NYC Health + Hospitals Wins Shorty Award for Innovative Use of Emojis to Promote Adolescent Sexual Health Care
New York City's Public Health System Is the Only Health Provider Globally to Win a 2017 Shorty Award
Apr 24, 2017
NYC Health + Hospitals was twice honored in the Ninth Annual Shorty Awards, which pays tribute to the best in social media around the world. Recognized in the “Emoji” category, NYC Health + Hospitals’ campaign to promote youth health services was awarded “Winner” status, reflecting the combination of public voting and jury scoring, and also “Audience Honor” recognition, for having received the most votes online in its category.
“It’s humbling that we are the sole winner among health care providers not only in New York City, but in the world,” said Ann Ormsby, senior director of brand implementation and marketing at NYC Health + Hospitals. “We recognized the opportunity social media provided to reach New York City adolescents, and while this was a bit of a stretch outside our traditional comfort zone, our campaign spoke to teens in a way they understand.”
Winners were determined by an algorithm that ranks nominees based on a combination of the number of votes from the public and scores from the Real Time Academy, more than 300 “luminaries from advertising, media, entertainment, and technology.” Factors considered by the Real Time Academy included the quality and originality of content on all social media platforms, innovation in using social media, impact, engagement, and support received through passionate Shorty nominations.
Working with VGD, which shared in the award recognition, NYC Health + Hospitals created the emoji social media campaign to raise awareness of and promote its youth health services. While the health system delivers comprehensive, high-quality services to an estimated 152,000 New York City adolescents each year at hospitals and community health centers, there are still thousands more who don’t seek health care services for fear of cost, stigma, or lack of confidentiality. And the need for care is real. In 2015, at NYC Health + Hospitals facilities, about 15,000 adolescents were diagnosed with depression, more than 38,000 were tested for STDs, 30,000 were tested for pregnancy, and some 2,400 gave birth.
To address these concerns, eliminate access barriers, and provide basic information on services for adolescents, NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest public health system in the nation, launched the social media campaign to raise awareness of “YouthHealth” services. The emojis featured in the campaign included eggplants and peaches (representing body parts), birds and bees, and a “speak no evil” monkey.
The campaign led to an increase in adolescent patient visits to NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island, NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan, and NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Morrisania.
The eclectic and prestigious list of this year’s Shorty Award honorees also includes Google, HBO, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Washington Post, Qantas, DreamWorks Animation, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, NBC Universal, and Walt Disney Studios. Notable individuals who have won Shorty Awards in the past include Taylor Swift, Neil Patrick Harris, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Michelle Obama.
The 9th Annual Shorty Awards were held April 23 in New York City and streamed to the public. See the 2017 Shorty Award winners at http://shortyawards.com/9th/brands-and-orgs/winners.