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Source: Demos UK, 2018

Demos, a UK independent educational charity recently released a report, “Plugged In: Social Action on Social Media,” wherein researchers examined the ways in which social media can organize, influence, and encourage social action. The study interviewed campaigners, campaign groups, and social media users to gauge their stances on the impact of the increasing digitalization of social action. After surveying 2,000 people between ages 16-50, the studies showed the following: 

Nearly two-thirds of young people (64%) see social media platforms as an essential part of achieving social change, and over half of 35-50 year olds agree (55%)

Young women are nearly twice as likely to use social media to campaign on issues important to them (19%) than young men (10%)

91% felt social media had a net positive impact on them and their community

The study also brought up the role of accessibility and prevalence of social media, both of which can affect an individual’s notion of impactfulness. They stated that for those of which the online world feels like home, “social media is seen as a powerful tool for changing the world.” On the other hand, for those who aren’t actively engaged in the online world, the power of such platforms can be misused or go unused entirely.

Source: Demos UK, 2018

From incorporating hashtags to teaming up with a celebrity or influencer for a cause, knowing which channels and platforms to utilize in order to effectively mobilize an audience is key to a cause gaining momentum. An interesting finding from the study was the role different mediums play on influencing an individual’s decision for which causes to support.

Source: Demos UK, 2018

While social media campaigns play a significant role for younger respondents, offline sources were more influential to the older group. However, for both groups, it’s important to note how word of mouth and other non-digital mediums still hold major significance in influencing decision making. The study even went on to further break down influence based on the place of living of the survey respondents.

Source: Demos UK, 2018

In summary, the report illustrates how the power of social media has immense potential to be a catalyst for social action. It also has the potential to create what they termed an activism gap: a world where only the digitally-included are represented and whose visions for society are articulated, and those who are not represented or whose voices are not heard are left powerless.

Agencies are better positioned than ever to help companies bring about meaningful change, transforming creative ideas into impactful realities and activations. Whether addressing issues such as environmental sustainability or social justice, public health or education reform, or diversity & inclusion, brands and organizations of all sizes enlist agencies for their unique insight and creative acumen. 

In this episode of the Shorty Social Good Series, our experts will discuss how they and their clients have worked to make the world a better, safer, and more inclusive place. 

Meet our Speakers: 

Jenna Young, Executive Creative Director at Weber Shandwick: Moderator

An award winning creative and a member of the Shorty Awards real time Academy of Jurors, Jenna was recognized in Campaign's 2020 Frontier honors for "Conquering Creativity". She leads the New York creative team for Weber Shandwick and the work her team has developed contributed to Weber Shandwick's recent Large Agency of the Year win and has been noted in three of Weber Shandwick's Ad Age 'A List' rankings, and 2017's 'A List' short list. Jenna has worked on sustainability and purpose initiatives for Unilever, Mattel, Nespresso and Anheuser-Busch among others.

She is a mentor within IPG's Women's Leadership Network and has spoken at NBC, MIT Futures of Entertainment, WNYC Green Space, PRNews Brand Film Festival, New York Festival, Brand Innovators, and this year's Cannes Live. She also loves to talk to students about the creative potential in the PR field- she's guest lectured at CUNY, VCU Brand Center, and NYU.

Bayyina Black, Global Sustainability and Impact Manager at R/GA: Panelist

Bayyina is the Global Sustainability & Impact Manager at R/GA where she creates purpose-driven partnerships and opportunities for the agency and its clients. She is also the co-founder of Grupo de Negros (GDN), the Afro-Brazilian business resource group based in São, Paulo, Brazil. The queen of pivots, Bayyina began her career in advertising, had a few sprints in media, tv/film and venture capital, only to end up where it all started. Bayyina has combined her love for sustainability, tech and storytelling to bring diverse stakeholders together for good. Recently, she co-launched the Light Cypher Labs (LCL), in partnership with the African American Arts & Culture Complex and the R/GA SF office. The LCLs gives local artists access to ground-breaking technology that enhances their stories, create cutting-edge content, and explore how to create deeper user experiences.

Pre-COVID, she could be found filling her passport with stamps and trying to outdo her #30before30 countries record. Grounded, she’s still flying high moonlighting as a licensed drone pilot and VR filmmaker.

Jeff Harter, Group Creative Director at BrightHouse: Panelist

Jeff is a Group Creative Director at BrightHouse where he’s lead Purpose projects around the globe. He believes that the world benefits from bigger thinking and more purposeful brands. He joined BrightHouse in 2013 and has extensive experience with a wide range of clients across continents, including Mercedes-Benz, Dr Pepper, Kroger, Stanley Black & Decker, Nestle, and P&G. His topic expertise is in leading creative teams that provide unique and memorable solutions to create real impact.

Over his career, he has worked for several global agencies including J. Walter Thompson, Grey, and Ogilvy. No matter what client he works on, Jeff’s focus has always been on big ideas that take brands further. His work has been recognized by several prominent award shows, but the real reward has been seeing the positive results the team of Thinkers he works with is having on our world.

