Why is this work relevant for PR?

K-Pop is one of the most popular and active communities on Twitter, with fans across the world using it to connect both with their favourite artists in Korea, as well as fellow fans. Twitter sought to tell the evolutionary story of K-Pop on the platform over the last 10 years, a critical period in the genre’s global rise to dominance, using the launch of the #KpopTwitter 2020 World Map - a central repository of #KpopTwitter data and insights - as a launchpad. Earned media was the cornerstone of this strategy to stoke fan fervour in 20 markets across the globe.

Background

K-Pop is a global sensation and Twitter has played a critical role in allowing K-Pop artists to build their fandoms internationally, while also giving fans an outlet to connect with one another across the world. Though K-Pop stans and artists realise that K-Pop and Twitter are intrinsically linked, we were tasked to: - Elevate Twitter's position towards music industry leadership and attract non-users to their platform across 20 markets worldwide - And of course, increase participation in the conversations for the global #KpopTwitter community Hence, to commemorate 10 years of K-Pop on Twitter, Twitter planned to highlight the decade in data with an infographic - known as the #KpopTwitter 2020 World Map - but needed a way to make this compelling for media globally in order to activate, engage and evangelise K-Pop fans around the world, and deepen Twitter’s mindshare.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

The campaign was planned with three key audiences in mind: - For media - and as proxies of the average outsider consumer - it was important to show the immense scale of #KpopTwitter, the exponential growth to this point, and the global level of fan participation on Twitter. - Meanwhile, to excite K-Pop fans, our focus was on data that best reflected their personal Twitter experience. We delved into the psyche of a K-Pop fan and their drivers and aimed to mobilise the “stans” to celebrate their favourite artists as they were crowned the most Tweeted in their respective categories. - Finally, for businesses considering Twitter’s products to reach K-Pop audiences, we needed to showcase Twitter as a veritable K-pop guru, the guide to a decade’s worth of insights on the unique ways that fans use the platform, as well as the authority on what comes next.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

With 10 years of platform data, Twitter was able to compile insights on the greatest K-Pop wins to inform its central campaign asset - the #KpopTwitter 2020 World Map. Our task was to amplify this asset across the top 20 #KpopTwitter markets globally, demonstrating that Twitter is the authority on K-Pop conversations. This included: - Arranging top-tier media interviews in each market with Twitter’s resident K-Pop expert to establish #KpopTwitter as the leading source on the rise and future of K-Pop. - Tailor-made, local-language social media infographics for each participating market with in-market rankings pitting artist against artist to evoke fan pride. Posted via the respective Twitter country handles, this encouraged local K-Pop fans to rally for their favourite bands. - A subsequent “Decade of #KpopTwitter” livestream, where Twitter’s K-Pop expert interviewed K-Pop legends and members of the hottest up-and-coming groups about their experiences with Twitter to generate excitement.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

Acting as the global hub for planning, asset creation, and agency coordination from Singapore, the Agency alongside Twitter HQ was tasked with narrative development and design - including collateral for each of the top 20 #KpopTwitter markets. Twitter’s internal PR team and in-market agencies then executed, conducting local market media outreach and social posting (with the exception of Singapore and Malaysia, which was also managed by our Agency). In terms of timelines, the Agency and Twitter commenced planning on July 28, 2020. With the “Decade of #KpopTwitter” event set for September 22 due to participating artists’ schedules, the launch of the #KpopTwitter 2020 World Map was set for the morning of September 22. Key embargoed media interviews were conducted over the week prior to the September 22 launch, with several interviews following the launch.

List the results (30% of vote)

With the campaign, the team successfully fulfilled (and exceeded) its objectives through earned and owned media functions: Event outcome: - More than 2.5 million total viewers of “Decade of #KpopTwitter” on Twitter Blueroom. - With 1.3 million viewers for the original livestream in Korean and 1.2 million viewers for English subtitle replay, the live stream event touched fans all over the world within one week of the live stream Owned media - As predicted, K-Pop fans around the world loved and interacted with our infographics, resulting in a 370% increase week over week in #KpopTwitter Tweets and 20% increase in positive Tweet sentiment - Garnered 322K #KpopTwitter Tweets with 578M impressions within 48 hours - More than 600K total engagements for country handles internationally Earned media -We drove the campaign purely with our earned and owned organic strategy, which resulted in tremendous results. -Spokesperson press interviews and media outreach for the #KpopTwitter 2020 World Map announcement generated positive press coverage in the top 20 Kpop markets, scoring over 470 articles worldwide, including top tier international publications like Forbes, regional publication like Mashable SEA, and popular local news outlets such as Chosun Ilbo in Korea, The Straits Times from Singapore, Sayidaty in Saudi Arabia and BFM Paris.