In any generation the key to engaging an audience is telling a compelling story. Today this is called branded content and branded journalism. For the sixth straight year, the Shorty Awards in New York recently recognized the best story-tellers in social media who compete on subjects that include art, entertainment, news, sport, video games and even health care. Nominees (individuals and organizations) are judged for their impact on Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, Foursquare, Instagram, Vine and Twitter; it pays to be facile on Twitter because candidates are nominated through Tweets.
Logo and link to Shorty Awards website
Since I work in health care, I wanted to highlight the winner in this category and demonstrate that good story-telling applies to any field. Congratulations to ZN team at hyperthinker, top-rated in the health category this year. According to its website, Break Dengue is a branded content initiative that was created in 2013 to combat dengue fever, a global neglected disease that affects the most marginalized populations and is now found in some of the world’s wealthiest countries. A major international public health concern, the World Health Organization says that about half of the world’s population is at risk from dengue.
Break Dengue
The winners said, “With Twitter, we have taken a very different approach. @BreakDengue is not only focused on raising public awareness on dengue prevention, but also seeks out and has built many strategic relationships with dengue Key Opinion Leaders worldwide. These include experts from the pharmaceutical industry, certified medical professionals, healthcare analysts, educators, marketing professionals for the healthcare sector, activists, and other organizations that share our goal”
Here is their winning entry.
The Shorty Awards are produced by Sawhorse Media, a New York-based technology startup. Sawhorse also created and runs Muck Rack, the leading network to connect with journalists on social media.
The opinions expressed in this blog are my own. My Twitter handle is Ronald Petrovich.
healthycontentblog 
Thank you! ZN is very proud of what Break Dengue has achieved in such a short time. At ZN we believe digital not only delivers business a competitive advantage, but can also empower doctors, patients and help break down silos to better enable the fight against dengue, one of the worlds biggest growing threats to well-being. Thank you again for your support!