The Australian developed global “Megastar” digital talent contest continues to achieve strong success as the hit competition heads towards the finals.
Entertainment superstar and Megstar judge, Usher
The innovative event’s creator MSM Corporation International Limited (ASX: MSM) reports that engagement metrics remain strong after eight weeks of operations of its Megastar App since Worldwide Tournament 1 commenced at the beginning of October in the USA, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.
MSM Managing Director, Dion Sullivan, said the company and its advisors have worked successfully to ensure the Megastar App creates and sustains engagement amongst Voters (people who vote for Performers) and Live Streamers (Performers who engage their audience through the Megastar App “Live Streaming” feature).
Mr Sullivan said MSM is achieving extraordinary results for an App which is early in its lifecycle.
“Other highly successful Apps such as Musical.ly and Twitch took months or even years to achieve similar outcomes. Another entertainment app, Bitmoji rose rapidly but also experienced a high degree of volatility in the first four months after launch. It subsequently was purchased by Snapchat for more than US$100m in 2016,” Mr Sullivan said.
“Megastar is a conduit for discovering the entertainment industry’s next real-life megastar. We’re excited that the discovery of a true megastar will propel our brand to prominence.”
MSM reported that Megastar’s engagement metrics remain strong with the rapid increase in user acquisition during the first global competition. Performer engagement has been particularly pleasing.
There have been more than 7,000 entries into the competition, with ever increasing quality of performances.
With a significant cohort of users engaged in Megastar, the platform is now generating extremely valuable information for engagement optimization. Product and marketing optimisation continue to drive engagement, referral and retention ratios and therefore organic growth.
Engagement continues to be the focus as Megastar’s leading indicator of success. To date, there have been more than 350,000 installs of the Megastar App. It rapidly hit number 6 in the weekly rankings and has seen peaks in hourly rankings at number 4 where the Megastar App appeared amongst in the top 5 entertainment Apps in the US App store (Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Amazon Prime and Fox Now). High volatility in user acquisition means that early data may not provide a reliable indicator at this stage.
“Meet Usher” Mini Competition
In a new development, Megastar is running a one week only, live streaming competition – with the top three finishers having the opportunity to meet entertainment superstar and Megstar judge, Usher in person.
“This is one of the benefits of owning and operating our own platform – that MSM can run a ‘pop up’ or mini competition,” Mr Sullivan said.
“The purpose of the ‘Meet Usher’ competition is to provide a baseline for driving the live streaming ecosphere amongst Performers and Fans, thereby allowing MSM to understand then optimise user monetisation opportunities in the tipping and donation sectors.”
Expansion interest
MSM also reports that it has been approached by multiple potential partners seeking opportunities to launch non-English language Megastar competitions.
Mr Sullivan said the Non-English language versions of Megastar competitions are expected to be scheduled independently of the main “English-language” Megastar.
He said the company is currently finalising its first MOU with an industry leading partner to launch additional Megastar Tournaments in 2018.
Mr Sullivan said the company is also attracting the attention of strategic international investors in the US, Asia and the Middle East.
MSM’s Megastar competition is a global, mobile-first talent competition, featuring performers of any category, competing to win US$1 Million, an audition for a role in a film and various other prizes.