And the Award Goes To…
The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are scheduled for Sunday, April 25. Award shows have steadily been losing viewership over the years. “Even before the pandemic, the Oscars and Grammys saw historically low ratings earlier this year (2020)”. Streaming has a large effect on this because viewers have access to so many shows and movies now. They aren’t limited to the big movies that come to theaters with the well-known actors. Tom O’Neil, editor of awards-tracking site Gold Derby, said, “Award show ratings are the highest when viewers have nominees their rooting for”. However in the last few years, many viewers haven’t seen or even heard of the winning movies or actors.
People have also gotten used to being entertained in very quick and short segments, like TikTok videos and Instagram Reels, so they get bored and lose interest in 3 to 4 hour award shows.
The Academy has also received a lot of backlash in recent years due to their lack of diversity and equality in nominees. In 2017, the Academy got in trouble because of the lack of women nominated, prompting the #OscarsSoMale hashtag. The year before in 2016, another negative hashtag began trending, #OscarsSoWhite, because of the lack of diversity of race within the Academy’s nominations and audience.
I do believe with a good social media campaign and some improvements in their voice on social media, the Academy Awards could make a comeback and begin to gain viewers again.
Pre-Event
Award shows need to show that they are socially aware of the issues that are present in today’s world, and how they will celebrate diversity and equality. There are quite a few epic nominees this year that the Academy should be honoring and highlighting pre-show. The 2021 Oscars marks the first time ever that 2 women have earned best director nominations. This year is also the first time an all-Black producing team has been nominated for the best picture award, for “Judas and the Black Messiah.” The Academy should collaborate with top influencers to ramp up excitement about the award show. The influencers can share exclusive announcements about nominees, and share why they are excited for the show. The influencers should share behind the scenes looks at how the Academy preps the venue, personal interactions with the celebrities, and show the diversity of the nominees. The Academy can also honor LGBTQ fashion designers, since fashion is a huge staple of award shows.
Dan Levy is a popular actor right now due to his success with Schitt’s Creek. Levy is part of the LGBTQ community, and he is a huge advocate for equal rights, so he would be a great influencer to collaborate with for an exclusive look at the Oscars.
The Academy could also offer a contest for a free internship to one lucky winner who will get to come to the show, help with behind the scenes prep, and then watch the show. This would be a great way to get engagement from the younger generation and create some buzz prior to the show.
Social media can be used for this pre-event fun by doing live videos, Instagram reels, polls on who fans think will win the various categories, etc. Social media will be the key to engaging the fans and getting them hyped for the upcoming show.
Event Time
On the day of the event, the influencers that the Academy has collaborated with can share behind the scenes looks at celebrities getting ready for the show. They should have exclusive but short interviews with nominees to help viewers learn about who the nominees are, and get to know them on a personal level. Another important thing happening at the Oscars is that Viola Davis is now the most-nominated Black actress ever, with four nominations, and the only Black woman with two best actress nominations. This is amazing and the Academy should be highlighting this nominee’s achievements. It will also show that the Academy is recognizing people of color, which again has been severely lacking in previous years.
The person who won the internship can also do short live streaming on Facebook and Instagram to show what they are getting to do and how much fun they are having at the show. This can help create some buzz for the next year’s internship opportunity!
During the show there should be activity on the Academy’s social media. There should be in the moment live videos, pictures from the event, and Instagram quizzes of things that have happened so far during the show. Again, this will engage the fans and get them excited to follow the show through social media.
Post Event
The after parties are always talked about by celebrities. This would be a great opportunity for an influencer to show the viewers the fun that is had after the show. Again showing a personal side of the celebrities will help viewers feel invested.
The winner of the internship can also again show behind the scenes on what happens after the show, including the swag bags, the excitement after the awards have been given out, etc. Then the Academy can start creating buzz for the next year.
The Academy should also do follow ups with the winners, finding out what the win meant to them, and what they are doing next. Social media can be used here by doing the follow up interviews via live streaming, ask followers to submit their questions for the winners, etc.
Something like an annual awards show may seem like they only need to implement a social media campaign once a year, however I think that is a big mistake. The Academy doesn’t want to fall into the “out of sight, out of mind” trap. Instead there should be content all year long. Even if they don’t have the next year’s nominees, there are plenty of fun and exciting things that can be done to engage followers until the next show. The Academy can also use the time in between the annual shows to evaluate the social media campaign, see what worked and what didn’t, and plan ahead to make the next year’s campaign even better.
Resources:
2021 Oscars: 2 women earn best director nominations for the 1st time
Award show viewership drops to record lows
Viola Davis Breaks Her Own Oscars Record for Most-Nominated Black Actress
And the Academy Goes To… Controversy
5 REASONS WHY TV VIEWERS DON’T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT AWARDS SHOWS ANYMORE
