Home » Cornett wins first Shorty Award for UK HealthCare’s ‘We Are Proof’ campaign

Cornett wins first Shorty Award for UK HealthCare’s ‘We Are Proof’ campaign

12th annual national awards honor best in digital and social media

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Cornett added more national recognition to the agency’s trophy case this week as it took top honors in the Pharma & Healthcare category of the 12th annual Shorty Awards. The Lexington agency’s work for the University of Kentucky HealthCare brand and its “We Are Proof” campaign beat out work from Walgreens, Tums, Nicorette and Musinex, among others, to be recognized as the best social media campaign for the calendar year 2019.

Cornett was also a finalist in the Travel & Tourism Category for its work with VisitLex. It was the first such win and finalist recognition for the agency.

“To be recognized for your work is always satisfying,” said Cornett president Christy Hiler. “But to be recognized both nationally and alongside our long-time partners and friends at UK HealthCare is extra special. Everyone here knows how amazing the University of Kentucky and UK HealthCare are as pillars of our community. We proudly tell that story and to do so in a way the entire industry of digital and social media professionals thinks is outstanding makes us very proud.”

The “We Are Proof” campaign kicked off last June with a two-minute mini-film that dramatized the valuable contribution of the healthcare system’s impact on the community. Leveraging local and regional influencers, Cornett orchestrated a social campaign to drive organic reach of the video on Facebook. The algorithm-challenging effort resulted in 40,000 video views in the first six hours after posting. After one month, over 800,000 people watched the film and dozens contributed their own UK HealthCare stories.

Now, “We Are Proof” lives on as a powerful, story-driven section of the brand’s website at proof.ukhealthcare.com.

“The beauty of this campaign is not just in the fantastic job the team did to launch it, but the life it has taken on in the year since,” said Geoffrey Blair, director of brand strategy at UK HealthCare, who oversaw the creation of the campaign. “We strive to bring excellence in care to our patients and community. It’s nice to see that our work also results in excellence in our marketing and communications as well.”


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Cornett’s honor comes on the heels of another tear through regional and industry advertising awards. The “We Are Proof” campaign earned Best Online/Interactive campaign at the 2020 Lexington ADDY Awards. The agency also earned two other Best of awards, eight gold and six silver ADDYs. The agency’s work with VisitLex also won Best in Show at the 2019 KTIA Traverse Awards for excellence in Kentucky tourism marketing. The firm can be found online at teamcornett.com.

The Shorty Awards, now in its 12th year, was the first awards show to honor social media. They are produced by Sawhorse Media, a New York-based technology startup also known for creating Muck Rack, a leading media measurement technology. The Shorty Awards remain the most prominent recognition of its kind. Its winners are announced exclusively in ​AdWeek​ and are celebrated with a star-studded awards ceremony, this year done virtually on May 3. Find the list of winners online at ​www.shortyawards.com​. The Cornett winning nomination is at https://shortyawards.com/12th/university-of-kentucky-healthcare-we-are-proof