Instagram Ads Thrive in U.K.
How have Instagram ads fared in the U.K. since launching there last September?
The Facebook-owned photo- and video-sharing network offered an overview of campaigns by retailer John Lewis, broadcast television network Channel 4 and chocolate brand Cadbury in a post on the Instagram for Business blog:
Retailer John Lewis turned to Instagram to change perceptions of its brand among a younger, fashion-conscious female audience. It partnered with some of Britain’s hottest young bloggers for a six-week campaign that brought its Christmas party line to life through photo shoots, “get the look” videos and Hyperlapse videos.
Through its campaign, John Lewis was able to reach an audience of younger, influential women, driving a 14-point lift in purchase intent and a 3-point lift in brand favorability, according to Nielsen.
Meanwhile, Channel 4, the U.K.’s most innovative broadcast channel, wanted to promote its hit reality show, Gogglebox, and it was facing a problem. Because each episode of Gogglebox is filmed one week before broadcast, the TV station couldn’t rely on its usual strategy of teasing content from the show. Instead, it developed an Instagram campaign that used beautiful images to celebrate the personalities of the show’s stars. The channel’s target audience was encouraged to guess which Gogglebox character they represented.
“The 18- to 34-year-old audience is incredibly important for Channel 4,” said James Walker, the station’s head of marketing. “Venturing into the Instagram advertising space was a great opportunity to try a new way of creatively engaging with them.”
With more than 750,000 18- to 34-year-olds reached on Instagram, Channel 4 saw a 19-point lift in ad recall, while the campaign also strengthened Gogglebox’s association with the Channel 4 brand by 7 points.
Iconic chocolate brand Cadbury was one of Instagram’s original U.K. launch partners. Its month-long #freethejoy campaign in October 2014 was targeted at females age 25 through 54, and was designed to build awareness and provide incremental reach.
More than 1 million people were reached by the campaign, which featured origami-style creative made entirely from Cadbury’s chocolate wrappers. The campaign drove a massive 20-point lift in ad recall alongside an 8-point lift in message association.
U.K. readers: What have your experiences been like with Instagram ads?
