10 INSTAGRAM GROWTH STRATEGIES

Instagram is a great place for your brand to be. Why? Because you can easily develop your brand and spread your reach. It can be scary not knowing how to make your page great and attract more followers. But the truth is, using Instagram in an effective way is pretty easy. Check out these ten Instagram growth strategies to up your Instagram game.

1. OPTIMIZE YOUR PROFILE.

Optimizing your profile involves more than just having a fun profile picture. Your profile is the place people go to to get a feel for your brand, so it needs to strongly represent you! First things first, your profile picture should have your logo in it and your account name should be your brand. Next, make sure that your description includes a link to your website. If people are interested, they will want to see your website so make it easy for them. Lastly, put your slogan in your bio or write some fun sentences about your company that will draw people in. Remember, Instagram isn’t Linkedin, it’s more of a laid back, social app.

2. POST CONSISTENTLY

Let’s say people go to your profile and like what they see so they follow you, and you don’t post for the next two weeks. By the time you post again they will have lost interest. Let’s say instead you post four times in the two weeks prior to when they follow you and then don’t post for a month. Once again you will lose their interest and lose them as a follower. So, post consistently. Try to post two or three times a week. There is such a thing as overdoing it. If you post too often, people will get annoyed because they only see you in their feed and will stop liking your posts and eventually unfollow you.Find a balance and stick to it.

3. MAKE WEEKLY POST CATEGORIES

Every Wednesday at Colibri we post a Wednesday #WomanPower post on Instagram about a woman who inspires us. Posts like these keep followers looking forward to next week’s post and therefore they stick around. Here are some ideas to inspire a weekly post for you: If you are an influencer who focuses on clothing, you could do #ThriftyThursday where you post your favorite thrift store and thrift finds or upcycling tips on Thursday. Are you an interior design brand? On Fridays post your favorite #CoffeeTableRead.

4. ENGAGE WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

Engagement from your followers is super important. It helps build a following and means you have loyal customers. But how do you get engagement? Start engaging! Ask your followers to comment about something in the comments of a post, or to tag someone who inspires them on a Wednesday #WomanPower post. Shout out your followers in posts, respond to their DMs and comments or repost or comment on their posts about your brand. That way, your followers will want to engage with you because they know you will respond.

5. POST PERSONAL AND CLEAR IMAGES

If you always post stock photos, you won’t get likes. Your followers won’t trust you and will eventually unfollow you. People want to see into your brand so you need to post personal and real photos. Try to post clear and aesthetically pleasing images as well. Keeping to a certain color scheme and style that matches your brand is a good way to make your feed appealing while staying on brand.

6. MAKE FUN STORIES AND USE THEM CONSISTENTLY

Stories help keep your followers engaged and are a fun way to connect. Try making stories where you do polls or show the behind the scenes at work. Stories are not only fun to look at, but they are also fun to make. Get creative with it! Don’t be afraid to use filters and stickers. Use your stories to promote new posts or new blogs on your website.

7. DON’T BE AFRAID OF INSTAGRAM TV

Instagram TV can seem scary because it is live. Here are a few tips to make it easier:

• The first few times you use Instagram TV, record your video first. The videos don’t actually have to be live!
• Do an interview and ask your followers for questions. This way you can engage with your followers and won’t run out of questions.
• If you own a warehouse or studio, show a behind the scenes of your space. You can also engage with you followers by asking them to guess what certain machines are, see if anyone has used them, etc.

8. MAKE YOUR CAPTIONS INTERESTING

Writing captions is the hardest part of Instagram for me. After writing and deleting tons of captions, I usually go with what I first wrote, so my advice is to trust your gut and don’t be afraid to make some jokes! If people are intrigued by your photo they will read your caption. You want your caption to satisfy their interest and encourage them to comment so make sure your captions are compelling.

9. TAKEOVERS

Takeovers are when brands partner with influencers or other brands and post in each other stories for a day. This is a great way to give your followers fresh new content while also being introduced to new potential followers. In your takeovers you can show behind the scenes from your office, what a day in your life looks like, etc. Have fun and get creative with takeovers.

10. USE HASHTAGS

Although hashtags may seem old school, they do so much for your brand on Instagram, so use them! They help people find you and introduce you to new followers. Make sure you use a consistent set of hashtags to describe your brand as well as more detailed ones to match the theme of your post. This way people will find you through a variety of searches. You are allowed to use up to 30 hashtags but using between 5–11 is best. A lot of people put their hashtags a few lines below their caption so that it’s easier to understand. To do this they put a period in every line to create space and then put their hashtags.

