MAKE BORING LESS BORING

TitleMAKE BORING LESS BORING
BrandINSTAGRAM
Product/ServiceINSTAGRAM
Category E01. Acquisition & Retention
Entrant ACNE Stockholm, SWEDEN
Idea Creation ACNE Stockholm, SWEDEN
Idea Creation 2 HEAT San Francisco, USA
Production ACNE Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production 2 HEAT San Francisco, USA
Credits
Name Company Position
Johan Bello ACNE Executive Creative Director
Niclas Bergström ACNE Account Director / Executive Producer
David Aronson ACNE Associate Creative Director
Ante Stenberg ACNE Associate Creative Director
David Hammarström ACNE Craft Lead
Agnes Zetterman ACNE Art Director
Simon Saarinen ACNE Art Director
Sara Edbom ACNE Art Director
John Hammarström ACNE Art Director
Emma Kirsch ACNE Copywriter
Matthew Hearle ACNE Senior Planner
Caroline Tell ACNE Planner
Alice Kruger ACNE Producer
Ben Clark ACNE Client Director
Isaac Clemens Heat Client Director
Cameron Hogan Heat Account Director
Scot Van den Driesen Heat Associate Creative Director
Sally Hastings Heat Associate Creative Director
Bram Cueppens Heat Senior Creative
Stijn Jansen Heat Senior Creative
Samantha Jolley Heat Art Director
Melissa Ployosphon Heat Copywriter
Aimee Bosley Heat Producer

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

Instagram’s growth amongst teens was slowing globally because of the perception teens should post picture perfect lives. To drive app installs amongst our target market, we created a growth and acquisition campaign that traded the pressure of fabricating #bestlife moments for the freedom to use Instagram to play with the mundane and make everyday life fun and share-worthy. We opted for a digitally-driven campaign, that leveraged local insights, so that we could test, learn, optimize and localise creative on the fly while ultimately tracking how the executions were driving app downloads.

Background

The very thing that made Instagram famous (highly-curated and stylized photos) was driving teens away. They used to love showing off their #bestlife -- but over time the pressure to impress on social media turned into unwanted stress, driving teens to shift engagement to platforms where communication and creativity were more casual. Therefore, we were tasked with producing and testing different creative approaches to make Instagram more appealing and drive acquisition and engagement amongst non-users across multiple geographies.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

Our idea was to make the routine of everyday life more fun: to make "boring less boring”. Creative leveraged “easy to create” Instagram content which demonstrated to teens they did not need to be “experts” in order to post on the social platform. Our campaign was a daily showcase of the cool ways Instagram can make everyday life more fun without being picture-perfect. Whether we were putting eyes on rocks or bologna on faces, running polls and asking questions about mundane activities, we drew from the themes of discovery and creation to give teens the means make “boring” less boring. We also saw that the way we previously done the ads didn’t resonated with teens. We tried to use an iPhone instead when creating content in order to be on the same level creatively as teens. Suddenly the ads started to be more real, relatable and simple.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

We used a number of research methodologies, including interviews, surveys and behavioural analytics, to compile data and research on our target audience - teens aged 13-17 in 30 markets. From our research, we found that teens labeled Instagram as time-consuming, stressful/intimidating, invasive, anti-social and fake. Thus, our strategic conclusion was to “lower the bar” and shift teens’ perception of Instagram from the “picture-perfect, only for the weekend platform” to a safe, everyday avenue for self-discovery and self-expression. With our creative idea to make “boring” less boring, we doubled down on existing market relevant trends, market specific “boring moments,” and cultural nuances, to produce tailored creative for core markets that gave teens ideas on how to engage, discover, and create on Instagram.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

We designed a bespoke team model that allowed us to combine 3 working days in one. Resulting in a steady stream of assets and a global rollout: Hundreds of versions and formats. Strategic and creative development was led by our agency team. Our partnering agency assisted us with ensuring transcreation efficiency, resonance across cultures and geographies, and swift post-production turnarounds. This allowed us to output over 500 assets per month. The campaign began in May 2018 and ran through December 2018 across multiple programmatic ad networks including GDN, UAC and Facebook Audience Network. We also needed to create ads that teens can relate and respond to. Using an iPhone instead when creating content to be on the same level creatively as teens. Suddenly the ads started to be more real and relatable. We crafted localization plans leveraging market-level insights in 30 different markets then created thousands of pieces of content

List the results (30% of vote)

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