Billboard Music Awards

Last night I watched The Billboard Music Awards - which was as much an awards ceremony as it was a marketing fiesta.  Marketing left and right, with a little music thrown in, and then an award once in awhile.

First of all - abc.  The show aired on abc, and there was no shortage of promo spots for the network.  Even the hosts were from Modern Family, none too subtle, and even many of the presenters.  Every commercial break featured an abc promo.  I found myself saying, "we got it guys," a few times.

Sony had a strong presence as well, a very strong presence, and in fact the awards were announced via the new small tablet so each presenter had a tablet in their hand, often in full view of the camera.  As a marketer, I thought that was pretty cool.  I'm sure the brand manager was happy.

Of course then there's SunDrop ... a brand that quite honestly I had never heard of before.  The brand was all over the awards from an advertising perspective and also embedded into show integration.  In fact, there was an audience participation program around the "most invigorating" award ... tied directly to the essence of the brand.

And in an interesting promotional tie-in, Shazam is offered free downloads of Usher's performance via the Sony tablet.  Throughout the program, as the Shazam logo appeared on screen, viewers were able to track activity on social media as well as could purchase music various artists.  Shazam had done this with Madonna during the Super Bowl, but took it one step further for these music awards.

Was it a good production?  Let's just say it was fascinating to see how technology is incorporated into the content and the viewer experience, extending way beyond just the few hours of airtime.  That part was great.

What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe North America
Author, The Experience Effect
Professor, NYU