Behind the scenes of the Brit Awards social campaign that drew record engagement
Last night’s Brit Awards saw a record level of social engagement as people took to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to comment on everything from Madonna’s slip down a flight of stairs to Kanye grabbing a pre-show Nando's.
In total, 7.8 million global tweets were sent about the Brits, a massive leap from the four million sent in 2014. It was a similar story on Facebook, with the Brit Awards Facebook page achieving a reach of 11 million and counting.
The run-up
Underpinning the social success was a content campaign devised by Somthin’ Else, appointed to the account last year.
The activity kicked off in November and built up to the Critics’ Choice nominations before culminating in a wave of activity in the lead up to the actual Brits event.
First up, a video series featuring the Critics’ Choice nominees was recorded at Abbey Road Studios ran across the Brit’s social channels, generating tens of thousands of views and shares.
Bloggers and influencers creators played a significant role in the strategy. YouTubers Patricia Bright and Dan & Phil were brought in to create content ahead of the awards while a stop-motion artist was commissioned to transform the video-style on the Brit Award’s Vine account.
Finally, in the run up to the awards, Somethin’ Else launched an international social vote on Twitter for Best British Video.
You voted and the award for British Video goes to @onedirection! #BRITs2015 pic.twitter.com/seZX4iGyhw
— BRIT Awards (@BRITAwards) February 25, 2015
On the night
Somethin’ Else had over 60 people working across video production and editing on the evening of the awards, with three dedicated film crews, a professional photographer unit and a 20-strong social team.
The social media group were behind the creation of real-time content across Facebook, Vine, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Content for each nominee across every category was also prepped to be used when a winner was announced.
A Vine booth captured winners as they came off stage while bloggers Dan & Phil and Patricia were summoned once again to contact backstage interviews.
At the end of the awards, the edit team worked tirelessly until 4am to ensure that all the show content was on the dedicated Brits website for people to access the following day.
Backstage: @takethat come off stage after their amazing performance at #BRITs2015 https://t.co/AZOyMqQ4Ln — BRIT Awards (@BRITAwards) February 25, 2015Results
The social vote achieved an unprecedented five million interactions, up from two million the year previous. Overall, followers across the Brit Awards social platforms increased by 140,000 over three days, while 300,000 people have started following the Brits since the campaign’s launch in November, representing a 26 per cent increase.
Some of the best performing tweets included One Direction’s win for Best British Video, closely followed by the group’s acceptance speech and a backstage photo.
On Facebook, Taylor Swift proved most popular with a post announcing her as Best International Solo Artist achieving nearly 200,000 likes.