TAKEAWAY

Instagram is an app that you can really get creative and have fun with, so don’t be afraid of it. If you follow these Instagram growth strategies and adapt them to your brand, your Instagram presence and following will improve. The most important part is that you keep up all these new practices. Make a plan that is sustainable for your brand and stick with it. Now go and have some fun growing your Instagram

Most effective 5 PR strategies in 2021

Public relations is a demanding business, mostly because of the conditions of digital media. Consumers access multiple online channels on an almost constant basis, so keeping your brand both visible and positively received by the masses can be troublesome for the busy entrepreneur. Many entrepreneurs, especially those helming startups or small businesses, simply neglect their public relations development strategy, believing it to be a secondary priority. But no matter how busy you are, you can make time for these simple, yet effective, PR strategies:

1. Cultivate Testimonials. Testimonials are your best friend as an entrepreneur. Depending on the medium you use for your inbound testimonials, you could enjoy the benefits of increased brand visibility, increased user trust, increased SEO authority from external links, and an increased propensity to go viral with a product or campaign. Encourage your users to post written and video testimonials on their social media profiles and external sites. You can offer them a small reward in exchange for their honest opinions, or sponsor a competition that recognizes a random participant. Initiating a steady flow of user testimonials is a way to let your customers do your PR work for you. Consumers trust other consumers more than brands anyway, so you’ll be able to build your reputation naturally without doing all the work yourself.

2. Make the Most of Your Press Releases. Have a plan in place to submit regular press releases whenever your company does something newsworthy. Press releases can be a great source of external links for SEO, since they’re usually published on high-authority news sites, plus you’ll get a boost in brand visibility from the shared readership of each publication. But press releases don’t have to be one-use-only. If you’re already creating and distributing your press releases on a regular basis, you can tap them for additional PR value without spending much additional time. For example, you can post a variation of the press release on your own site as a blog entry, possibly adding an extra feature like an interview with your CEO. You could also repurpose it into a whitepaper, or include it as part of an informational packet. It’s a form of recycling, which will let you take advantage of the press release’s full value.

3. Set Aside Ten Minutes a Day. If you’re having trouble keeping up with the nonstop social media posts and constantly evolving news landscape, you’re not alone. It’s almost impossible to keep up with everything. But instead of giving up and no longer trying to get involved, try setting aside ten minutes a day — an amount of time that almost anyone can afford to allot. Ten minutes a day will give you an opportunity to scan your news feed, figure out the gist of what’s been happening, and reach out to at least a handful of followers. You may not get time to answer every query or post lots of messages, but it will establish your brand as one that cares enough to make a daily effort.

4. Focus Your Strategy. It can be tempting to pursue every possible channel and target every possible demographic, but for the busy entrepreneur, that’s an inefficient strategy. Instead of trying to do twenty things with an average success rate, narrow your strategy to do one or two things with the best success rate. For example, if you’re trying to build a following on five different social media profiles, instead focus on building an audience for one (with the other four on the back burner). You’ll have a smaller potential audience, but the audience you end up with will be more passionate, more loyal, and more enthusiastic about your brand.

5. Leverage the Power of Influencers. This is another way of letting others do your PR work for you. Instead of spending hours a day trying to force your way into new markets, make friends with a handful of influencers and ask them to do the work for you. For example, if there’s an industry leader with a huge following, you could ask him/her to tweet a link to your latest press release — or if you’re on good terms already, you could ask him/her to create a testimonial for you. If they honor your request, you’ll gain almost-instant access to their audience, adding their range of visibility to your own without significant extra effort.

Skyn condoms| ‘Pleasure is an endless exploration’

At the beginning of the global lockdown, SKYN® started their quest to encourage couples to seek pleasure with two campaigns created by Sid Lee: Stay and f*** at home and The Pleasure Calendar.


“Pleasure is an endless exploration”, directed by Matt Lambert out of production company PRETTYBIRD UK, continues to build on this strategy by encouraging people to keep exploring.


In a world where we need to avoid touch outside, being stuck indoors gives us an opportunity to explore the touch of intimacy more than ever; and at a time in which we can’t travel far, the possibilities to discover through pleasure are limitless – a whole new world right at our fingertips.

With that in mind, SKYN® and Sid Lee have created a cheeky ode to exploration, freedom and pleasure, by giving a twist to the most well-known song ever written about body parts: «Head Shoulders Knees and Toes». Through this campaign, SKYN® wants to encourage pleasure seekers to go beyond what they already know and start learning again, by trying, touching, exploring and having fun with their bodies.







The campaign is an invitation to explore pleasure, from the point of view of different communities, sexual orientations, and gender identities; with the engaged collaboration of director Matt Lambert, cinematographer Rina Yang, pop icon Peaches, and five real couples: @julyjones & @dakotarobinn, @violetig_ & @calmzulu, @theozero & @luisdejavier, and @efarnellwatson & @joshuajs91.