He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting with a Minor in Advertising from the University of Georgia. He’s an art and architecture lover and avid traveler, and he loves getting outside with his wife and two kids.

Kathy Delaney, Chief Creative Officer at Health/Saatchi Wellness: Panelist

Kathy Delaney is Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Health, based at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, NY. She uses her bold creative vision to tell compelling human-centric stories that promote health and wellness, while creating strong results for the agency’s clients.

She previously spent 12 years at Deutsch New York, where she helped to grow the company from a small boutique agency into an integrated marketing powerhouse.

Kathy’s passion for creating and overseeing integrated campaigns that outperform business objectives has influenced clients across the health, wellness, fashion, fitness, and beauty industries.  IKEA, Tommy Hilfiger, J&J, Revlon, Reebok, Pfizer, Novartis, Starwood Hotels, ConAgra, Kraft, and Unilever are a few of the clients her work has impacted.

In 2014, Kathy served as President of the Health & Wellness Jury at the inaugural Cannes Lions Health, ushering in a new era of recognition for creativity in health and wellness communications. Named one of “The Most Creative Women in Advertising” by Business Insider, her work has been recognized by Clios, One Show, Effies, Graphis, MM&M’s, Communication Arts, W3s, Art Directors Club, Andys, and Cannes Lions. In 2018, Kathy was inducted into the MM&M Hall of Femme and named an HBA Luminary. In 2020 Kathy was named an Adweek Creative 100 winner, recognized as one of the most inspiring minds in marketing, media, and culture.

In addition to spearheading life changing & award-winning work for the client roster of Publicis Health, Kathy invests her time and creativity into projects for charities such as Crossroads Community Services, a New York organization that provides food and shelter to the homeless and The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

Sandy Russell, Founder at Sandy Russell Creative: Panelist

Sandy is a Colorado native who found herself in Los Angeles fortunate to be partnering with incredible parents and students as part of Teach for America in East Los Angeles. She then headed north to work in marketing at Google, spending 5 years working on everything from strategy for Google Maps in India to launching the predecessor to Pokemon Go. 

Sandy was drawn to brand projects with meaning, creating and leading partnerships and projects with organizations including the UNHCR - to raise awareness for the Syrian Refugee Crisis -  and Patagonia - to compel the world to “Defend Bears Ears.” She left to start her own creative agency, SRC, focused on combining digital innovation with purpose-driven storytelling. SRC's recent projects include documenting blind veterans setting world records kayaking down the Grand Canyon and legendary Black female hip hop dancers creating legacies in Paris, and diving deep into the world of the 65+ demographic to create an innovative, senior-first website to help people avoid scams. Her work has been featured in 100+ publications around the world, including the TODAY show, Le Monde, Tha Guardian, and the New York Times, and Sandy and the SRC team were thrilled to be named the Shorty Awards Small Agency of the Year. 

We’re happy to announce the next webinar in our Shorty Social Good Series, Inclusion in a Digital World. 

We’ve all been tackling the issue of how to make the world a more inclusive place. Millennials, GenZ, and Generation Alpha are leading the charge in creating a more inclusive future both on the internet and in real life. Influencers, brands, creators, agencies, and organizations are playing a huge role in breaking down the stigmas and barriers that disproportionately affect people from marginalized communities. This panel discussion will feature first-hand advice from industry experts on using social and digital media to create a more inclusive environment. 

Before we tune into our next webinar on August 20th, let’s take a look at the past winners of our Shorty Social Good Awards category Best in Diversity and Inclusion. 

7-SECOND RESUMES

The Winner of the Best in Diversity and Inclusion for the 3rd Annual Shorty Social Good Awards. 

22squared, Ad Council, and Grads of Life produced an incredible campaign exposing the massive flaws in hiring processes across a range of industries. This campaign increased the consideration and employment of professionals that are young, talented, and don’t have college degrees or traditional experience. 

The reason that 7-second resumes won a Shorty Social Good Award is because of its performance, reach and impact. Amazingly, this campaign increased the rate at which companies contacted Grads of Life about employing job applicants by 2,150%. 

Read more about the 7-Second Resumes campaign here. 

ALL AMERICAN FAMILY PORTRAIT FILM BY HP INC. AND EDELMAN

The Winner of the Best in Diversity and Inclusion for the 4th Annual Shorty Social Good Awards. 

HP inc., created a campaign highlighting the “All-American Family Portrait,” focusing on the core objective of reinforcing HP’s leadership in diversity and inclusion.

The campaign was wildly successful resulting in 30.5 million impressions, video viewers were more than 250K, including 71% watching at least 75% of the 4-minute film, and 66K clicks from the campaign landing page.

Read more about All American Family by HP inc and Edelman here. 

Tune into our Shorty Social Good Webinar Series, Brands Doing Social Good to find out. 

We could all use a little social good right now, don’t you agree? 

