ABS-CBN Global - Innovation in Social Apps
Company: ABS-CBN Global, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Category: Award for Innovation in Social Apps
Nomination Title: ABS-CBN Star Hunt the Global Showdown
Essay:
STAR HUNT, THE GLOBAL SHOWDOWN: Transforming Traditional Audition Events Into Engaging Digital Experiences
THE CHALLENGE
ABS-CBN, the Philippines’ biggest media network, is always on the lookout for fresh talents to develop into big stars. In 2018, ABS-CBN launched Star Hunt, the biggest onground audition event where thousands of dreamers lined up for a shot at stardom. While it was successful, we wanted to open ABS-CBN’s doors to even more Filipinos from all over the world! How do we give potential talents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase their singing prowess, no matter where they are?
THE SOLUTION
ABS-CBN’s Star Hunt, together with Kumu, the world’s largest Filipino-owned social livestreaming app, launched Star Hunt: The Global Showdown—ABS-CBN’s first online singing competition show. It’s an ambitious one-month online series where Filipinos everywhere got a chance to win USD $10,000 and a recording contract, just by livestreaming their singing performances into their phone screens!
THE GLOBAL SHOWDOWN, NOW LIVE!
During the pre-screening process, talents from around the world were invited to audition by going live on Kumu. After 8 weeks, we’ve gathered over 700 entries from different countries including Australia, Italy, and USA among others. Out of all entries, only 25 were shortlisted to become part of the competition. Hosted by two of ABS-CBN’s biggest stars, Maymay Entrata and Edward Barber, contestants had to complete different challenges and rally their followers to vote for them week on week. From 25, contestants were cut down to 15, then 6, and finally 3 who battled it out in the Kumu studio for the Grand Finals.
TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
To make the online series successful, it needed ABS-CBN Global’s reach, Star Hunt’s production know-how, ABS-CBN Digital Media Division’s knack for digital and social campaigns, and Kumu’s expertise in livestreaming content. Each had an important role to fulfill to make each event successful—and ultimately bring the contestants closer to their dreams. Given its one-take-only nature, there was major coordination involved to ensure that each event goes smoothly. Aside from not having commercial breaks, we also had to consider the logistics, Kumu’s vertical-only screen orientation, as well as the different time zones of the contestants.
THE RESULTS By utilizing the expertise of all teams involved, Star Hunt: The Global Showdown marked its spot as ABS-CBN’s first livestreamed singing series, digital show, and revenue-generating campaign all rolled into one.
FROM ONGROUND TO ONLINE AUDITIONS. The Global Showdown gathered a total number of 706 (vs. *internal benchmark’s 117) online auditions from 3 different regions around the world: North and Latin America; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; and Asia and the Pacific.
FROM COMMENTS TO DIAMONDS. Given the voting component, engagement is a key measure of success. In Kumu, this is measured by the number of votes in the form of gifts or “diamonds” sent to the streamers. As a result, Star Hunt: The Global Showdown earned a total of 114,947,865 diamonds (vs. *internal benchmark’s 124, 969)—about $100,000 (vs. *internal benchmark’s $9,000) in revenue.
FROM VIEWERS TO GIFTERS. Because of their love for their idols, then-viewers have become regular gifters on Kumu—resulting to a total of MORE THAN 46,000 GIFTERS (vs. *internal benchmark’s 615). *Internal benchmark: Talent search myxTV #Discovered on Kumu.
ABS-CBN is known for its numerous talent searches in the country; but with Star Hunt: The Global Showdown, we did not only discover up-and-coming stars; we’ve also delivered a first-of-its-kind digital experience to Filipinos, wherever they may be. By transforming the way we traditionally mounted events, we’ve discovered a new way to give more dreamers a chance to show their singing prowess--and more importantly, fulfill their biggest of dreams through the smallest of screens."
Credits:
Karl Frederic Loriega - Head of ABS-CBN Global Digital Enterprise
Stephanie Benedito - Digital Content Strategist
Kristofferson Yusi - Digital Account Officer, ABS-CBN Digital Media Division
Katherine Ann Calleja - Digital Account Officer, ABS-CBN Digital Media Division
Alexis Jeffrey Asuncion - Supervising Producer, ABS-CBN TV Production Digital Group
Kristina Olivia Aquino - Program Producer, ABS-CBN TV Production Digital Group
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