BET is launching a new award category that focuses on the online and mobile power. It will debut at this year’s BET Awards on Sunday, June 27th. In a two-week promotion on 106 & Park followers of Trey Songz, Chris Brown, Justin Beiber, and Nicki Minaj will compete to push their artist to the top using the AOL Lifestream social aggregator.
“Today’s successful artists don’t just make hits, they create movements where people can participate and connect with them in ways like never before. This award pays homage to the digitally engaged fans, and we’re excited to partner with AOL to amplify our audience’s voice at the BET AWARDS ’10. Over the past year, BET has experienced tremendous growth across online and mobile platforms and this partnership fits perfectly with our strategy to be right at the pulse of entertainment culture and also drive it.” -Denmark West, President of Digital at BET Networks
Fans will be able to leverage the power of AOL Lifestream to cast their votes by posting updates related to their favorite artists across sites like Facebook, Twitter, Digg, YouTube, and FourSquare. With one single update, they can populate their entire online social world.
Viewers will be able to watch 106 & Park weekdays at 6:00pm to get information on the daily challenge. They will also be able to check the status of their artist of choice. Challenges will be centered around BET.com and BET mobile, while also including activities on other networks like Facebook and Twitter. Wherever the challenge is located, you can always see what’s going on at lifestream.aol.com/bet, which will collect everything in one place. AOL will also promote the BET Awards ’10 across their various online portals like Black Voices, AOL Music, PopEater and the AOL homepage.
These artists were chosen based on their existing rabid fan bases and star power in the industry. We have never seen an award category that is so directly tied to fan’s behavior online. Artists are usually grateful for their fan base, but the Fandemonium category will make it abundantly clear which artists have the most clout in new media. It is good to see an entity that focuses on the black community and black culture integrate old media and new media in this way.