Case StudyMOBO Awards
Building the social strategy and operating model for a landmark live event.
ENGAGEMENT: Social Strategy & Live Event Delivery
STRATEGIC ROLE: Social Director & Strategic Lead
Strategy At A Glance
Client
1
MOBO Awards
Sector
2
Media • Music • Entertainment
Engagement
3
30th Anniversary Awards Campaign
Strategic Focus
4
Social • Content Operations • Team Leadership • Live Delivery
Strategic Shift
5
From live event coverage to a coordinated, multi-platform social experience.
Overview
MOBO’s 30th anniversary brought the awards to Manchester for the first time. The challenge was to deliver timely, culturally relevant social coverage across four platforms while coordinating content capture, publishing and a multidisciplinary team working across the event.
The brief required more than capturing performances and publishing updates. It called for a coordinated approach to storytelling, content production and publishing, connecting the significance of the anniversary with the energy of the live event.
Forward Slash led the social strategy and delivery, establishing the editorial priorities, workflows and team structures needed to connect the live experience with audiences online.
The Challenge
The perceived challenge was to capture and publish the awards in real time.
The real challenge was coordinating the people, content and decisions required to make that possible across a complex live event.
Coverage spanned Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X, with activity across the stage, red carpet and backstage.
Success depended on more than the volume of content captured. It required clear priorities, coordinated workflows and the ability to adapt as live production timings and content availability changed.
An integrated 11-person social team worked alongside MOBO’s wider network of production, photography, talent and brand stakeholders.
Coordinate a multidisciplinary team across multiple event zones.
Prioritise the moments that mattered most to audiences.
Maintain a consistent editorial direction under live-event pressure.
Connect content capture, approvals and publishing.
The Strategic Shift
The work shifted from live event coverage to a coordinated, multi-platform social experience.
Rather than treating each platform and event zone as a separate stream of activity, the strategy connected editorial direction, content priorities and delivery workflows around a shared understanding of what audiences should experience.
FROMDisconnected Live Coverage
Individual platform activity
Reactive publishing
Separate content workflows
Capture-led priorities
Ad hoc coordination
TOCoordinated Social Experience
Platform-specific roles
Prioritised publishing
Connected content workflows
Editorially led decisions
Clear team responsibilities
Strategic Response
The strategy positioned 30 years of MOBO as living culture, not heritage for heritage’s sake.
The anniversary provided an opportunity to celebrate MOBO’s legacy while demonstrating its continuing relevance to the artists, audiences and communities shaping Black music. Manchester was treated as an active part of the story, rather than simply the location of the ceremony.
This editorial direction informed the platform plan, content priorities and live publishing decisions. The operating model translated the strategy into practical ways of working, enabling the team to coordinate activity across the event while responding to moments as they unfolded.
Strategic Approach
The strategy connected editorial priorities with the practical requirements of live delivery.
Stakeholder Alignment
Connected the MOBO team, production, talent, photographers and partners around access, content delivery and publishing requirements.
Platform-specific Planning
Defined the roles of Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X within the wider event experience.
Editorial Direction
Positioned the anniversary around MOBO’s continuing influence and relevance, rather than heritage alone.
Content Prioritisation
Established publishing priorities to distinguish immediate, high-value moments from content for later release.
Connected Workflows
Created shared trackers, a team handbook and briefing processes to coordinate capture, editing, approvals and publishing.
Execution & Delivery
Forward Slash led the social strategy and coordinated delivery across an 11-person team, spanning content production, editing, community management, design photography and publishing.
The work included pre-event planning, team contracting and briefing, allocation of responsibilities across event zones, publishing workflows, content tracking and live coordination. A master social tracker and dedicated YouTube tracker supported visibility across the content pipeline, while the team handbook established roles, priorities and working processes.
Delivery also required ongoing coordination with MOBO stakeholders, stage management, talent teams, photographers and livestream production. As content availability and production timings changed, publishing priorities were adapted to keep the team focused on the most important moments.
Strategic Impact
The work delivered a coordinated programme of event-related social content across four platforms, supported by an operating model built for live delivery.
150+
Content pieces captured
Pieces of finished content
100+
Stronger team coordination
3.57M+
YouTube views across approx 21 event videos
More connected execution
34K+
Post views across Instagram, YouTube, X and TikTok
7.5M+
Content shares and reposts across Instagram and X
Beyond the numbers, the work established clearer ways of coordinating people and content under pressure.
Reusable delivery tools
Clearer roles, shared priorities and practical guidance supported delivery across event zones.
The handbook and trackers provided useful references for onboarding and ongoing publishing.
Editorial priorities, content workflows and stakeholder coordination were brought together within one operating model.
Positivity under pressure
Team feedback highlighted the value of the organisation and support provided throughout the event.
Communities don't need brands to create conversation.
They need brands to understand the conversations already taking place.
Live event social is not simply about capturing and publishing what happens. It requires an editorial perspective, clear priorities and the systems that enable people to make decisions at speed.
At MOBO, the strategy connected the story the event needed to tell with the practical conditions required to deliver it across platforms, in real time.