2012 action triggers unprecedented website traffic
Following the much anticipated and talked about nominations launch, the website has seen record numbers of visitors as music fans log on to find out the latest news and information about next month’s awards ceremony. The new website, which features exclusive video content from backstage on launch night, saw more visitors than ever before in the days following the launch.
Daily traffic to the site since the nominations were revealed is more than double that of the corresponding day last year, while the average time spent on the website has also increased by around 50% since last year. The volume of traffic was so high at one point that the site temporarily went down while emergency servers were brought in to cope with the demand. The unprecedented numbers were reflected on Twitter where followers of the official BRIT Awards feed increased by 50% on nominations launch day.
But the notion that digital stuff simply ‘goes viral’ with a momentum of its own is a common misconception. It requires bright, innovative, technically astute specialists to create digital campaigns that really work. This is where content creation agency, Somethin’ Else, comes in. They took over running The BRIT Awards 2012 with MasterCard digital strategy this year and are responsible for the site redesign, content strategy and production as well as managing the social media accounts.
"When we started running the site and social media, we wanted to give the BRITs a digital personality and make it the centre of the online conversation around the awards,” said Michelle Feuerlicht, executive producer at Somethin' Else. “We're delighted to see this strategy has paid off, with a doubling of daily traffic to the site and social media accounts year-on-year."
Nomination voting this year is also available via the first ever BRIT Awards iPhone app. Available as a free download from Apple’s App Store, it features news updates and competitions and allows fans to vote directly for the three award categories voted for by the public: British Single, British Group and British Breakthrough Act. Mobile users will also be able to view photos from the event and buy their favourite performance directly from iTunes immediately after the show.
The app was downloaded over 12,000 times in the first week, with approximately 95% of people voting via their phone. News and updates on this year’s event are also now reaching over 1 million people via Facebook.
© 2013 BRIT Awards Ltd | Owned by the BPI | The BRIT Trust, supporting young people in music and education
