THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media and digital. View this season's finalists!

Industry

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Strategy & Engagement

See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Brand Partnership See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Call to Action See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Community Management See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Creative Use of Technology See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> CTV/OTT See previous winners and honorees for Insights and Trends here.</a> <a href=https://shortyawards.com/17th/"https://shortyawards.com/category/16th/data-visualization">See previous winners and honorees for Data Visualization here.</a>"> Data & Insights See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Earned Media See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Event & Experiential See previous winners and honorees here.</a>""> Gamification See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Humor See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Innovative Media Buying Strategy See previous winners and honorees here.</a>""> Integration with Traditional Media See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Internal Communications See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> LGBTQ Community Engagement See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Micro-Influencer Strategy See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Multicultural Community Engagement See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Music & Dance See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> On a Shoestring See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Organic Promotion See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Paid & Amplification See previous winner and honorees here.</a>"> Physical and Digital Convergence See previous winner and honorees here.</a>"> Public Service Announcement See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Real Time Response See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> SEO & SEM See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Social Commerce See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Storytelling

“Be More Like Currys” - How Currys, Fabric Social and iSite embraced the weird on social

Finalist in Brand Awareness Campaign, Retail & E-Commerce

Entered in TikTok Presence, Use of Viral Content

Objective

The campaign's primary objective was to increase brand awareness and engagement on TikTok and Instagram, ultimately driving growth in Currys' social media following. However, focusing solely on follower acquisition would not resonate with Gen-Z, a demographic often skeptical of overt brand messaging and advertising. Gen-Z is quick to spot inauthentic content, and pushing followers through traditional tactics wouldn’t work.

Instead, the strategy centered around ensuring that Currys showed up natively on these platforms—creating content that felt authentic, entertaining, and culturally relevant. By aligning with the latest trends and engaging in the types of conversations that Gen-Z values, Currys became part of the social media experience, rather than interrupting it. The belief was simple: when content is compelling and resonates with the audience, followers will naturally join the conversation. This approach led to more meaningful engagement and organic growth, as the audience chose to follow Currys because the brand’s content felt real, relatable, and worth engaging with. 

 

Strategy

Overcoming the deep mistrust Gen-Z holds toward brands—95% of which have lower trust ratings with this demographic compared to older adults (Advertising Week)—was a core challenge in shaping the campaign. Gen-Z is highly attuned to inauthentic, profit-driven content and quickly disengages when they sense a brand is trying too hard to sell something. Once they’ve tuned out, regaining their attention becomes incredibly difficult in a saturated, choice-driven market.

To address this, the strategy focused on proving that Currys belonged on these platforms without pushing a hard sell. We created content that aligned with the cultural zeitgeist, tapping into trends, memes, and references that Gen-Z was already engaging with. Whilst not ignoring millennials with some content targeted towards that audience. Crucially, the content didn’t have too much of a “Currys spin” or overt branding—it was simply part of the conversation. By blending seamlessly into the platform’s ecosystem and showing up authentically, we avoided interrupting Gen-Z’s flow and instead earned a place within their digital world. This approach helped to build trust and relevance, setting the stage for deeper engagement and long-term brand loyalty.

 

Results

The results of this campaign have been nothing short of extraordinary, surpassing expectations across the board. On 231 videos on TikTok alone, the campaign generated 65.9 million views and over 5.5 million likes, showcasing the immense reach and resonance of the content. Instagram also saw impressive results, with 7.46 million impressions and 2.14 million likes, driving significant engagement and making Currys a standout presence on the platform. Averaging around 1million social likes a month in recent months.

Perhaps most notably, the campaign led to over 100% increase in followers, more than doubling Currys’ TikTok following in just one year 85,400 to 185,667. This explosive growth highlights how effectively the brand engaged with Gen-Z, capturing their attention and building a vibrant, loyal community.

The campaign's impact didn’t stop at social media—Currys also gained widespread recognition across key media outlets. Press coverage appeared in high-profile publications such as The Drum, Mashable, The Poke, Marketing Week, and Wired, amplifying the campaign's success and demonstrating its cultural relevance beyond social media.

The results of the exceptional output also demonstrates the seamless collaborative efforts across Fabric Social, iSite and Currys  in-house social team.

 

Media

Video for “Be More Like Currys” - How Currys, Fabric Social and iSite embraced the weird on social

Entrant Company / Organization Name

Fabric Social and iSite, Currys

Links

Entry Credits