Matt Lambert of PRETTYBIRD UK, said:


"Much of my work over the years has focused on authentic representations of queer intimacy, love and sex. It was so exciting to be able to bring these worlds, and experience of directing countless intimacy/sex scenes, to a mainstream commercial space.”



The bespoke, adult, version of “Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” featured in the film was born from a global collaboration between teams in Paris and London, and Peaches (in Berlin), whose partnership was particularly important for the project. Musician, producer, director, and performance artist, Peaches is a legendary feminist pop icon who has spent nearly two decades pushing boundaries and wielding immeasurable influence over mainstream pop culture from outside of its confines, carving a bold, sexually progressive path that has opened the door for countless others to follow.

The brand is also announcing the launch of its freshly redesigned website, www.skyn.com, designed by Sid Lee. The new site goes beyond the norm and reflects SKYN®’s commitment to the exploration of pleasure. Through its digital overhaul, the brand extends the commitment towards genuine intimacy, by providing thoughtful curated tips and advice on a variety of topics. In the online shop customers can find the brand’s full range of products, from its new line of toys to condoms.


The campaign, which debuted in Australia in November, followed by Brazil, will continue in the UK, US, France, Poland, Italy, and will include separate product films on SKYN®’s social media and a print campaign.

Credits

Advertising Agency: Sid Lee Paris, France

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President: Johan Delpuech

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Executive Creative Director: Sylvain Thirache

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Creative Directors: Céline Mornet Landa, Clément Mornet Landa

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Creative Copywriter: Paula Hochberg

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Creative Copywriter: Jillian Young

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Art Director/Editor: Yoann Plard

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Art Director: Layla Gras

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Art Director: Adriana Guix

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Art Director: Olivier Bodet

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Head of Production: Thomas Laget

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Producer: Marine Redon, Benoit Fernandes

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Head of Social Media: Alexandre Ponte

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Social Media Manager: Jeff Deconchat

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Head of Strategy: Bruno Lee

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Strategic Planner: Sarah Herbain

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Managing Director: Mehdi Benali

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Group Account Director: Héloïse Marchal

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Group Account Director: Jessica Ferris

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Account Manager: Paul Pieuchot

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Global Marketing Strategy Director: Marta Toth / SKYN

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Global Brand Marketing Manager: Nicolas Woussen

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Production: PrettyBird UK

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Director Matt Lambert

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DOP: Rina Yang

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Social Media Photographer: Ben Cole

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Executive Producer: Juliette Larthe

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Producers: Meghan Willcox, Amalia Rawlings

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Production Manager: Benji Landman

McDonald’s| Sebas&Alicia

When you go through McDonald’s drive-thru there's one thing that's almost inevitable: eat your fries before you get home.

From this insight was born the latest promotion of McDonald's with the purchase of at least one McMenu, they give you some fries for you to enjoy along the way.

"Sebas&Alicia" is the name of the campaign created by the advertising agency TBWA\Spain. It tells the benefit of the promotion through the love story between a boy passing through McAuto and a girl who works at McDonald's.

The campaign consists in 2 TV commercials with durations of 20" and 10", and a 3-minute video that we can see on McDonald's YouTube channel and on the brand's own social networks.

The campaign has been directed by Maxi Sterle and Rodrigo García Saíz, and the production was directed by Central Films.

It’s an impressive leap by the agency to turn a McDonald’s promotion into an opportunity for brand building and entertainment. There are ten and twenty second cut downs too, but this full length version is worth a watch.

Credits
Advertising Agency: TBWA Spain

Chief Creative Officer: Juan García-Escudero

Creative Directors: Javier Martínez, Pablo Fernández

Art Director: Joan Guardiola

Copy: Lucía Santos

Brand Leader: Javier Villalba

Account Manager: Dolores Sánchez

Account Supervisor: Ana López-Perea

Executive Account: Alicia Aranda

TBWA Producer: Elisa González

Production Company: Central Films

Directors: Maxi Sterle, Rodrigo García Saíz

Postproduction: Serena

Client Contact/ McDonald’s: Natalia Echeverría, Héctor Rivero, Susana Herrera

Key digital trends for 2021

 Here are the seven digital trends for 2021.

1) Changes in B2B & B2C marketing strategies – Creating efficient strategies in lead generation and relationships

As well as engaging, social media now has to deliver sales results, and this is visible when a company begins to measure such results effectively. With the pandemic, some business models have been accelerated, such as online retail, click and collect, frictionless retail, and D2C e-commerce, changing the way companies position themselves to meet customer needs. Today, one of the basic principles of any content strategy is generating leads to build relationship with potential customers.

In the strategic domain, a big hit this year is expected to be big data-based natural language processing (NLP), which should help gain better understanding of the information obtained through big data systems and thus ease user interaction. Other highlights are the Data Warehouse (predictive, prescriptive, descriptive or diagnostic analytics) and Dark Data, which refer to all information that companies collect, process and store in the normal course of their activity, but are not intended for any other specific use.

