Omnicom Goes Native with Instagram

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Instagram feed to bring you this announcement: Omnicom’s about to go native.

Earlier this month, AdWeek reported that the agency giant — a holding company merging with Publicis Groupe and representative of some of the world’s biggest brands — has signed a $40 million contract with Instagram, the visually driven mobile-social platform now owned by Facebook. But don’t expect clients such as Nissan, Pepsi and Bud Light to start cluttering your feed: This deal gives Instagram significant leverage in choosing worthy ads, even working directly with Omnicom’s agencies to create content that flows as seamlessly as possible with the native Instagram experience.

In analyzing the impact of this deal, AdWeek’s Eric Berry writes: “A deal of this magnitude by a major Madison Avenue holding company is a vote of confidence that a paid advertising model that is largely visual, and can be successful without a direct-response component.”

That’s right — no “click here,” “buy now,” “see more,” or “add to your cart.” This strategy is about pure visual saturation and telling stories through one single image. Moreover, it’s about telling them in the place and to the people who want to see this content, for example the droves of young women flipping through #OOTD (that’s “outfit of the day”) posts from their favorite fashion bloggers…and maybe a well-styled watch ad or two.

In November, the New York Times magazine made a fitting comparison, juxtaposing the way we consume imagery on Instagram to the way we drank up the glossed-and-gleaming department store window displays of yesterday. There’s no check-out line, buy-one-get-one tag or pushy sales associate there — just a visual feast to whet the appetite. It was only a matter of time before somebody invented the virtual version of these vignettes.

So if it’s not the click we’re after, what is it? As Berry puts it, “Instagram provides a forum for shareable content presented beautifully, instream. What this means, as this deal implies, is the opportunity for a consumer to see a high-quality piece of advertising content, with the ability to share it. This carries greater power compared to the click.”

OK — so how do we cater to today’s tech-savvy consumer with content so primed for consumption? The Omnicom deal presents a few clues:

1.  Focus on high-quality content: When sharing is the name of the game, beautiful imagery will win out.
2. Go native: Flow with the stream of the user experience. A product should be a part of a larger story or lifestyle.
3. Use sparingly: Users will leave if the platform smacks of advertising more than curated lifestyle content.
4. Provide value: Above all, Instagram images must provide value to be successful, whether they’re showcasing the debut of a new product, a novel use for a standard item, whatever — the user needs to gain something from the visual.