MTV may have been groundbreaking when it emerged on cable TV during the early 1980s, but as an old media platform it was lagging behind interactive platforms like Spotify. To up their online game during the promotion of the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA), the company made promotional celebrity videos and billboards with green background screens and invited fans to download the screens and work their own art into the ads.
Two weeks before the show, the best of the fan-made VMA Green Screens were showcased in the real world. Campaign results included 541 million social media engagements, a total reach of 122 billion impressions, and that year’s VMA becoming the most watched awards show on cable TV.