2) Will 2021 be the year of AR and AI?

We are currently in the third wave of the Internet, a stage where Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are already part of all (or almost all) aspects of our lives. With these tools, brands can go beyond screens: they can experiment new formats and increase their creativity. However, like all new technology, using this resource requires a large investment in the development of prototypes.

Another factor pointing to the growth of Augmented Reality is the 5G technology, which should soon revolutionize how we connect with the Internet of Things (IoT). In the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI), we can expect a significant advance in technology being used to improve workflows and the buyer’s journey through personalization and hyper-personalization. In marketing, automation should go beyond naming the person to whom the message is directed; however, as artificial intelligence advances, some companies, such as content agencies, may probably be adversely affected.

3) Entertainment, Music, & Games – Creating online communities through influencers

It is often said that one of the paths to the future of social media is entertainment. However, several brands have difficulties in creating attractive content to their customers. An extremely viable solution is to team up with influencers who already do it very naturally. After all, real people connect with real stories, and nothing better than working with great opinion makers to bring entertainment to consumers who are increasingly demanding and seeking true connections.

Another big news is Spotify Studios , launched in 2020, which is aiming to include video podcasts. The gaming world is promising too: for instance, Fortnite has already performed several initiatives, such as including DC Comics characters in the game.

4) Flywheel – The clients are in the center

Several markets have used data captured in the digital environment and creating segment-oriented messages based on the user’s personal characteristics. Now it is time to have these data used not only by the marketing team but by the entire organization in a more strategical fashion aiming to design new products, services and solutions, and place the customer in the very center of all operations. Part of this change is related to the m-commerce, whereby purchase is made via cellphones. By the end of 2021, mobile devices are estimated to generate nearly 73% of the total e-commerce sale record, which entails that we need new digital strategies, especially content-centered strategies.

5) Engagement with purpose – Diversity and inclusion initiatives

Changing people’s lives through the enterprise’s activities is a growing trend in the market. Embracing diversity is currently a challenge for brands of which the public demands a more authentic position and long-term actions. Therefore, organizations should not decide to support a cause if they do not intend to live up to the expectations through actions. For example, if an organization is willing to invest in an LGBT-oriented campaign, it must ensure that its employees hold this ideal, provide job opportunities to this demographic, and treat LGBT people adequately. This is the only way for the campaign to be effective. This applies to any other topic of interest. Brands approaching diversity-related topics is a response to the constant changes in society, but it is necessary to be cautious and avoid superficial approaches.

6) New possibilities – Virtual Assistants, Twitch, TikTok, WhatsApp, Shoploop, & Kormo Jobs

Both voice search and use of virtual assistants such as Alexa and Siri should be taken into account in 2021. With the increasing use of voice search, brands are supposed to produce content aiming at these platforms. Twitch, which is widely used by the gaming community, has gained new audiences. Chinese social media TikTok already has offices in various parts of the world capable of designing solid strategies for brands. WhatsApp has promised to become an important sales tool, especially for small businesses.

The latest is Shoploop, a new video application that has come to compete with TikTok, but it has a more commercial focus that can truly benefit electronic commerce. This new project comes from Area 120, a Google department dedicated to innovation. For now, Shoploop is still in its trial phase, but another novelty, also from Google, that promises to draw attention in 2021 is Kormo Jobs, the Asian LinkedIn, Google’s newest professional tool. Already available in India, it promises to become the newest website connecting professionals worldwide.

7) Creative Talent – Senior professionals with a disruptive leader

With the increasing value of digital marketing over the past months, native advertising and programmatical advertising have joined forces, and now must work cooperatively. Having a team well directed by a manager with robust global experience and holistic vision is of essence. Having a well-aligned team delivering projects by the deadline is no longer enough; it is also necessary to innovate and be disruptive, to have the ability to leverage the social media and content team and assist the marketing professionals to make important decisions.

For example, in 2021 digital teams should create strategies for Bing and Yahoo! as alternatives to Google, and consider programmatical advertising for wearables, including the popular smartwatches. All that must be discussed and strategically lined-up with televised merchandising.

Babbel | ‘Understanding changes everything.’

The campaign focuses on the transformational effects that come with knowing another language. Highlighting the claim Understanding Changes Everything, two new TV Spots show how small interactions in other languages can have profound effects on a personal and professional level. 

This adds to one of Babbel’s core brand messages: to inspire conversations that transform your world. The campaign has been developed based on research and market tests done via the research institute IPSOS.



It’s the first cooperation between Babbel and the award-winning Amsterdam-based production company Media Monks together with creative director Charlotte Moore.

