Storyboard | Instagram launches an ad blitz. Here’s why

As part of its latest advertising blitz, Instagram will run five television commercials and 11 on-platform videos during the upcoming T20 Cricket World Cup tournament.

Instagram has over 21 crore users in India. The social network is known for users presenting a picture-perfect life, causing "Instagram envy" in many people. But now, the Facebook-owned social media platform wants to “show several million other Indians that they need not be apostles of perfection to be on this platform,” says Pallavi Chakravarti, creative head - DDB Mudra West, about Instagram's new ad campaign, ‘We Are In The Making’.

In Chakravarti’s view, “Instagram is where culture is pushed forward. TV is where millions of people will potentially be nudged into taking the plunge.” That’s why television is a major part of the media mix for Instagram’s latest campaign.

With 'We Are In The Making', Instagram, it seems, is attempting to partly shed its “apostle of perfection” image and present a more inclusive brand.

In 2020, the platform and its Reels feature got a huge boost after TikTok, the popular short-form video app, exited India, following the Indian government’s ban on Chinese-owned apps.

At its peak in 2020, TikTok had 200 million users in India, drawing many “working-class creators” from all nooks and crannies of the country.

TikTok’s quick rise to stratospheric heights led to the creation of many me-too apps and features. While the content on the platform was often labelled “cringey”, TikTok was also considered more open, allowing people to be their real selves, and had democratised the power of creation and virality.

Now, Instagram is encouraging more users from everywhere to create on its platform.

A pursuit of imperfection

As a part of its latest advertising blitz, Instagram will run five television commercials and 11 on-platform videos during the upcoming T20 Cricket World Cup tournament. These films also aired during the second part of the Indian Premier League. Several creators including Saurabh Ghadge, Meethika Dwivedi and Shantanu Dhope, feature in the ads.

From the brand’s vantage, ‘We Are In The Making’ is focused on driving “consideration”, says Avinash Pant, director - marketing, Facebook India.

Instagram is encouraging self-discovery, “because, for young people, identity isn’t defined, it’s something that’s constantly explored. Identity formation means connecting more deeply with the people that matter to you, discovering and experimenting with new interests, or sharing your perspective, however work-in-progress it may be,” he says.

Chakravarti and her team worked closely with creators for this campaign. “They bring their talent and their enthusiasm to the table, they have a blast, they want to experiment, they are uninhibited, they’re cool with trial and error,” she says, speaking about her experience of working with these creators. Since none of them took too long “to understand the creative vision”, things were smooth on set, she adds.

Last year, too, Instagram went all out to celebrate the creators and their creativity that manifests on its short video feature - Reels. The campaign, ‘Do Your Thing’, was designed to inspire the creator in everyone. Instagram is attempting to spotlight “the impact it has on culture” through these consumer advertisements, says Pant.

Besides advertising, the company is also intensifying efforts to educate and enable creators through mentorship and collaboration opportunities. For instance, Instagram recently launched a new version of its ‘Born-on-Instagram’ creator education program, where creators get the chance to learn through a self-paced course and earn through rewards and brand partnerships.

All about people

In her previous stint at Taproot Dentsu, Chakravarti worked on Facebook’s ad campaigns like 'More Together'. As someone who knows the brand, Chakravarti says she enjoys working on the account because “it’s all about people.”

“One may argue that all brands are ultimately about people, but this is different. People make these brands what they are - their emotions, their expressions, their desires. In that sense, these brands are almost alive. A stick of gum today will still be a stick of gum tomorrow. Not so with these platforms,” she explains.

On the difference between working on Facebook and Instagram, she says, “Facebook and Instagram are at two ends of the spectrum - in the case of the former, people coming together as a collective can change an individual’s trajectory. And in the latter, individuals and their expressions can impact a collective, spark trends and shape culture.”