Fans’ support was put to the test this spring with the premiere of Last Fan Standing – a competition of the world’s most popular artists where the victor is ultimately selected by the audience. In their first season ever, 10 fan groups from 10 of the biggest artists on the planet went head to head on Twitter with a social TV integration for a month-long global vote to reveal which artist had the most powerful fan group in the world.
Last Fan Standing was a spinoff of another show from the 4Music family – Tweet To Beat. In this show, two major pop stars battled one another in a video chart clash where fans voted via Twitter for the ultimate superstar. Elements of Tweet To Beat carried over to the new Last Fan Standing show – building on the social voting strategy that the audience recognized.
Power to the People
4Music partnered with Spredfast to power the worldwide social vote and deliver real-time updates to a passionate following. Over the month-long voting period, fans Tweeted and re-Tweeted their favorite artist’s respective hashtag and while they understood that each daily Tweet only counted for one vote – many submissions included photos or love-declarations to their favorite artists. Fans could also cast their votes from the show’s website and check out Tweets and Instagram content submitted by fellow fans and competitors.
On this social corner of the site fans saw just how passionate their fellow music lovers were. Bedroom walls covered with One Direction, detailed drawings of Lady Gaga, and more Taylor Swift garb than we ever thought possible!
4Music recognized that these devoted fan groups were already developed – by tapping into their existing pop fan clubs on Twitter, 4Music was able to leverage a large audience who welcomed a healthy rivalry. Throughout May fans Tweeted #4MuiscLFS plus the fan club’s name (Beliebers for Justin Bieber, Little Monsters for Lady Gaga, etc.)
Social participation was essential to driving the narrative on the first screen – if people weren’t voting, the hosts wouldn’t have had much to talk about! Since social involvement was plentiful, regular leaderboard updates on the first screen displayed the current standings of the artists to keep fans in the loop and on their voting mission.
Swift Social
Congrats @TaylorSwift‘s Swifties on winning #4MusicLFS! For ranking, pics & YOUR posts head to http://t.co/GlnsLqp488 http://t.co/OcyiP02fgF
— 4Music (@4Music) May 27, 2014
Music shows are a dominant genre on television, but Last Fan Standing managed to stand out with a strong social strategy. 4Music produced an entire program around technology and a voting mechanic to give audiences the first, final, and only say in the show’s outcome.
The content, the voting, everything about the program was influenced by the fans’ willingness to participate and fight for their favorite artist. Thanks to Tweet To Beat, the audience already came into the show with a certain level of familiarity with the voting process and the program amplified globally – connecting fans from all ends of the world.
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