MTV VMA: Green Screens
MTV needed to promote the 2015 VMAs, building unprecedented anticipation and conversation among internet users and fans. The goal was to significantly increase social engagement and viewership for the live broadcast.
Creative Idea
MTV turned all media into green screens, letting the internet create and become the campaign.
MTV transformed all its VMA media into green screens, inviting the internet to download and create their own art, then replaced the original green screens with fan-made content. This empowered fans to co-create, generating massive organic buzz and making the VMAs the most tweeted TV program in history.
Turning the Internet into a Creative Director
The Raw Assets of Miley Cyrus
To fuel the "prosumer" movement, production partners Reed + Rader filmed host Miley Cyrus in a series of bizarre, high-resolution green screen sequences. These weren't polished ads, but "raw material" featuring Cyrus riding kittens or holding Moonmen, designed specifically for fans to remix. Rather than using a restrictive in-browser meme generator, MTV and agency Jam3 launched mtvma.net, providing open-source Photoshop files and stickers. This allowed professional digital artists and casual fans to use their own high-end tools, ensuring the quality of the submissions remained high enough for a national media buy.
A Total Media Takeover
The campaign functioned in two distinct phases. It began as a "mysterious" OOH launch on August 3, 2015, featuring blank, neon green billboards in New York and Los Angeles. Andrei Chahine, VP/Creative Director at MTV, noted that this specific shade of green acted as a "universal Internet symbol" for collaboration. On August 17, MTV executed a radical media swap, replacing its entire paid inventory - including Times Square billboards and national TV spots - with the fan-generated art.
Breaking the Social Record
The strategy of surrendering brand control resulted in 122 billion impressions and 541 million social engagements. The campaign achieved a staggering 2,005% viral lift, driven largely by 64 million interactions on Instagram. By the time the show aired, the 2015 VMAs had become the most tweeted TV program in history. While assets were provided for stars like Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar, the majority of the 24 million hashtag uses centered on Cyrus, proving her status as the ultimate muse for remix culture.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
MTV had the cultural relevance of the VMAs and host Miley Cyrus, plus extensive media channels to deploy a unique campaign.
Category
Award show promotions usually rely on polished, pre-produced celebrity content and traditional advertising to build anticipation.
Customer
Fans craved authentic participation and a platform to express their creativity, desiring to be part of the VMA conversation.
Culture
The internet's open-source, collaborative culture and the rise of user-generated content provided a fertile ground for co-creation.
Company
MTV had the cultural relevance of the VMAs and host Miley Cyrus, plus extensive media channels to deploy a unique campaign.
Category
Award show promotions usually rely on polished, pre-produced celebrity content and traditional advertising to build anticipation.
Strategy:
Empower the audience to co-create the narrative, transforming passive viewers into active participants and brand advocates.
Customer
Fans craved authentic participation and a platform to express their creativity, desiring to be part of the VMA conversation.
Culture
The internet's open-source, collaborative culture and the rise of user-generated content provided a fertile ground for co-creation.
Strategy:
Empower the audience to co-create the narrative, transforming passive viewers into active participants and brand advocates.
Results
The campaign generated 24 million #VMA hashtags. It achieved 541 million social engagements, with 64 million interactions on Instagram alone. It saw a viral lift of 2005% and an overall reach of 122 billion total impressions. The campaign helped the 2015 VMAs become The Most Tweeted TV program in TV history.
122 Billion
total impressions
24 Million
VMA hashtags
2005%
viral lift
Strategy Technique
Turn Users Into the Story
MTV gave fans the tools to create VMA content, then used their art as the campaign's primary media. This shifted the narrative from brand-centric to user-driven, making the audience the central focus.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Glorify the audience
The campaign empowered fans to download green screens and create their own VMA art. By showcasing fan-made content across all media, it celebrated their creativity and made them integral to the campaign's success.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft excels in its groundbreaking concept that empowered widespread audience participation, transforming traditional media into dynamic, co-created experiences.
The creation of mtvvma.net as an open-source platform for downloading assets and uploading user-generated content, coupled with the dynamic system for refreshing media with fan art, showcases exceptional digital execution.
The striking initial aesthetic of green screens featuring Miley Cyrus, and the subsequent curation and strategic display of thousands of diverse fan-made artworks across various media, demonstrate strong visual guidance.
The campaign's magic truly came from the synergistic combination of a groundbreaking idea, the digital craft to enable mass participation, and the strategic media planning that transformed passive advertising into an interactive platform.
