National Geographic’s Global Advertising/Partnership teams are earning well-deserved recognition for their groundbreaking work. The Shorty Social Good Awards recently named National Geographic’s integrated partnerships with GSK Consumer Healthcare (“Chasing Genius”), Stella Artois (“Buy a Lady a Drink”) and Microsoft (“#MakeWhatsNext”) as finalists for this year’s honors. Separately, National Geographic’s partnership with Nike for the documentary “Breaking2” was selected as one of Twitter’s most creative international campaigns so far this year.
Chasing Genius, a digital community developed in partnership with GSK Consumer Healthcare based on the idea that global change can come from anyone and anywhere, has been named a Shorty Social Good Awards finalist in the multi-platform campaign category. Attracting 20,000 members, the campaign recently announced four winners, whose innovative ideas aim to mobilize change and help advance the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: making our planet more sustainable, improving global health, and kickstarting our ability to feed 9 billion people in the world.
The partnership, which was tied to National Geographic’s Emmy-nominated original limited series “Genius,” received more than 19 million views and sparked nearly 3 million social conversations. It was also awarded the platinum-level MarCom Award in the social engagement category and the platinum-level Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award in the integrated consumer campaign category.
“The intent was to create a long-term franchise and bring something truly differentiated, with high engagement and social impact, to the marketplace,” National Geographic Partners CEO Declan Moore told colleagues in an internal memo. “It is evident by the recognition this platform is receiving that we have accomplished that goal. A success in both metrics and mission, Chasing Genius has generated a level of engagement that is as rare as it is coveted by tapping into consumers’ collective passions with the belief that they really do have the power to change the world.”
National Geographic’s “Buy a Lady a Drink” partnership with Stella Artois was also named a Shorty Social Good Awards finalist in the multi-platform and environment/sustainability categories. The campaign’s goal was to extend the impact of World Water Day (March 22) through global awareness, advocacy and conversations about global water shortages. It ended up receiving more than 200 million impressions (more than half from social media) and helped half-a-million people in developing countries get access to clean and sustainable drinking water.
Meanwhile, National Geographic’s “Make What’s Next” partnership with Microsoft was named a Shorty Social Good Awards finalist in the live-streaming category. The campaign, which aimed to activate girls’ interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), received more than 150 million social and digital impressions on National Geographic distribution channels.
More recently, National Geographic’s partnership with Nike for the documentary “Breaking2” was recognized by Twitter as one of the 10 most creative international campaigns.
