Best Branded Series in Social Media - Shorty Awards

13th Annual Shorty Awards Categories

The Shorty Awards honor the talented agencies, brands, and industry leaders behind the best and most innovative work on social media and digital channels, campaigns, websites and applications.

Best Branded Series

This award honors the most creative and effective use of a branded content series, such as a digital web series or docu-series, by a brand, agency, or organization.

See previous winners and honorees here.

Finalists

MOVEMENT Live by Michelob ULTRA

For the past 3 years, MOVEMENT by Michelob ULTRA has brought fun, large-scale wellness festivals to cities across the country connecting fitness communities to consumers with a healthy lifestyle who enjoy beer. MOVEMENT by Michelob ULTRA helped the brand gain credibility in the wellness space and was a hit with consumers across the country, helpin…

Bottomless Brunch at Colman's

The goal for this campaign was to drive maximum brand affinity for Diageo and their portfolio of alcohol brands. AMCN Content Room knew this was the perfect opportunity for Diageo because of our host and Fear The Walking Dead star, Colman Domingo’s passion for mixology and storytelling. We worked closely with Colman to bring their brands, such as …

PAW Patrol's Mission Kraft Mac & Cheese Shapes!

Mealtime can be a tricky time of day for families, particularly during the never-ending #stayathome COVID-era. The days all seem to mesh together and everyone, including the kids, start to go a little stir-crazy. Seeing this, Nickelodeon and Kraft Mac and Cheese Shapes joined forces to spark mealtime fun for families at home, with the overarching …

At the beginning of the year, we were preparing to film a YouTube series with Major League Baseball (MLB) to excite and educate European sports fans about baseball and help them discover what makes the game so beloved to over 68 million Americans. Our plans came to a grinding halt just days before filming was due to start, as Covid-19 brought …

HARIBO - Chewy Channel

HARIBO is the world's leading manufacturer of gummi products and the original inventor of the gummi bear. Well-known around the world, HARIBO has strategically grown quickly in the U.S. since 2015 but continues to be on a brand awareness journey. Chewy Channel set out to engage more consumers with the brand through something they already do – play…

Learnings for the Classroom

In 2020, Qatar Foundation partnered with Vox on a series of Explainer videos. The idea was to ask questions around why our classrooms are the way they are and explore what we could do to improve them for both students and teachers. We came to Vox as fans of the format, having seen it work so well on Netflix's 'Explained,' Vox’s YouTube channel, an…

Unity IPO Creators Series

Breakwater Studios and Unity Technologies have partnered since 2015, producing more than 25 high concept films showcasing the innovative capabilities of Unity’s real-time development platform. Their latest collaboration is a five-part short documentary series that celebrates the vast applications of Unity's revolutionary software. From the automot…

Zendesk 'Stories about helpful people'

As a customer support company, everything Zendesk does — from how they build their customer experience software to the way they work with each other — is all about being helpful. It’s the spirit they believe in. ‘Stories about helpful people’ is a series of mini-documentaries and photo stories. It’s a series intended to inspire the Zendesk communi…

Nominees

#MGMood Spotify Playlist Social Series

The beauty of culture is that what is old quickly becomes new again. Social media wasn’t around when some of the most famous films in the world came out, but that doesn’t mean they are any less iconic 20 years later. How people celebrated Rocky when it first released is different than how people are celebrating Creed II now, but the admiration and legacy of…

ACADEMY DIALOGUES: IT STARTS WITH US

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented a new series of virtual panels for members and the public, as a part of Academy Aperture 2025, called “Academy Dialogues: It Starts with Us,” with conversations about race, ethnicity, gender, history, opportunity and the art of filmmaking. These discussions focus on the industry-wide systemic changes…

Abercrombie Kids "Play On"

Abercrombie & Fitch reached out to ViacomCBS with an objective of building awareness for their abercrombie kids brand and driving new customer acquisitions in 2020. In order to do this, the brand wanted to draw attention to their cause and purpose – to see the world through kids’ eyes, where play is life and every day is an opportunity to be anything and be…

All Hail the Lockdown

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 90 countries were in either partial or full-lockdown around the world. That’s more than 3.9 billion people - or half the world’s population - inside, physically distancing. For the media, this was a story of a lifetime. The ramifications across social, medical, political and economic spheres were tremendo…

Ancestry x VOX Media Group: All of Us

In 2020, consumers were craving connection and humanity more than ever, especially knowing we would not experience this holiday season in the traditional sense. Despite the global pandemic that kept us apart physically, Ancestry is the unique gift that brings consumers closer to family, past and present, through shared history. The brand needed to positio…

