Q: Why are more and more brand s looking for ways to take advantage of user-created images?
A: Much of it’s about storytelling. Visual imagery transcends languages and evokes emotional responses more so than a simple status update. From a brand perspective, visual storytelling is the natural evolution of existing consumer behaviors.
Q: Give one example of a brand that’s recently integrated user-created images into a campaign.
A: A campaign we worked on for American Airlines is a good example. Knowing that travelers take pictures, American Airlines invited them to submit photos via mobile, Instagram, etc., tied to a weekly theme. The visual images associated with the themes provided a more compelling call to action and some structure for consumers to create on behalf of the brand versus a stand ard promotional call to action. Via compelling images, brand s can allow consumers to drive the creation of brand ed content, which drives additional attention in a users social activity stream, thus driving additional consideration for the brand .
Q: Why all the buzz around images?
A: Two reasons: Accessibility and enablement. High-quality images and video are at consumers’ fingertips via their mobile devices. This, combined with an ease of editing and publishing via apps such as Instagram or the native software on their devices, has led to an explosion in interest in not only sharing images, but also redefining the discoverability of information visually.
Q: First Tumblr, then Instagram, now Pinterest. Why are consumers adopting these tools so quickly?
Their power lies not only in the simplicity and ease of publishing or pinning, but how each is deeply integrated into a user’s social graph. Pinterest has created an opportunity for users to visually browse topics of interest, reaffirming consumers interests in visually searching for information. Brand s that understand and capitalize on visual storytelling across channels will ultimately reap the benefits and have higher levels of engagement.
