What This Year’s Best Streamed Brand Campaign Got Right

Tuesday night marked an exciting moment for online video talent. Bringing together 2016’s biggest internet stars, the honored the best of the web’s video content creators.
Among the event’s 44 award categories was Best Brand Campaign, and this year’s winner is a familiar face: YouTuber, podcaster, writer and actor .
It’s been a big year for Helbig — she starred in a movie, , published her second book and launched an app. Now she has another milestone: the YouTube star, also the author of two New York Times bestselling books, was awarded for her miniseries “” for AT&T’s .

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So how did Helbig manage to beat Vine star Cameron Dallas’ campaign or YouTuber Dominic “D-Trix” Sandoval’s “” campaign with Mountain Dew?
Simple: Helbig engaged her audience and encouraged them to participate.
“Writing With Grace” was an eight-week long writing project where Helbig asked fans to help finish her upcoming novella, Freak Week. Throughout the eight-week series, Helbig sent out weekly prompts to fans, who would later submit their own chapters. Every week, Helbig would choose her favorite submissions and add them to the short novel.
By motivating her fans to get involved in the series through recognition and reward, Helbig launched one of the most successful brand campaigns of the year. , competition and recognition made her campaign stand out from the rest.