Pick Me
MTV

Problem

As MTV entered the New Zealand market, they needed to regionalise the brand and create a presence with on-the-ground presenters. As a channel built on guerrilla tactics and connection with their audience, we needed to ensure that we not only found new presenters who resonated with the brand, but also connected with the viewers.

The role would become a foundational part of the brands local identity and it was important to ensure that the successful presenter was loved by viewers.

Approach

To engage with a wider pool of prospective presenters (VJs), we developed a campaign which offered anyone who thought they had the chops to apply to be the new face for MTV in New Zealand.

By engaging directly with fans and viewers, the goal was to find passionate and proactive talent that we would then ask the wider audience to vote on. This job of a lifetime would become one of the hottest talent searches in the country and attracted thousands of applications.

Solution

A campaign was produced that connected with viewers and fans across a range of environments including on-air, online, in the street, and through ad placements and promotion. The campaign was split into 3 distinct phases.

  1. Engage with viewers and fans
    Asking for applicants to share a video about themselves and why MTV should “pick me”

  2. Vote on applicants
    Top candidates were selected and viewers were asked to vote on their favourites

  3. Announce the new VJ(s)
    Celebrate and promote the new presenters

Deliverables

  • On-air TVCs for each phase of the campaign

  • Online micro-site to handle applications and voting

  • Campaign branding

  • Promotional materials including street posters, digital banner placements, and radio scripts

  • Asset creation for campaign work including photography and props

Outcomes

The campaign was highly successful in driving engagement with the newly-launched channel and providing MTV with a pool of talent to select their new presenter from.

By allowing viewers to vote on their preferred VJs, the channel ensured that the successful candidates were able to connect with their audience and were respected by their fans. This ensured that the successful presenters became mainstays for the channel building MTV’s local audience and cementing the brand within New Zealand.

The presenters chosen were Jay Reeve and Amber Peebles.

Learnings

Providing clear guidance for applicants allowed for comparisons to be made quickly during the vetting process. Having a structured set of questions allowed us to get key information and select applicants to go through to the voting stage with confidence.

By promoting the campaign outside of the channels own properties, more hype was able to be created that generated more interest and engagement.