Last week Google‘s executive chairman Eric Schmidt revealed that Jennifer Lopez‘s appearance at the 2000 Grammy awards, wearing that green Versace dress, was the inspiration for Google Images.
“[Google users] wanted more than just text” Schmidt wrote on his blog. Such is the power of imagery.
On Saturday, tennis player Andy Murray wed Kim Sears and used nothing but Apple emojis in a wedding tweet about his big day – a picture says a thousand words after all, and he had several.
Now an analysis of the first Instagram adverts in the UK has emerged which shows that on average, UK Instagram campaign performance produced 3 times higher levels of ad recall against the Nielsen Online Ads average.
Confectionary giant Cadbury was one of the first brands to advertise on Instagram, using the platform to build the brand, showcase creativity and inspire its audience. As part of the on-going advertising campaign running across TV and print, Cadbury Dairy Milk also wanted to leverage Instagram to help build on its messaging of ‘Free The Joy.”
The Instagram Creative Shop worked with Cadbury‘s digital and media agency to shape an idea to delight people as they scroll through the Instagram feed. In the campaign, the brand wanted to elevate the creative feeling around packaging – and teamed up with a paper-folding artist to create little moments of joy using the wrappers of the various iconic products in the Cadbury Dairy Milk range. These light-hearted expressions of joy were shot in a variety of everyday settings where people might enjoy a bar of chocolate.
Results came in the form of a 20 point ad recall lift, and an eight point lift on the campaign message association to the tagline. The strongest increase came against the 25-34 age segment which was the primary objective of the campaign
In the run up to Christmas, British retailer John Lewis was producing its regular online ‘Edit‘, showcasing the latest ‘Laid-back luxe‘ trend for the festive season. The Instagram Creative Shop worked alongside the John Lewis team and the Creative Director at their advertising agency to plan and shoot the material that would appear exclusively on Instagram. From scouting locations, defining the style of photography and briefing the photographer, to making the final shot selection, the Instagram Creative Shop worked hand in hand with the agency throughout the process.
Ad recall for John Lewis lifted 10 points, purchase intent 14 points (for a 25-34 year audience) and brand favourability saw a three point lift (for an 18-24 year audience)
“People are excited about Instagram as a channel,” says Angela Bertram, Social Community Manager at John Lewis. “We can be quite experimental and it‘s really helped us grow our community.”
The Instagram community has now grown to more than 300m Instagrammers, who share more than 70m photos and videos each day
The proliferation of Instagram usage is undeniable, and it‘s an exceedingly popular platform for a mobile, visual world.
Alastair Cotterill, Creative Lead for Instagram in EMEA adds: “The visual web represents a continuing revolution in the way we communicate – In turn, it has created an incredible opportunity for brands to connect with people in powerful new ways.”
He continues: “We know that people are moved by emotions. Brands who want to be at the centre of visual inspiration and discovery need to think carefully about what emotion they want their content to evoke. Brands such as John Lewis and Cadbury are already harnessing the power of mobile in delivering against real business goals.”