The Shorty Awards are proud to present our inaugural Shorty Social Good Series webinar event, “Brands Doing Social Good,” on 7/29 via Zoom Webinar. 

People are demanding that businesses take a lead on social change and put their resources to bring positive impacts to places across the globe. Some brands have been pursuing a social good mission for a long time and others are just getting started. In this inaugural episode of the Shorty Social Good Series, business, non-profit and marketing leaders will discuss their successes and lessons learned in their efforts to create global change.

The Shorty Awards have long been known for honoring the best of social and digital media. Now, the Shorty Social Good Awards, our secondary show, honors those using their platforms, networks, audiences, and more to bring about much-needed reform, justice, attention, and more. This competition includes efforts made by organizations, brands, and agencies to improve sustainability and diversity internally, foster globally-minded business partnerships, and increase employee community and civic engagement. 

The Shorty Social Good Awards have seen the most eye-opening and jaw-dropping charitable work produced by our past entrants. 

We thought, wouldn’t it be great to share all of the amazing insights from our entrants?

That’s why we’re creating a space where brands, organizations, non-profits, or individuals are able to come and learn and hope to expand their efforts in social impact.

Here’s what to expect: a moderator and a full panel of executive professional speakers, eager to share their expertise on some of the following topics:  

How to make sure your brand stays true to its voice while the subject of what you’re addressing may change. 

When there are so many important causes in the world, how do you focus on which ones to get involved in?

Mutual benefits between charities and brands - where they intersect, how to do it well.

Success stories about social good campaigns being good for team morale and business as a whole.

The 3rd Annual Shorty Social Good Awards occurred on November 15, 2018 in New York City and was hosted by Dulcé Sloan. The show honored the many brands and organizations who have committed to making a difference in society through their various works of charity, partnerships, and impactful calls to action. But what’s it like attending the Shorty Social Good Awards? Here’s an inside look at the experience:

CHECKING IN

This year upon checking in all guests received official Shorty pins which designated whether they were a part of a brand, agency, non-profit, or a Real Time Academy member. These pins were great for what we had in store next:

THE PRE-MINGLE

Take pictures, grab a beverage, and meet someone new! As everyone gets settled in before the show it’s the perfect time to make some new connections and fill up your photo gallery for that next social post #ShortyGood.

THE SHOW

Dulcé Sloan starts the show

Enjoy your multi-course meal as we present each category’s winners, highlight their campaign’s mission, and celebrate their accomplishments on stage. We also live tweet the winners and those who received distinctions in each category so you never miss a beat!

Winners sharing a photo with our host Dulcé Sloan on stage as they collect their trophy (see Flickr for more)

The musical performance at this year’s Shorty Social Good Awards was phenomenal! We were honored to have Damon C. Scott in association with the Peacetones perform music that moved you to the core. Damon shared his story interspersed with powerful messages and reminders all while guiding the audience along a compelling musical journey.

Our Impact Award honoree this year was Jackie Cruz! Known for her role on Orange is the New Black, Jackie has been utilizing her platform to bring awareness to issues spanning gender and racial equality, LGBTQ+ community building, and criminal justice and immigration reform. From her involvement with campaigns like Paula’s Choice to starting her own production company to increase diversity in Hollywood, Jackie is using her voice to leave a big impact on the world. You can view her acceptance speech here.

Stretch breaks? We got you covered.

THE AFTER PARTY

After our show comes to a close there’s still time to take photos, congratulate winners, and continue to mingle with guests throughout the night. We’re incredibly proud and thankful to all those who entered, helped contribute to such an amazing show, and made the night a success! See you next year!

Click here to view all the winners and honorees from the 3rd Annual Shorty Social Good Awards. And don’t forget, the 11th Annual Shorty Awards are open for entries! Click here to start an entry.

Interviews with Shorty Social Good winners: https://shortyw.in/SG3ytplaylist

If you’re following us on social media (pssst…you should) then you might’ve recently seen that we’ve started releasing tips about Shorty Social Good Award entries. The tips are directly from our Real Time Academy members who serve as the jury deciding on who gets to take home Shortys each year.

Our first set of tips was about what the judges look for in a stand-out social good entry.

The common answers centered around uniqueness, creativity, commitment, and making a clear impact. In addition to the above tips, here are a few more we’ve received from judges about what they look for in a great entry:

The entry should answer these key questions: What was the goal? How did you meet it? What was original about your approach? What was the impact? How well can you measure the impact?

To me the most important question for them to answer is - how well does the social good campaign connect tightly all the way through the line from brand purpose, to campaign platform, to cause type, to activation? Nothing should feel like a force fit or a one-off idea trying to chase a trend. The best social good campaigns are authentic to the brand and part of a long-term strategy.

Innovation is what I look at the most. Followed by creative execution and ensuring that the campaign is 360 degrees in terms of audience engagement.

Following these tips as well as taking a look at our previous winners’ entries should surely set you on the right path to creating a stand-out entry.