July 23, 2021 marks the 11 year anniversary of the day One Direction was formed. And the rest is history.
Except not really.
Many people compare what was (weirdly) called One Direction Infection to Beatlemania in the 1960s. It’s fascinating to me how these phenomenons were so similar and yet so different. Would One Direction have had the success they did without social media? Who knows? All I know is that they and their team used social media in a masterful way to create a devoted fanbase, the size and passion of which, is impossible to understand. Even for a member of that fanbase (me).
I thought this anniversary would be a great time to reflect on some of the best examples of 1D’s social media-driven fan engagement efforts – long before “fan engagement” was a buzzword in the industry.
(Note: These are in chronological order, not in order of favorites because I hate choosing favorites)
Bring 1D to US
After the release of their debut album Up All Night in November 2011, One Direction were planning to make their first trip to the United States in early 2012. But, they didn’t just want to go to the typical hubs of New York and Los Angeles. Instead, they launched a competition called Bring 1D to US. It consisted of weekly challenges people from cities across the US could participate in to help the band decide where to host a special event.
After weeks of intense competition submitting videos, photos, artwork, and more online – yes, it got very intense – Dallas, Texas was announced as the winning city. The special event was held on March 24, 2012 and featured a performance, interviews, and an album signing.
Although Dallas was the winning city, the group continued using the #Bring1DtoUS for many other events throughout the rest of the year. This included their first trip to The Ellen DeGeneres Show in Los Angeles in December 2012.
Bring Me to 1D
Instead of bringing 1D to the fans, this event was all about bringing fans to the band. As part of the competition, two fans from countries throughout the world were invited to meet the band and be a part of special events held on December 4, 2012 and see the group headline their first-ever show at Madison Square Garden on December 3, 2012.
A variety of individual competitions were held by radio stations, TV shows, and more in many different countries, where fans had the opportunity to win a “Go1den ticket.” This ticket gave them access to the exclusive event in New York City.
At the time, Harry is quoted as saying “We wanted the opportunity to meet lots of different fans from all around the world so we came up with the idea for Bring Me to 1D.”
Other activities as part of the exclusive Bring Me to 1D event included:
One Direction bingo
A tour of New York on a sightseeing cruise
A Q+A session with the band
An exclusive pre-viewing of the “Kiss You” music video before its release
Decorating cupcakes
Photo op with the boys
Performances of “What Makes You Beautiful” and other songs
1D Day
1D Day is possibly the fan engagement event to end all fan engagement events. It was a seven-hour interactive livestream held on November 23, 2013 to promote their third album Midnight Memories.
It was first announced in October of 2013 when the group released a video giving details on the event, saying that they wanted to “give back to the fans.” From October 2 on, there were 5 weeks of events that gave fans from all over the world the opportunity to participate in the show.
Week 1: One Big Invention
From the One Direction website: "We want you to get creative and invent a new One Direction product. If you could make anything for the guys – what would it be? An item they could use on stage? Something to improve their time on the tour bus? Or how about a product just for the One Direction fans? Whatever your idea – we want to hear it! AND see it...Create a prototype or a picture of your idea, then film a one minute YouTube video telling us all about it."
Louis, Zayn, and Peter Jones judged the challenge.
**This challenge was reopened after week 3 because there were so many great entries sent in after the original challenge closed.
Week 2: One Direction Lookalikes
From the One Direction website: "Have you seen a pony that looks like Liam? A parsnip that looks like Zayn? Or maybe a plant that looks like Harry? We want you to take photos of things you've found that look like the One Direction guys. Who needs the internet to find great LOOKALIKES when these things could be right on your doorstep! Whether you find an animal, vegetable or mineral that bears an uncanny resemblance to the guys - take a picture and show us! Surprise us, make us laugh and the picture of your lookalike could appear on 1D Day..."
This competition was incorporated into the livestream as 5 lookalikes that were sent around LA and during the show. They then came onstage and a poll was asked about who looked most like their lookalike. Liam and his lookalike were the winners."
Week 3: One Direction Music Videos
From the One Direction website: "We’re challenging you to create a One Direction music video using pretty much anything you like! We want to see just how creative you can be with the people and things around you… Could you create a video for ‘Moments’ with your grandparents? A video for ‘Heart Attack’ using your pets? A sign language version of ‘Kiss You’? Or you maybe you could put your little brothers to good use in a video for ‘I Want’? Whether you use people, pets, toys, food, animation or anything else - Remember….your new One Direction video could star anyone – or anything!"
A number of the submitted music videos aired during the livestream.
Week 4: 1D Day Fan Art
From the One Direction website: "This week we want to see your best fan art – whether it’s a drawing, painting, collage, a model, sculpture, flick book, mural, photograph, you as the art work, face painting, a comic book – or something else entirely... we want to see it!"
Some lucky pieces of fan art were displayed on the set of the studio during the livestream.
Week 5: 1D Day Theme Tune
From the One Direction website: “We want you to create a theme tune for 1D Day! You could use music software, instruments, voice, household items – whatever you like! We want you to suggest how we open and close the show – and if we like your track we might even use it on 1D Day! PLUS – you could win a SoundCloud Pro SoundCloud Pro Unlimited account for a year!”
The Show
The show itself was a huge production, featuring multiple Guinness World Record attempts, Google+ calls with fans and other celebrities, and guest interviews. Some lucky fans were even chosen to be in the studio on the day and some got to go into an “exclusive listening booth” in the form of a red telephone box. At any one time, two fans would be in the booth listening to the new album.
The first and last hours of the livestream were hosted by all of the boys, while the other hours were broken up into pairs:
2nd hour: Liam and Harry
3rd hour: Louis and Niall
4th hour: Liam and Zayn
5th hour: Harry and Niall
6th hour: Zayn and Louis
Some of my personal favorite bits of the livestream were:
Niall temporarily dying his hair purple (which didn’t wash out before they attended the American Music Awards the next day)
That super awkward interview with Piers Morgan
The iconic “Talk Dirty to Me” dance video
The gym video
The fashion show featuring fan designed merch
Louis and Zayn’s Bollywood dancing
The boys trying international foods
The cringey “You and I” ~music video~ Niall made
The Jerry Springer 1D Quiz with fans
I will leave you with this – One Direction redefined what it meant to be a fan in the 21st century. Their strategic use of social media to create an extremely close relationship with their fans was (in my opinion) unprecedented for the time. I think their career and the way they leveraged the popular social media platforms of the time to build such a wildly successful career is something that should, and will, be studied for years to come.
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