While much of the language learning space is about promoting language skills as a bullet point for your résumé or a tool for your next holiday, Babbel wanted to dive deeper. “It’s true that learning a new language can change your cognitive skills, your career options or your personal life”, says Charlotte Moore, Creative Director for the campaign. “But deeper than that, beyond that, it enhances what you understand about yourself and the world around you. When you put people together who share that experience, the possibilities of change for the better increase dramatically. Understanding is a power for good, and Babbel takes the responsibility of spreading it through language-learning very seriously.”




The message: Learning a language isn’t just a transactional skill, but a life-changing activity that changes how you see other people and therefore the world. Babbel’s courses, developed by language learning experts give users the necessary confidence to engage in a conversation with others. The efficacy of the courses has been demonstrated in several studies in collaboration with, for example, Yale University.

To test how this messaging would resonate in the markets before launch, Babbel enlisted the help of the market research institute IPSOS. "After talking to consumers globally, we understood that they wanted to be inspired to learn a language, but also wanted to know more about the benefits of Babbel,” says Ana Cavalcanti, Head of Creative Operations at Babbel.

“This is why our creative strategy addresses both, with a brand spot that delivers a fresh perspective of Babbel that inspires people to start their language learning journey, and a product spot that reminds learners that Babbel's expert-crafted learning experiences will motivate them and help them achieve the gratification of speaking a foreign language."

The international campaign kicks off with the two TV spots in 30-, 20- and 10-second formats in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Brazil, France, Italy and Spain. Besides TV the multi-channel campaign will be rolled out across social media, display, YouTube, PR channels and SEM.

Babbel is the new way to learn a foreign language. The comprehensive learning system combines effective education methods with state-of-the-art technology. Interactive online courses will improve your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation skills in no time. You'll make fast progress and have fun doing it.

NHS | Covid it ain’t over yet

Covid cases are going down (slowly) in the UK but there are still lots of people in hospital, many on ventilators.

By: MullenLowe London 

Kraft | Heinz | Draw Ketchup

We anonymously asked people all over the world to “draw ketchup.” The result? They all drew Heinz.

Idea by: Agency Rethink -Canada.

#Heinz

Total and ultimate brand building is when your product is synonymous with the category. When you become the industry not only one of the top of mind brands.

Leica| Our Small, Magnificent World

The world deserves witnesses. Our minds tend to bias for negative events, a quality often stoked by all the things seeking to stimulate us over the course of the day. But there are millions of tiny miracles occurring around us all the time. When we don't look, we miss them. A whole life could be spent missing the beauty of watching someone you love breathe.

This is what TBWA\Paris conveys, so warmly, in camera maker Leica's "The World Deserves Witnesses."

It begins: "This is it. This is our world. Our small world, where everything happens…"

That voice you hear is American photographer Joel Meyerowitz, who gave us this compelling puzzle of a picture circa 1974 or 1975. In the video, his voice ripples with emotion as he lists all the everythings happening around us: revolution, peace, war, hate, love, tragedy.

Some 30 photographers contributed to the campaign, and their images punctuate each word. The work is so beautiful, the juxtapositions so mindful, that it's helpful to stop and really look at them: Peace is two men mirthfully kissing. Women in the trenches, wearing varied expressions, illustrate war. A stuffed bear sits, as if on a trip, atop the wheels of a tank for "the killing." A bodybuilder, shiny and proud, represents hunger; a nun licking ice cream is "the little sins."

Maybe we are more sensitive to the impact of this ad since the presidential inauguration, whose many images, shared over and over across social media, seemed so replete with promises. But this past year, and its many trials, also reoriented us, forcing people to interrogate what is truly important to them. Some manifested the answer to that question by getting really political on social media. Others quit jobs or left cities, left partners. Still others learned to bake an awful lot of bread.

There is something of that here, too—this sense that we are just more aware of the world itself, not as an abstraction but as a living place where we also live, and that requires as much nurture as we do. Dreams of joining a Musk-powered Mars colony aside, this really is it, as Meyerowitz says at the beginning. This is our world, our small world. Where everything happens.

The video "manifesto" was developed using only existing photos; none were staged to suit the campaign, and nothing was retouched or altered. It will air online, with accompanying visuals to appear in more than 15 countries. Images will rotate and change over time.

"I had goosebumps down my arms and along my ribs when I first saw the video," Meyerowitz, who also contributed an image, says. "It was astonishing! It was more human and inspiring than anything any camera company has ever done! No doubt about it."

Below, check out the gallery of prints.

