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

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place: Wizards Finale TikTok Stunt

Entered in TikTok

Objective

“Wizards of Waverly Place” was a four-season 2009 fantasy teen sitcom that aired on Disney Channel. The series centers on Alex Russo, played by Selena Gomez, a teenage wizard living on Waverly Place in the Greenwich Village section of New York City who undertakes training alongside her siblings, Justin and Max, who are also equipped with magical abilities. The siblings are trained knowing that one day they will compete to win sole custody of their family's powers.

With the imminent return of the Russo family in "Wizards Beyond Waverly Place" and a new story that sees Alex asking her brother Justin for help with her new wizard apprentice, Billie, Disney Branded Television looked for a fun way to bridge the two series. Disney also wanted to engage the original "Wizards of Waverly Place" fan community with fun behind-the-scenes content that would give them a deeper look into the show they loved, while also reminding them of where the story left off.

Strategy

Ahead of the Disney Channel premiere of "Wizards Beyond Waverly Place," Disney Branded Television decided to revisit the finale of "Wizards of Waverly Place" to catch viewers up on where the story left off. Disney wanted something bigger, more exciting, and more engaging than just playing that original episode, so it created something specifically for "Waverly" fans: a social behind-the-scenes commentary track of the "Wizards of Waverly Place" two-part finale episode with star David Henrie, who played Justin Russo in the original series and reprises the role in "Wizards Beyond Waverly Place."

The 13-part TikTok series breaks the finale down into bite-sized parts for fans to watch along with Henrie, who pops in to give commentary about the experience of creating the finale and the show while providing fascinating insights into the storytelling of "Wizards of Waverly Place" and "Wizards Beyond Waverly Place" along the way.

The TikTok series took something as simple as watching the finale to catch up on the story and turned it into a special, one-of-a-kind social event that was both small enough to be shareable and big enough to be a major moment for the "Waverly" fan community. Disney provided something new to fans that rewarded them for their love and dedication to "Waverly" and gave them a fresh, fascinating look at a show they knew and loved – all while also encouraging them to check out the new "Wizards Beyond Waverly Place" series and exciting them to spread the word about its arrival.

Results

Disney's TikTok stunt returning to the finale of "Wizards of Waverly Place" had fans spellbound and was a massive success on social media. The series of TikTok videos on the Disney Channel TikTok account earned over 10 million total views and 675,000 total engagements. In particular, Part 12 of the series earned 6.4 million views on its own, as fans lean into the nostalgia of watching the finale originally for the first time.

The TikTok stunt also helped "Wizards Beyond Waverly Place" lead into a successful premiere, with the first episode driving 3.2 million views globally in the first 12 days of streaming – becoming Disney Channel’s most-watched series premiere ever on Disney+.

Media

Entrant Company / Organization Name

Disney Branded Television

Link