It was a big moment for Curator last week, when we took home an Addy Award for our work with Swansons Nursery on our Grow With Us campaign.

We’re proud of all our awards, as well as our campaigns that aren’t officially recognized. This one was special, though, because it perfectly exemplified our belief of how earned and paid media should interact: with earned at the center of the marketing mix.

The backbone of any good marketing campaign is trust, and these days, it’s not enough to just say things that sound trustworthy. Social media has unlocked the door that used to keep people and brands from having two-way conversations. Now that the door’s open, the need to provide immediate value is greater than ever.

When we designed Grow With Us, we started with the thought of “how can we be helpful?” That was the earned media aspect of the campaign—to extend Swansons’ signature customer service to the world via social media. Advertising was the jet fuel that allowed the campaign to scale, but the core earned strategy is what made a connection with people, and ultimately made it successful.

It was so satisfying to see Grow With Us recognized. We’re already back at work bringing the kind of thinking that made it successful to Swansons and the rest of our clients. We’ll be back here to share some of it with you soon.