THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

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

Industry

See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Auto See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Beauty See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Business to Business See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Consumer Brand See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Education See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Entertainment See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Financial Services See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Fitness, Health, & Wellness
<br>See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Food & Beverage
See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Gaming See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Government & Politics See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Hospitality See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Insurance See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Live Events See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> News & Media See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Non-Profit See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Pets & Animals See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Pharma & Healthcare See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Real Estate See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Restaurants See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Retail & E-Commerce See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Social Activism See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Sports See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Technology See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Television See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Travel & Tourism See previous winners and honorees here.</a>"> Wine, Beer & Spirits

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

Breaking the Algorithm: How HASK Beauty’s UGC Revolution Redefined Brand Awareness

Entered in User-Generated Content

Objective

In a haircare market saturated with legacy giants and buzzy newcomers, HASK Beauty needed to make a statement—and fast. With low brand awareness and no direct-to-consumer sales, the challenge was clear: create undeniable brand recognition and retailer demand through an electrifying paid media campaign. The goal? Capture the attention of women aged 25-34 and seamlessly guide them to key retail partners, Target and Walmart.

HASK’s breakthrough moment came by blending best-in-class storytelling with platform-native execution. The campaign launched with sleek, polished brand videos, but our agency knew that to truly dominate TikTok, Meta, and YouTube, authenticity was key. Enter: user-generated content (UGC). We strategically integrated creator-led storytelling—real voices, real results, real relatability—crafting a campaign that felt less like an ad and more like the recommendation of a trusted friend.

The result? A masterclass in performance-driven brand storytelling. UGC not only shattered engagement benchmarks but also transformed how beauty audiences interacted with HASK, proving that social-first creative wasn’t just an enhancement—it was the engine driving the campaign’s success.

Strategy

We launched a multi-platform campaign strategy spanning TikTok, Meta, and YouTube from June to December utilizing placements that would have the greatest impact with our highly-curated audience. We started with premium, high-production video assets that performed well, generating strong view-through and click-through rates. But to maximize impact in social-first environments, we pivoted to an influencer-driven, UGC-powered approach—delivering results that rewrote the playbook on paid beauty marketing for HASK.

Hand-selected creators (Amanda, Giselle, and Ashley) became the campaign’s secret weapon. Their videos seamlessly integrated HASK’s core messaging while maintaining the raw, engaging aesthetic that today’s beauty consumers trust. We worked closely with HASK to ensure that every UGC asset followed platform-specific best practices, prioritizing eye-catching hooks, fast pacing, and relatable narratives.

A rigorous creative testing framework fueled continuous optimization. We tested everything: music vs. no music, short-form vs. mid-length, voiceover styles, logo placement, and messaging approaches (ingredients vs. benefits vs. tutorials). This data-driven methodology allowed us to fine-tune creative based on real-time performance, ensuring every piece of content delivered maximum impact.

Retail moments were strategically leveraged to amplify success. The campaign capitalized on peak shopping periods—Amazon Prime Days, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday—supercharging visibility at critical decision-making moments.

Every element of this campaign was built for scale, futureproofing HASK’s approach to paid media. The result? A blueprint for high-performance, social-first storytelling that doesn’t just raise awareness—it creates undeniable brand obsession.

Results

The numbers tell the story—UGC didn’t just outperform branded creative, it redefined the success of this and future campaigns for HASK.

Setting a New Standard: With UGC performance exceeding expectations across the board, 2025 benchmarks have been aggressively redefined to reflect this campaign’s success.

Media

Entrant Company / Organization Name

The Media Image, HASK

Links

Entry Credits