Antarctic Extremes

In partnership with PBS Digital Studios, the science documentary series NOVA brings viewers to the bottom of the planet to learn how scientists live and work in the roughest natural laboratory in the world: Antarctica. NOVA producers Caitlin Saks and Arlo Perez co-host their journey to Antarctica and over the course of weeks, documented what it is like to e…

Around the World in 80 Plates with Leslie Durso

The mission and vision of FARE Creative Services is to provide the loudest and stickiest magnet content to grab the maximal market share of Food Allergy (and more broadly food safety / health) consumers across all channels and mediums. The primary focus is bringing in a fresh audience - those who suffer from food allergies, but more broadly, those that…

BHGRE® Season of Sharing

This holiday season we created a series for our consumer blog, BHGRELife.com, called BHGRE® Season of Sharing. Our objective was to provide our followers with safe and creative ways to celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, with activities, socially distant party ideas, recipes, and much more during Covid.

Billboard Brings Sech to the Honda Stage

Honda came to Billboard looking to put a new twist on Honda Stage, the music platform they launched in 2014 featuring exclusive performances, to connect with their target consumer on a deeper, more emotional level. As part of the 2020 campaign, Billboard partnered with Sech to tell the story of his rise from humble beginnings in Panama to international accl…

ConceptD - Creativity Decoded

As a brand that makes bespoke products for creatives centered on precision and high performance, the challenge for ConceptD was to stand out among the well-established competitors that have already earned their reputation amongst graphic designers and visual effect artists. Before entering into the ideation phase of Creativity Decoded, ConceptD understoo…

Culture Closeup

Create a branded content series that allows a consistent throughline for HBO’s slate of documentary films that highlights multicultural talent both in front of and behind the camera while showcasing important cultural themes that inspired the creation of each documentary.

DBS Sparks Season 2: Everyday Heroes for a Better World

The world is facing complex sustainability-related challenges – social, environmental and developmental – many of which have been worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a purpose-driven organisation, we believe businesses like ours have a role to play in helping to find solutions to these challenges. In line with DBS’ brand promise, Live More Bank Less, we a…

El Entretiempo by Scotiabank & ESPN

Covid-19 has forced the world into a "halftime". Just like in soccer, this is a time to reflect and redefine strategies. In this context, Scotiabank wanted to motivate and inspire a youth target audience during these uncertain times to raise awareness and expand the reach of Scotiabank Fútbol Club among key internal and external audiences and positi…

FreeWheel Connects

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the US in March 2020, FreeWheel quickly rethought and shifted its entire campaign strategy. With client and employee safety our #1 priority, our team pivoted to a fully virtual event approach and increased our digital marketing efforts. In the beginning of May 2020, FreeWheel launched its first quarterly virtual speake…

French urban food series

Through our series “hunger” about sub-saharan Africa’s couscouses, about controversial “islamist” kebab sandwich and about the new hit among French youth “French tacos”, we tried to tell stories about the French society and the world through food, street food, urban food. Stories of racism, of stigma, of stereotypes, of hate, of fear, but also stories of lo…

When adidas Originals asked us to help them commemorate the 50th anniversary of the game-changing Superstar silhouette on social media, we knew we would be hard-pressed to find a new angle to the shoe. The Superstar is one of the most iconic and popular shoes in the world, and the celebrities that have helped it rise to this prominence are just as iconic in…

Having a Bud With

Over 15 years of their partnership, the Chicago Bulls and Budweiser have developed strong synergies in both their respective brand missions and approaches to content. With Budweiser leaning into their tagline, “Legendary Lager for Legendary Moments” and the Bulls looking to deliver legendary experiences to their fans through differentiated content, the two …

Intel: Brains Behind the Brains

Intel invented the brains of the computer. But who are the brains behind these breakthrough innovations? In this first-of-its-kind social-content series, the minds of Intel Labs offer an inside tour of how tomorrow’s technology is being developed today -- from quantum computers, to neuromorphic engineering, to the AI-comms system used by Stephen Hawking. …

There are many taboos and stigmas surrounding female health and sexuality, leaving many women with unanswered questions and no place to go. Speaking to women in a relatable, humorous and candid way, Lady Parts is starting a cultural revolution by changing the way those who identify as a lady talk about their bodies. Hosted by Sarah Hyland, each episode feat…

Laughs Over Lemonade: A Comedy Series

Founded in 1999, Mike’s Hard Lemonade had big plans to celebrate its 21st birthday in 2020. But when the pandemic hit, we had to cancel the celebrations and pivot. With the world in total chaos, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, a brand that is all about optimism and drinking on the bright side, decided it was time to give back. Mike’s Hard Lemonade knows all too well …

