3M)
2021
#VMAStanMail V.1
We examined historical data, and a clear pattern emerged: tweet volume about the VMAs was growing increasingly multilingual - 48% of Tweets in 2018, and 65% of Tweets in 2020 were non-English. The path for evolution became clear: it was time to build a globally inclusive social experience for music fans.
Results
87% of #VMAStanMail conversation came from outside of the US (38 different languages and 135 markets)
43% of people who tweeted about #VMAStanMail hadn’t tweeted about the VMAs before
Fans from 226 markets tweeted about the #VMAs, which trended in 58 different markets around the world
#VMAs drove over 2 billion Twitter impressions - a record for the VMAs
Fans tweeted about the VMAs in 56 different languages, up from 40 languages in 2020 (a 40% lift YOY)
VMA Stan Cam garnered 6.8 million minutes of watch time (+66% YOY), and 23 million views (+27% YOY)