The Goal
Create a seamless workflow to let superfans send a message to their favorite celebrities walking the red carpet at the Variety Hitmakers celebration.
What We Did
Post a call to action on Twitter inviting fans to send a message to the different Hitmakers using #VarietyHitmakers. A producer then used Tagboard to quickly source the top replies as they poured in. The posts were displayed on screen at the event creating a live and real-time social feed that celebrities could see and react to.
The Result
Fans were excited to have an easy opportunity to get their message in front of their favorite celebrities, and Variety saw a 23% year-over-year increase in the total number of posts using #VarietyHitmakers. A number that Variety attributes to their use of Tagboard, for helping drive interest from fans and for intuitive functionality of the platform that allowed them to pull off this idea with ease.
If you had one shot, or one opportunity, to share a message with your favorite celebrity what would you say? Would you seize the moment, or be so starstruck that you opened your mouth but no words came out. It happens to the best of us, just ask Eminem. Variety on the other hand found a way to let fans share a special message with their favorite celebrities, and not risk mom’s spaghetti ending up on any sweaters. It was a perfect activation to connect superfan and superstar at the Variety Hitmakers celebration.
The process was very smooth and I found it very easy to feature posts in real-time.
Sabrina Lee – Brand Marketing Associate at Variety
Variety wanted to give fans an opportunity to send a special message to Hitmakers (Dua Lipa, Selena Gomez, Lizzo) walking the red carpet and being honored at their event. So they began by tweeting out a simple call to action on their social channels telling fans to share a message for a chance to end up on screen during the celebration. Plenty of incentive to participate, and the perfect format to let fans take the proper time to accurately craft the perfect message. The replies poured in immediately and drove more engagement on the #VarietyHitmakers than they had seen in previous years. By the time it was all said and done, the numbers showed a 23% year-over-year increase in posts using that hashtag. A number the team at Variety attributes to the introduction of Tagboard’s cloud production technology.
Ease of use and efficiency
After a short training on Tagboard, a member of the Variety team was able to seamlessly navigate the platform and easily click to feature replies from fans and immediately send them to the display screens at the celebration.
“The process was very smooth. Setting up our feeds beforehand was really helpful and I found it very easy to feature posts in real-time” said Sabrina Lee, Brand Marketing Associate at Variety. “I found it all to be very efficient.”
Tagboard’s patented social media aggregation engine played a big role in the efficiency of it all, and allowed Sabrina to use free time gained to do other things when she normally would be scrolling through Twitter looking for the right content.
Real-time for in the moment connection
The real-time nature of the platform allowed Variety to start a conversation ahead of their event and then maintain the momentum through the entire celebration. A big draw for any brand, as there is a lot of value in having your event be the talk of the Twitter timeline while it’s happening.
“I think the biggest value of using the Tagboard platform is that we were able to engage the attendees of our event to post on social media during the event who may have otherwise waited to post after the event,” said Sabrina Lee. “It helped stir up more conversation online while our event was happening.”
The fans felt heard, the Hitmakers felt the love, and in the words of Variety, the screens in-venue added a cool feel to the overall experience of the event.