London – The Decoded Fashion Summit 2016 in London saw Instagram’s 7th
employee, Amy Cole, give a talk on the power of Instagram.
The 2016 summit has been a focus point to explore the integrative,
impactful, relevant and consumer-led innovation in fashion and technology,
of which Instagram has played a key role since the app was first introduced
to our mobile phones in 2010.
“Instagram is not just about pretty pictures, or people posting for likes
and comments. It is a place to connect around inspirational imagery,” Cole
enthuses. In the bigger picture, “brands should be asking how do you
connect people around all these inspirational and aspirational moments” and
then actually capitalise on this and drive sales.
As an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing, and social networking
service that enables, brands should think of instagram as a real channel, a
real platform for growing their businesses. Whilst there are other
photo-sharing apps, including Tumblr, Facebook, Google and Pinterest,
research has shown images on Instagram are considered 2.8 times more
imaginative and distinctive, and 1.5 times more creative than other apps.
Instagram is a powerful medium for the fashion industry, and it is
interesting to see the myriad of ways the platform is being used. Instagram
for the past few seasons has been re-imagining the runway, giving users a
multitude of perspectives from the front row, behind the scenes, in hair &
makeup, be it from a buyer, a celebrity, a photographer, an editor or a
designer’s perspective. A good example of utilising Instagram was Tommy
Hilfiger’s AW16 catwalk show, where he created an Instapit – a place where
bloggers could take unique photos from the show and share them online.
Other designers are embracing the app in their own unique way, for example
some designers have uploaded their entire collections prior to their
catwalk show. New York-based designer Misha Nonoo created a separate show
account so that it wouldn’t conflict with any publication of her catwalk
images and users knew what to expect. Here she uploaded creative look book
images and still shots of full looks.
Another example is make-up artist Pat McGrath, who works with many luxury
brands, including Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada and Givenchy. At a
product launch event in Brooklyn she took over a diner, bringing in
celebrities and influencers and people from the street alongside a team of
artists doing makeup. By doing so she created an experience around the
brand, all of which is documented by photographs, and then posted as
content, which subsequently gets shared and liked around the world.
At the Met Gala in New York last week, Vogue created an Instagram Studio
with fluorescent lights, what Cole deems as ‘experiential’ content. The
result being incredible videos and content where users can share
experiences created around a brand and see first-hand how they can be used
to tell their story.
Video consumption on Instagram is exploding, and has increased by 40
percent in the past six months. When you think of all the ways people can
use video, the platform is creating more tools and more methods to create
and consume that content more easily. For example, one recent upgrade has
been to expand the video length to 60 seconds, so brands can think what
those longer form stories could say for them.
Higher production quality, time-lapse and cutting tools for editing allow
for more professional content that can be tailored to the brand, to make
compelling video. One notable app that can be accessed from Instagram is
Boomerang, which operates like animated GIFs, and are easy for brands to
curate interesting content. Instagram is focused on bringing more tools to
brands, to expand the ways they can tell their stories.
When we think about creating video for mobile, Cole has a few tips: think
about user experience, as you want to capture users attention quickly.
Think about your own behaviour when you’re using Instagram, if you’re
scrolling quickly, you want to capture that moment instantly. You want to
be able to convey your message in video without the user necessarily having
sound on. Also think about framing your story, think about the entire space
you have when you’re on a mobile. You can take different formats of video
on Instagram, but if you use the full square you’re “getting so much more
real estate,” says Cole. Brands should also play more, and to test and
learn what works, don’t be afraid to be innovative.
Connecting with the community is key on Instagram and brands should embrace
engaging on a deeper level, such as mixing professional images from
campaigns and look books, but also backstage, street style, celebrities,
and at the same time reaching out and commenting with users, such as having
discussions with people following the brand. Having that connection makes
users feel closer to the brand, as it builds the connection and closes the
gap between user and brand.
At the same time, the Instagram community is also inspiring the fashion
industry. Calvin Klein’s former Creative Director was inspired by Artist
Alice Lancaster’s colorful, Fauvist-skewed paintings and self-portraits on
her Instagram feed. “I had been following him [Costa] for a while and there
was this moment where he posted an image from a runway show. I posted a
bunch of hearts on it,” says Lancaster. “I think at the moment he was on
his phone and saw the notification, and he quickly went over to my account
and saw my work.” It culminated in Costa using a print from Lancaster’s
work and showing it in Calvin Klein’s resort 2016 show.
Gucci too has found inspiration on Instagram. The Italian fashion house
launched #GucciGram at the end of 2015, which it’s creative director
Alessandro Michele said “is a starting point to tell different stories,
which are all united by a great freedom. Today creativity is often born and
finds its voice in digital media, a vital source of visual culture.”
“It’s very exciting to see how people are engaging around fashion,” says
Cole. The most important tip she lends, is that companies post content that
are ‘on brand.’ Really understanding what your brand stands for and
leveraging that into creative content. For example, if we think what
Burberry stands for, being a British heritage brand, it’s feed shows images
of its iconic trench coat, iconic check pattern, iconic London scenes,
etc, which is in contrast with Refinery29, a company that aims to be the
number one media brand for smart, creative and stylish women, who’s content
is vibrant, youthful and more playful.
The most overlooked branding exercise on Instagram is the space under the
username, says Cole. Often brands will say this is a “visual account of so
and so,” but rather it should be utilitised to tell people what you stand
for, what your brand is, and what your account will show to people. It’s a
good tool to use, because you can see if the images posted reflect the
ethos of the brand. A good example is the Hugo Boss eyewear campaign with
the Instagram hashtag #masterthelight, who’s images all incorporate the
theme of contrast between light and shadow. Consistency in imagery is key
to telling a story.
Cole’s final message was for brands to think about the craft of images, and
utilising the knowledge of how immediate, emotive and how powerful images
can be. Think about what you’re uploading, think about what story you are
going to tell, and how will it look on your account. How are you crafting
that experience for your brand.
Images:Instagram