Q&A with Verizon: How a top telecom brand used Periscope and Twitter Amplify during the MTV VMAs

Last month, Verizon launched a new campaign called #WhyNotWednesday to align with one of the most talked-about events on Twitter: the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). Each Wednesday, Verizon plans to feature the best and latest content in music, sports, fashion, entertainment, and technology.

To kick things off, Verizon teamed up with @MTV and singer @VanessaHudgens to sponsor a live stream from Periscope during the VMAs. This let the brand tap into the event’s hyper-engaged audience.

We spoke with Rick Haring (@rjharing), Verizon’s director of social media, to learn how they are using Periscope to generate excitement with target audiences. Verizon is also using Twitter Amplify to create exclusive content experiences, since it enables media companies and brands to capture the excitement of TV, live events, and more and distribute it to fans across Twitter.

New Q&A: Discover how @verizon used Twitter’s live video tools during the MTV VMAs. https://t.co/aFCtDDbRRX http://t.co/Srk47CZTKZ

— Twitter Advertising ( @TwitterAds) September 23, 2015

@TwitterAmplify: Tell us about #WhyNotWednesday.

@rjharing: People are hungry and looking for new technologies that can provide exclusive access to great experiences and content. Every Wednesday, you’re going to see us deliver a new and exciting experience that we’re unlocking.

@TwitterAmplify: How did you promote the launch on Twitter?

@rjharing: On the Wednesday before the VMAs we bought the Promoted Trend for our hashtag. The goal was to get reach. We’re launching a new program and we’re really looking to get awareness. It turned out to be amazingly successful for us because we saw upwards of 60M impressions.

@TwitterAmplify: There was buildup to the VMAs where you leveraged Twitter Amplify. How did this come together?

@rjharing: The VMAs was a great event to launch with - it’s one of the top two most Tweeted about events. We’ve also had a partnership with the VMAs over the past couple years, so by working closely with MTV we knew about this great opportunity. The last thing in that collision of great stuff was to find the right talent. Who better than Vanessa Hudgens?

The beauty of the partnership with Twitter Amplify and MTV was that MTV has a great follower base on Periscope, which is something we’re looking to build. It was a great mechanism to get viewership from an audience who was already engaged with the type of content that we were bringing to them.

@TwitterAmplify: You’re one of the first companies to leverage Periscope in a Twitter Amplify program.

@rjharing: It’s pretty cool. We were in our war room and Vanessa Hudgens was actually trending globally. We saw a lot of viewership live, and through the partnership we were able to promote that content afterwards which people continued to view.

@TwitterAmplify: Can you talk about how you’re measuring success for this campaign?

@rjharing: We have a mantra at Verizon that if you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist. Initially, in the first couple of weeks it was all about reach and awareness. We wanted to get #WhyNotWednesday out there so we could begin to train and excite people to come back every week.

Our team’s goal is to get #WhyNotWednesday trending organically every Wednesday. I believe with the content we’re bringing, the experiences we’re bringing and the access we’re bringing we have the opportunity to do that.

For more information about video on Twitter including Twitter Amplify and Periscope, please visit video.twitter.com/about.