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

Creature Commandos - Leaked From Belle Reve

Finalist in Graphic Art

Objective

As the first installment of James Gunn’s DC Universe, Creature Commandos demanded a visually explosive social presence to cement these characters and their stories as a core pillar of this new DCU. We introduced the irreverent, genre-bending nature of the show by creating a character-focused graphic carousel as defiant and badass as the Commandos themselves, all while tapping into the depth and emotion that make their stories resonate.

Our goal was to build excitement and deepen fan investment by crafting bold, distinctive assets that teased plot elements and character details. Each piece was designed to spark fan conversation and drive engagement through immersive design tailored to the passion of the DC fanbase.

Strategy

Imagine you are breaking into Belle Reve to gain intel on the Creature Commandos - discovering the secret files placed on the desk of Amanda Waller. We designed in-world classified dossiers for each creature, teasing the show’s deeper, character-driven narrative: a redacted rap sheet for the fan-favorite Weasel, an anatomy chart describing The Bride’s construction, photos from G.I. Robot’s military service, a psych evaluation for Doctor Phosphorus, news footage of Nina Mazursky as the “Star City Sea Creature,” and even a completely “Unknown” folder for the elusive Eric Frankenstein. Our text synthesized key beats from each character’s arc and cleverly used redactions to avoid major spoilers and entice fans to learn more about them. Every aspect of the art was carefully and intentionally crafted to feel completely in-world, from blood stained fingerprints, rusted dog tags, to aged papers and folders. This immersive, engaging format would intrigue fans with character and plot hints, sparking excitement for what’s to come ahead of the pivotal and emotional Episode 4 - launching on the HeroMode Instagram account.

Results

Fans quickly took notice of the visually rich Creature Commandos dossiers, flooding the Instagram post with comments and likes, resulting in a 500% higher engagement rate than comparable @HeroMode Instagram content. 

The redacted copy and cryptic details fueled fan speculation as they dissected every clue theorized about upcoming episodes. This intrigue sparked virality, driving shares to over 4x the platform average on the @HeroMode Instagram account. 

The buzz did not stop there. Across the DCU Reddit community, fans shared and praised the in-universe nods embedded in the artwork. Subtle Easter eggs within the creative ignited discussions about the broader DC Universe. These thoughtful details not only deepened fan immersion but also earned widespread acclaim from the community, resulting in an overwhelmingly positive response across fan-driven platforms.

Media

Entrant Company / Organization Name

Home Brew Agency, Max

Link

Entry Credits