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

Chime - MyPay

Entered in Multi-Platform Campaign

Objective

People dislike traditional banks. And for good reason. They’ve historically taken advantage of everyday people by charging punitive fees and are out of touch with their needs. Chime aims to change that.

We’re a financial technology company, not a bank, on a mission to unlock financial progress™ for everyday people – many of whom live paycheck to paycheck. In doing so, we’re disrupting the financial services industry and dismantling outdated systems. 

In launching MyPay®, we confronted a financial system fundamentally out of step with modern American life. Our research uncovered a staggering reality: approximately $340 billion remains trapped in an antiquated bi-weekly pay cycle, forcing two-thirds of Americans to wait needlessly for wages they've already earned. This systemic issue creates a cascade of financial stress, often driving people toward predatory lending solutions.

With MyPay, we offer members receiving direct deposit a way to get up to $500 of their pay anytime they need it, with no mandatory fees, no credit checks, and no interest. 

Launching this product required more than traditional marketing—it demanded a campaign that could challenge entrenched financial norms while driving measurable behavior change — that meant unifying advertising across multiple digital and social platforms, along with traditional and experiential mediums. 

Our campaign objectives were strategically layered: First, generate massive pre-launch awareness. Second, achieve sustained adoption rates. Third, shift the fundamental conversation around pay cycles in America. Our goal wasn't just to launch a product — it was to spark a movement questioning why we accept waiting for money we've already earned.

Strategy

The MyPay IMC campaign, our biggest launch in company history, highlighted a powerful truth: the traditional pay cycle serves institutions rather than individuals. As a solution, MyPay was built on a simple, bold promise: "Get Paid When You Say™."

To bring this promise to life, we ignited a movement with a holistic 360 campaign that included full-funnel brand and direct response advertising strategically deployed across multiple-channels, in concert with experiential and social activations: 

Social Media and Influencers: Partnered with influential Twitch creator Kai Cenat (most subscribed Twitch streamer in the world) and TikToker Zach King (6th largest TikToker in the world and creator of the most watched TikTok post ever) to drive cultural relevance, build hype and get the internet excited about MyPay, earning record-breaking social engagement, with our launch video surpassing 155 million views and 332.5M total video views across platforms.

Direct Response: Our campaign’s direct response strategy combined deep consumer understanding with cultural relevance. Designed to move consumers through clear action steps: from waitlist signup to direct deposit enrollment and ultimately MyPay activation, our strategic funnel approach resulted in millions joining our waitlist pre-launch, delivering Chime’s highest referral month ever. 

Not only that, our campaign drove sustainable behavior change, with the majority of eligible new and existing members adopting MyPay almost immediately. New members joining Chime to get MyPay exhibited a significantly higher conversion rate than those joining for other reasons, supporting our belief that creative messaging could fundamentally shift consumer banking behavior.

Earned Activations: Challenged Americans to ask: ‘Why do we accept the wait for payday?’ and declared that Chime is unlocking America’s paycheck. Our segment on GMA and nationwide experiential tour featuring a semi-truck-sized vault symbolizing the $340 billion trapped in pay cycles generated over 1 million sweepstakes entries.

TV Ads: Our 30-second TV spot, “Get Paid When You Say,” built awareness and drove enrollment. It included Shaboozey's #1 hit song, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” and member testimonials that highlighted the real-life benefits of not waiting to get paid. 

Brand Media: Launched MyPay ads with the highest reach/frequency plan in Chime history, including high-impact TV placements during NFL Opening Night and the Emmys, and 600+ DOOH placements including Times Square, that generated 282 million impressions and amplified our question: “Why wait for payday?” We also rolled out key digital and social elements across Meta, Snapchat, YouTube, Twitch and key retail media platforms, in addition to Spotify audio and video ads that celebrate that payday feeling. TV moments drove 60-80% lift in brand search impressions and our organic landing page received over 1.6 million visits.

Results

Results exceeded expectations: With billions of total impressions, our unaided awareness received a significant jump, consideration increased, and new enrollments that month were one of the highest in Chime’s history.  

Through strategic integration of experiential, broadcast, digital, and social channels, the MyPay integrated campaign didn't just launch a product—it sparked a cultural movement to democratize access to earned wages and dismantle antiquated banking norms.

Our campaign's impact exceeded our most ambitious targets while achieving our broader goal of shifting the conversation around pay cycles. 

MyPay signup intent grew significantly in just one quarter — representing the biggest shift in products driving consumer decisioning year-to-date. Ultimately, our integrated campaign delivered much higher enrollment rates versus non-MyPay ads, meaning members who visited Chime.com off a MyPay value prop were far more likely to actually sign up, vs members who visited Chime.com off ads promoting other value props. 

Our social engagement broke previous records, with our launch video surpassing 155 million views and achieving 332.5 million total video views across platforms. 

Our campaign earned recognition from industry leaders and mainstream media alike, including coverage on Good Morning America and inclusion in TIME's World's Best Brands List.

Chime® is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.

Media

Entrant Company / Organization Name

Chime

Links

Entry Credits