CREDITS

Brand: Andrea Pacella, Director Global Marketing & Communication Jérôme Auzanneau, Global Director Brand, Partnerships & Accessories 
TBWA\Paris: Renaud Berthe, Matthéo Pressmar, Alexandre Stachowiak Executive Creative Directors: Benjamin Marchal & Faustin Claverie Associate Creative Director: Philippe Rachel 
Associate Creative Director: Carl Härborg 
Art Purchase: Elise Kubler, Isabelle Jaubert 
Legal: Caroline Paillard 
Post-Production: Eléonore Girard 
Sound Production: \Else 
Composer: Niccolò Pacella 
Head of Music and Sound: Olivier Lefebvre 
Sound Director: Fabrice Pouvreau 
Sound Engineer: Alexandre Robieux 
Photographers (print in bold):  
Emily Garthwaite /Institute  
Kai Wiedenhöfer  
Sarah G. Ascough  
Stephen Vanasco  
Chris Suspect  
Véronique De Viguerie  
Justin Mott 
Gabriele Micalizzi 
Eolo Perfido  
Craig Semetko  
Jonathan Eden-Drummond  
Christian Werner  
Godong/ Getty Images 
Hulton-Deutsch Collection/ Getty Images 
Dotan Saguy  
Brian Otieno  
Joel Meyerowitz 
Pierre Belhassen  
Matt Stuart  
Bree Garcia  
Bruce Gilden / Magnum 
Frédéric Lanoizelé  
Richard Tsong-Taatarii  
Damir Sagolj 
Jasper Doest  
Joshua Buana  
Sylvestre Dedise  
Lutz Müller  
Emil Gataullin 

Puma | How ambush marketing was taken to a new level at the Olympics?

Promoting at the Olympics is safely guarded. After all, the keys to sponsorships sell for more than a billion dollars every four years.

Outside of that, no shenanigans are permitted.

When the clearly-defined rules are tampered with, the IOC gets very angry. They impose steep sanctions on those who transgress.

Meanwhile, with marketing, the brilliance often occurs at the edges, the tiny, hidden grey area between what is allowed and what isn’t. It is in this small pocket, that guerilla marketers unlock fortunes.

This is why this story is so brilliant.

The Setup

Usain Bolt owns the word ‘fast’. He is sponsored by internet companies. He is sponsored by jogging apparel.

And at the time, he was heavily sponsored by Puma, who was paying Bolt $10M a year as his primary sponsor, making him the face of the company.

They needed to capitalize on the Rio Games to justify this investment. Running a mere minute-long commercial would cost millions. And they lacked the budget to become a full-blown Olympic sponsor.

They needed a workaround.



100m Final

Usain Bolt flew across the finish line in 9.81 seconds, securing his gold medal.

He lifted his golden shoes high up in the air, striking his pose, and then took a lap around the stadium




It was all staged.

And as soon as he’d crossed the finish line, the marketing department at Puma kicked into high gear. It was 4 a.m. in their German offices. Their social media teams started carpet bombing social media with these images:

Notice this image doesn’t include a picture of Bolt or a reference to the Olympics. This was deliberate.
Here’s why

If you look at the actual footage from the race, he was wearing his gold shoes but they were modified:

The Olympic Committee had strictly forbidden marketing slogans being displayed by athletes. This was enforced down to the most minute details.

How Puma and Bolt Tricked Everyone

Technically — they hadn’t broken the rules. At the time of his race, the phrase was not an official marketing slogan. It was just in the moments after that it became one.

Additionally, and with a slight twist, the phrase on his shoes ‘forever fastest’ was simply a homage to Puma’s official slogan ‘forever faster’, which was named after Bolt in the months prior.

Bolt and Puma planned beforehand that he would hold the gold shoes up while doing his pose to help them be seen on cameras.

The inscribing on the insoles of his shoes was also deliberate. Bolt was zoomed in on more than any other athlete during the Olympics.

There was an additional reason Puma didn’t reference the Olympics or medals when posting Bolt’s shoes: they didn’t need to.

Everyone on the planet who was following the Olympics knew Bolt won his 100m when they saw these images. They knew exactly what Puma was talking about, without Puma having to be explicit.

By circumventing the rules, they’d pulled off a monster free advertisement that would have easily cost them tens of millions to buy. In turn, it led to more than $50M increased sales of their product in the following months.

Meanwhile, Nike was infuriated. They’d paid more than $100M to be the featured shoe brand of the Olympics. They threatened legal action in the aftermath, but when push came to shove, there was nothing more they could do.

Following these Olympics, the IOC had to tweak the marketing rules yet again which, when it comes to ambush marketing, is the surest sign of a win.

How to Get the Most From Instagram for Your Brand

 Fearing to be left behind in the social media race, the vast majority of brands have ventured into social media space with little strategic thought or understanding of how to get the most out of their platforms. Many brands are using their pages as avenues to run short-term behaviour and reward activities which may harm brand value in the long term by teaching already loyal consumers to become sensitive to sales promotions (Kotler & Lee, 2008; Schultz & Block, 2012; Gambetti & Graffigna, 2010; Nelson-Field et al., 2012; Romaniuk, 2011).

