CreativityHow Leo Burnett Uses Its Instagram to Show a Day in the Life of EmployeesAn agency turns the storytelling on itselfBy Tim Nudd|February 7, 2018 Creative director Scott Smith was the most recent subject of a DITL profile.Leo BurnettShareBy Tim Nudd|February 7, 2018 ShareAgencies use their Instagram accounts in dozens of different ways, often giving the feed over to employees to curate themselves. Leo Burnett Chicago does something a little different, though related—using a series of posts to regularly spotlight a “day in the life” of a staffer who’s doing interesting things.The series is called simply “Day in the Life.” It’s done in the style of an Instagram takeover, where the agency shares snapshots and details of the person throughout the course of an entire day. In the final post of the day, the employee answers questions submitted by followers. He or she is also featured in a Q&A on LeoBurnett.us.Each DITL consist of eight to 10 Instagram posts. The photos are taken by professionals from Greenhouse, Leo Burnett’s in-house production department. The featured employees can come from any discipline, vertical or seniority level within the agency.The very first DITL was posted in July 2014 and featured Jane Condon (above), who was a summer intern in the corporate communications department at the time. There have been 17 more DITLs since then. The most recent one profiled creative director Scott Smith in a series of 10 posts.Here are six of the 10 posts featuring Smith: Good morning. // Today, we spend a day in the life of Creative Director Scott Smith, exploring the projects, passions and rituals that engage and inspire him every day. The first of these activities is meditation. With a mind he likens to a “train station,” meditating in the morning helps him clear his thoughts and begin each day fresh. Itching to ask Scott something? Here’s your chance: Comment below with your question and look for Scott’s answer in the series’ final post. #lbdayinthelifeA post shared by Leo Burnett (@leoburnett) on Jan 18, 2018 at 4:50am PST Lunch master. // It doesn’t take much time with Scott to gather that he’s a proud and involved dad, and mornings usually are reserved for some family time before school. Scott still makes time every morning to pack a lunch for his youngest daughter, Piper, despite the fact she's now a senior in high school. #lbdayinthelifeA post shared by Leo Burnett (@leoburnett) on Jan 18, 2018 at 5:58am PST A frozen Riverwalk. // To get to the office, Scott commutes on the Brown line from his home in Ravenswood Manor on the city’s far north side. But he admits he’s a little too impatient to ride the train around the Loop. Instead, Scott always gets off at Merchandise Mart and takes the scenic route to the office – even in below-zero temperatures. #lbdayinthelifeA post shared by Leo Burnett (@leoburnett) on Jan 18, 2018 at 7:02am PST Creative collaboration. // In the office, Scott gets down to work with his longtime creative partner in crime, John Kistner. As creative directors, John and Scott lead the creative for Allstate’s corporate and CSR programs. Their key to brainstorming? “Keep steering it back to insights and the question, ‘What’s the human need we’re solving for?’” #lbdayinthelifeA post shared by Leo Burnett (@leoburnett) on Jan 18, 2018 at 9:02am PST A vinyl adventure. // As the creator of a film about a cursed blues record and a musician himself, it should be no surprise that Scott’s favorite workdays are those that allow for a midday trip to the @RecklessRecords just down the street. And on truly perfect days, he says, he’ll actually find a record he’s been searching for. #lbdayinthelifeA post shared by Leo Burnett (@leoburnett) on Jan 18, 2018 at 12:04pm PST “I like to doodle.” // For some creatives, artistic side projects can be draining, but not for Scott. Sketching old-time football players and characters is a favorite way to unwind in the evening and continue his seemingly endless creativity. For Scott, getting lost in the creative process is what he truly loves – and he makes sure he spends every day doing just that. Thank you, Scott, for sharing your day and your myriad of creative talents with us. Until next time. #lbdayinthelifeA post shared by Leo Burnett (@leoburnett) on Jan 18, 2018 at 6:10pm PST Burnett tells Adweek that DITL has been a great way to engage with Leo Burnett employees as well as alumni, and has even been a good recruiting tool. We spoke to Drew Wehrle, vice president of MSL, the Publicis Groupe PR agency that works with Leo Burnett, about the DITL project. (DITL was originally started by Burnett PR execs, many of whom now work for MSL.)Adweek: Where did the idea come from to do the Day in a Life series? Drew Wehrle: We discovered early that original content was one of the most effective ways we could share the agency’s story. We’ve always encouraged experimentation and testing different types of ideas for content to learn what would resonate. At the time, brands were still figuring out Instagram, and the idea for using it to tell a longer narrative over the course of a full day was novel. We asked an intern to serve as our first test subject, got a great response, and it quickly took off from there.How do you pick the people to feature? We try to represent both the diversity of people and the roles that make up the agency, but we’re also always looking to tie the story back to a bigger piece of news. So we might feature a pair of creative directors who just launched a new campaign, or an account executive who worked on winning a piece of new business. We also get opportunities to profile people with an interesting side project or unique role in the agency. At this point, we receive plenty of suggestions, as well.Are all the pics of a particular person actually shot on the same day? Yes—that part has always stayed the same. All the shots are from the same day.How “candid” is the process? Is there any planning that goes into it, or is it really spontaneous? A little bit of both. Planning helps us be efficient—we’ll work with the subject in advance to understand what a day looks like, and map out how we can best chronicle it. But when the day arrives, we really are with them, capturing these moments as they play out. I think that authenticity comes through and helps make the series even more engaging.What do you think is revealed about the subject by the end of the day? I hope viewers come away with a richer appreciation of the subject’s life, both inside and outside the office. What inspires and motivates them? In the crazy, fast-paced environment of modern agency life, it’s so easy to get siloed and immersed in our own worlds, so I hope the series helps facilitate a deeper connection to the amazing and diverse group of individuals who show up to work at Leo Burnett each and every day. I see each installment as a small piece of that bigger story.Continue ReadingPages: 1 2 Adweek Adweek