Famous Amos x BET Awards: Turning a Viral Dancer into an Awards Show Opener
Role: Social Media Producer, BET (2016 to 2024); Executive Producer of this campaign
Timeline: 2018- 2019
Headline result: 250K+ new Instagram followers for Amos, 50M+ impressions, a spot opening the 2018 BET Awards, and his own show on BET Music.
The challenge Famous Amos, a marching band member at Mississippi Valley State, went viral around 2017 for his dance moves. I saw a rising star and wanted to build a campaign around the BET Awards and BET Experience.
The idea Amos and his best friend Ipod Da DJ were about to go on tour and couldn't make it to LA for the Awards. So I pitched a story: two friends hitchhiking across the country, filming a skit in each city, trying to get BET's attention so they could get in. Fans would feel they helped him reach a milestone, tracking his journey and tuning in to the Awards.
What I did I recruited and negotiated with Amos, wrote the deliverables and guidelines, created the campaign hashtag, and supported him through the Experience and the Awards. Four videos in, Amos asked fans to tag BET and use the hashtag. We then engaged, reposted, and extended a public invitation.
Results
250K+ new Instagram followers and 50M+ impressions, with tens of thousands of reposts.
Celebrities began lobbying for his entry. Awards executive producer Jesse Collins invited him to open the show.
Amos danced down the aisles into the opening of the 2018 BET Awards and led the crowd into the BET Experience.
He and Ipod were offered a show touring HBCUs, which began on YouTube and moved to BET Music in 2019. It was my first TV show.
Quavo cast him in the "Workin Me" music video, and more artists followed.
The campaign earned me a promotion at BET.