After a decade in business, Instagram boasts one billion active worldwide accounts (Instagram, 2020). As of April 2020, the US has the highest number of Instagram accounts of any country with 120 million users (Clement, 2020). Brands big and small across the globe are using Instagram to drive their marketing and sales efforts. “When 90% of accounts follow at least one business on Instagram, it goes without saying that brands want in on the marketing action, too,” (Chen, 2020).

Arguably, Instagram is the most important platform to succeed on in the Western World in 2020.

According to research by Neilsen (2015) Instagram campaigns have achieved results two to three times above those possible on other online channels for the same set of brands and advertising goals.

Why is this possible?

Instagram is so different from other social media options because it allows firms to tell compelling brand stories in the style of a visual diary, carefully selected to represent a chosen identity. A visual ‘lifestyle’ mood board loaded with brand associations.

Therefore, brands can truly integrate with other Instagram users, marketing themselves in a non-confrontational manner and portraying authenticity by downplaying commercial motives.

“People today are discontented with this commercial existence and lack faith in marketing, with almost everything in their lives seeming to be contrived,” (Napoli, Dickinson, Beverland, & Farrelly, 2014). To combat this, consumers no longer search for an objective truth of reality, but instead hunt for cues of authenticity (Beverland & Farrelly, 2010; Beverland, Lindgreen, & Vink, 2008; Peñaloza, 2000).

Brands that come across as inauthentic, seem intrusive and irritating to consumers (Hall, 2014). Conversely, consumers have reported being more receptive to brand messages if they are ‘hidden’ in social media, rather than presented as traditional direct advertising (Palmer & Koenig-Lewis, 2009).

How Brands Can Portray Authenticity on Instagram

1. Use ‘authentic’ cues

These specific firm-level intangible cues have been found to denote authenticity (Napoli et al., 2014, Gundlach & Neville, 2012; Sandlin & Pena, 2014; Harris & Deacon, 2011; Illicic & Webster, 2014):

• A commitment to quality
• Heritage
• Relationship to place
• Sincerity
• Nostalgia
• Craftsmanship
• Consistency of design

Successful brands weave these cues into their Instagram advertising to build authenticity and credibility with their followers.

2. Personify the brand

Consumers use a firm’s Instagram account to build a picture of their favourite brand as if that brand was a human.

Instagram users I interviewed for my thesis about this phenomena could specifically describe the person they imagined a brand to be based on brand associations visually depicted in Instagram photos. For example:

• “The skinny as, fashionable girl, who is kind of sulky, quite pale, slightly edgy, a bit too cool.”
• “Dark moody type… She doesn’t care what other people think. Simple, clean-cut, no frilly stuff, and it’s not girly whatsoever… Just strong and independent, gives no shit.”
• “This person’s [the brand as a person] concerned about their image. So, they dress nicely and have pretty nice branded clothes… Creative. Thinks a little bit differently.”

Portraying brands as ‘people’ on Instagram is tied to understanding how consumers come to see brands as authentic members of their Instagram communities. Social media space is personal and social and therefore corporate messages must be personable and relatable to be accepted by consumers (Chow & Shi, 2015; Simmons, 2007; Berry 2000).

I un-follow something as soon as it’s like ‘Shredzergram get the 60-day challenge for this much money’ because I’m like that’s no longer an inspiring pic with someone with nice abs, it’s now like, it’s a sale.

Human warmth and social presence are key factors in establishing relationships between brands and consumers (Chow & Shi, 215). Building and communicating a strongly humanized brand allows a firm to win consumer trust, generate a perception of credibility, and tell a compelling story (Berry, 2000).

Ruby and Superette [two brands] I stopped following. I think they posted too often and too advertisement-like. Whereas I like seeing people that look more natural, like it was almost someone’s page. When it looks too advertised it’s just boring… you want the brand to be more personable.

3. Telling a lifestyle story

Authentic brand perceptions are built via the creation of ‘brand lifestyle stories’. A lifestyle story was found to be crafted via a series of images depicting branded products in use in real-world situations.

I like that because… they’re not selling their product, but they’re selling like a lifestyle that comes with the product.

And:

It’s the lifestyle that they’re selling so it’s what I like to see.

Interviewees expected brands on Instagram to depict their products authentically in use, rather than hanging up in the shop. This allowed brands to downplay their commercial motives, and fit in more effectively with their consumers on Instagram.

The story going behind the photos can almost be just as important…as… if they’ve thrown up this new watch because they’ve got it into stock, or if it’s a sale on or something I’m just not that interested. Whereas if a guy had been out climbing the mountain with it and had been bashing through the snow for eight hours and then took a photo that was all covered in snow and it was like pouring down then that’s cool.