With Let's Target, we set out to create an attention-grabbing, YouTube-native series featuring both traditional and internet celebrities who get to know each other from the comfort of their own homes. With distinct activities and themes guiding each episode, we offered viewers a unique (and uplifting) glimpse into the lives of some of their favorite persona…

MSG Uncovered Presented by Squarespace

New York born and based musicians that play small clubs, bars, coffee shops, subway stations, and restaurants across the Tri-State, face immediate financial impact from closures due to Covid-19. They have lost their ability to make a living as the venues where they typically engage their fans and make new ones are shut down. No one knows better the power o…

On First with Pete

On First with Pete Alonso is an MLB Original show airing on YouTube featuring Pete mic’d up in multiple games throughout the 2020 season. The goal of the show - the first of its kind - was to showcase a unique part of baseball culture yet to be explored: the natural interactions that take place between a first baseman and base runners and teammates througho…

S.Pellegrino Presents: "Our Food, Our Stories" with Kristen Kish

The holiday season is a key moment for S.Pellegrino, which has long held a place on consumers’ holiday tables to elevate special moments and dining experiences. In 2019, S.Pellegrino established Friendsgiving as a pillar moment for the brand, launching a campaign that extended beyond the traditional holiday celebrations and proved successful with consumers.…

START HERE - with Al Jazeera

Ever felt overwhelmed or confused by the stories making the news? Well, based on what our audience is telling us, you're not alone. It’s what prompted us to create the digital video explainer series Start Here with Al Jazeera just over a year ago. We wanted to give our audience easy-to-follow and responsive explainers to cut through the noise of today’…

Teal Holidays with Heather

The mission and vision of FARE Creative Services is to provide the loudest and stickiest magnet content to grab the maximal market share of Food Allergy (and more broadly food safety / health) consumers across all channels and mediums. The primary focus is bringing in a fresh audience - those who suffer from food allergies, but more broadly, those that …

That Takeout Show with Ali Khan

The mission and vision of FARE Creative Services is to provide the loudest and stickiest magnet content to grab the maximal market share of Food Allergy (and more broadly food safety / health) consumers across all channels and mediums. The primary focus is bringing in a fresh audience - those who suffer from food allergies, but more broadly, those that …

The Design Better Book Series

As a company, it’s our mission to empower cross-functional enterprise teams to participate in the digital product design and development process. The Design Better book series provides unprecedented access to the insights that power the world’s best design teams and includes the following publications: Design Engineering Handbook Bring …

The Hormel Film Festival

When shelter-in-place and social distancing occurred throughout the U.S., the Hormel Foods team sought to bring people together nonetheless by providing meaningful and exciting experiences for team members, customers, consumers and fans. With people stuck online and at home — and without a lot of positive stories in the news — sharing levity and inspiration…

The Oridgenators

Complex and Ruffles sought to create an impactful campaign to identify, amplify and spotlight Black voices serving as agents of change in their communities. To achieve this, Complex created “The Oridgenators,” a six-part video series profiling pioneering Black creators from the intersecting worlds of basketball, sneakers, social media, music, and entreprene…

The Un-Adventurers chronicles the story of three individuals who have never left their home state. Along with their nominator, our host Selema takes them on the road for the very first time. The first episode follows Porsha, a single mom from Douglasville, GA, who works for an airline cleaning planes, but has never traveled by plane herself. In episode one,…

VH1's The Pit Stop (RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 12 & All Stars 5)

Of the various ancillary series surrounding RuPaul’s Drag Race, The Pit Stop is undoubtedly the most successful digital franchise to emerge from the series. First launched in 2016 as the official recap series for Drag Race, The Pit Stop has skyrocketed into a hit of its own regard. This year, with the introduction of Season 8 winner Bob the Drag Queen as ho…

From the get-go with the premiere episode on October 2, 2019, WWE sought to present a brand-new show that shattered the conventions of typical programming. Streamed live on WWE Network as well as digital platforms YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, 90-minute episodes are presented simultaneously across these platforms every Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET. The Bump …

Walmart’s Raising a Giant: A Mother and Son’s Journey to the NFL

The Raising a Giant docuseries was born from the goal of connecting the broader Walmart family through the once-in-a-lifetime journey of one Walmart associate, Martha Brown, and her son Derrick Brown’s path to the NFL draft. While the journey to the NFL is something few will experience, the desire to see our children reach for their dreams is universal. …

About the Shorty Awards

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media.

Millions of people participate in The Shortys to recognize individuals and organizations producing great content on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitch, TikTok, Snapchat, and the rest of the social web.

winners will be announced in may. follow us to be notified!