This style of marketing on Instagram means creating staged ‘brand autobiographical memories’ to tell a lifestyle story.

Sharing personal autobiographical memories is known to help people bond and make interactions more authentic and meaningful (Bluck, 2003). Visual autobiographical memories are snapshots that link a person to a memory or experience (Bluck, 2003). Authentic brands adapted to this method of digital self-identity presentation by staging ‘branded autobiographical memories’, which allow these brands to build authentic identities in the eyes of their consumers.

For example:

Huckberry does a lot of events… they were trying to get a whole lot of people together in Yosemite national park, in California and they were having photo-shoots. They were getting people out there as well, and so then it was like almost documenting that trip. And they had photos of guys in the hammocks that they sell, with sunsets behind them and the big cliff-faces in Yosemite, and that had all been going on while they were having this event so that when there is a story to tell I like it.

Maintaining continuity of elements over time allows a firm to align their brand with a specific lifestyle theme; (for example, wilderness exploring or surfing) that the consumer can relate to. Congruency between the lifestyle portrayed by the brand on Instagram and the consumer’s values drives genuine consumer connections. Consumers choose brand companions that re-affirm their ideas of themselves (Kumar, Luthra & Datta 2006).

Say, it was a surfing brand, I’m taking surfing pictures so I have a common interest which is surfing or the outdoors or something kind of like the drawcard. So the reason that I follow them [brands] is that they’re posting… they post material that’s similar to myself.

Aspirational lifestyle escapism also has a role here. It fills a hedonic need of consumers: to escape their own perceptively mundane realities, and imagine themselves as part of a new and exciting digital world. The use of artistic visuals allows consumers to achieve the hedonic escapism they desire by allowing firms to effectively downplay their commercial motives and present a virtual ‘brand-world’ that consumers can escape into. For example:

I think she’s in France which is just the ultimate chic to me. Walking through a European town, kind of old school, black and white, she looks chic. She’s not actually even wearing the Lonely Hearts clothing so it’s not really an advert, but I’d love to be in Paris, sitting at a café. She’s sitting by herself, I’m quite a wanderer by myself. I like wandering. It looks kind of like she is listening to people’s conversations. She’s really chic, and I’d look at that in an art book.

The reference above to Instagram images not being perceived as adverts, but more as pictures that could be found in an art book is at the crux of why Instagram is so effective for perceptively authentic brand building.

Artistic visual media on Instagram allows firms to downplay their commercial motives which encourages consumers to hedonically escape into a brand’s lifestyle story. As another example:

This picture here is a picture of someone, it looks like an old picture, wearing a Belstaff jacket that you can’t really see, and they’re riding a motorbike away from you so the jacket is not the focal point of the picture, it’s the motorcyclist… I like how it’s subtle. It’s not really trying to sell you anything. It’s displaying how the products can be used and that’s how I’d like to use the product so that’s why I like it. I would like one of the jackets and I would like a motorbike like that.

4. Using consumer-generated content

Featuring consumer-generated content allows brands to use their consumers as endorsers, which functions to further foster perceptions of authenticity due to endorser relatability (Kumar et al., 2006). This reflects the power of the typical person endorser which has long been acknowledged (McCracken, 1989), but also the power of directly bringing the consumer into the brand story (Gensler et al., 2013). For example:

I think it’s cool. It shows a connection between the brand and the consumer. It’s basically all trying to make it seem like it’s not a big corporate, and it shows how other consumers are using the products. Also the worn look… People like it. I’d quite like to see how a pair of shoes will look a couple of years down the line and what they can be used for.

And:

Lonely Girls Project is dedicated to all the Lonely girls that buy the Lonely Lingerie, and I think it comes through hashtags, so if you put a hashtag up under your post they can feature you under their page. And this is much more fun because you can see real people wearing it. Because you see the models wearing it and you think, really, does it sit that nicely? Then you see real people wearing it and you see people of different shapes and sizes who love their Lonely, and, you know, and it’s much more real… Rather than just a thing that seems unobtainable because you just see celebrities and models doing it.

A possible consumer-generated content feature on Instagram also provides some consumers with a reason to follow brands: the potential for wider exposure for their content, and fifteen minutes of fame. Multiple interviewees followed brands in the hope of having their photos featured.

Summary: How to get the most from Instagram for your brand

• Market brands on Instagram as if the brand was a person, to allow consumers to befriend, connect with, and follow the firm as they would one of their best friends.
• Use Instagram to tell lifestyle stories by constructing content based on staged autobiographical memories.
• Maintain a continuity of elements over time to allow a firm to align their brand with a specific lifestyle theme.
• Present content that is artistic and fits with the culture of Instagram as a community.
• Recognise the value of using consumer-generated content to both make their brand relatable to consumers, and as a reason for consumers to tag the brand in the content they want featured, generating electronic word of mouth.