From Nov. 16-22, Instagram invited 120 of its creators to interpret a different theme each day: confidence, inspiration, humor, unexpected, belonging, euphoria and change.
On those days, Ogilvy New York wove that user-generated content into a 30-second video. They sourced and edited the material in a few hours, and each clip broke online before a new day dawned.
The resulting campaign, themed "We Make Today," showcases the diversity and scope of creativity that define Instagram's global community and "represents the platform's role of uniting people to push culture forward into new and uncharted territory," Ogilvy New York co-chief creative officer Marcos Kotlhar tells Muse. (Kothlar and the shop's other CCO, Danilo Boer, joined from BBDO in September, and this push represents their first big initiative for Ogilvy.)
This minute-long hero film offers a cavalcade of colors, textures and images from Instagram creators, setting the tone for "We Make Today."
Given the project's tight deadlines and the wealth of content generated by the creators, planning and quick turnaround were essential.
"We knew that the day each film had to be made and go live, we would have zero time to make big creative decisions, so we spent a ton of time making tests and dress rehearsals to perfect the process," says Boer. To facilitate the process, Ogilvy used some previously posted content "to make test edits, set to the final music we had pre-selected for each day," Boer says. "No algorithms were involved in the making of these films. It was all human labor and craft."
During the week of Nov. 16, as the team put together each film, "we pulled content from different countries, and that allowed us to take advantage of sourcing from different time zones," he says. "We basically had five hours to put the edit together, do legal vetting, basic clean-up of logos and client feedback—and by mid-afternoon all versions were shipped to go live. Some of the music was made by Instagram creators and had never been released. So even the music, on some of the days, added to culture."
The resulting films crackle with light, sound and movement, each capturing the popular zeitgeist with a flavor all its own.
For example, the "Humor" installment "brings a nice dose of levity and much needed relief to the challenging times we're living in," Boer says. "2020 would have been way worse year without a healthy dose of comic relief, and I don't think we should underestimate the importance of funny content in our lives."
Hey, no sax in the cupboard, people!
The next clip, "Belonging," explores themes of acceptance, and it spoke deeply to many of the creatives on the project. "It was one of the most emotional ones and really highlights the power of community, how deep and important connections made on social media can be, though this is something we often read as trivial," Boer says.
"Inspiration" also ranks among the staff's favorites. Here, creativity and personal expression are the focus, and the clip embodies the spirt of the entire campaign:
To give "Inspiration" life, "we connected 10 creators who use totally different mediums," Boer recalls. "The first artist sent a hint of a piece that she was working on to inspire the next artist and so on. They all worked in isolation, but with a hint of what the artists who preceded them were doing. They all posted their creations, and we got this wonderful chain of inspiration that was delicately connected."
In some ways, "We Make Today" resembles an immersive Adobe or WeTransfer campaign. Like some efforts from those marketers, Instagram presents a cross-section of user content that represents the platform's daily impact on millions of lives every day. If it all feels a tad frenetic or overwhelming, and sometimes silly, well, that can be part of the IG experience, too.
"It's a celebration of the power that all that content has in shaping our culture," Kotlhar says. "Hopefully, the takeaway is that by being a part of this incredibly rich global community, you too have a part in shaping the culture and the world we live in."
Check out the remaining films in the series below:
CREDITS
Client: Instagram
Agency: Ogilvy New York
CREATIVE
Marcos Kotlhar, Chief Creative Officer
Danilo Boer, Chief Creative Officer
Raj Ramamurthy, Associate Creative Director
Emily Clark, Associate Creative Director
Meghan Howell, Sr Art Director
Winston Noel, Sr Copywriter
Lucas Benarroch, Designer
PRODUCTION/BUSINESS AFFAIRS
Eric Soloway, Director of Content Production
Meg McCarthy, Executive Producer
Emily Robbins, Producer
Michael Freeman, Executive Producer Music
Samantha Norvin, Business Affairs Director
Lenny Mayzel, Sr. Business Affairs Manager
Lisa Stancati, VP Legal Counsel (WPP)
Gloria Hall, Executive Director of Licensing
Magdalena Wiater, Associate Director of Business Affairs (Hogarth)
Julianna Santana, Production Coordinator (Hogarth)
ACCOUNT
Ben Levine, Executive Partner
Laura Kanfer, Executive Group Director
Alice Farley, Account Supervisor
Nefeli Supinger, Account Supervisor
STRATEGY
Jonathan Daly, Group Planning Director
Sarah Garratt, Strategist
CLIENT TEAM
Melissa Waters, Global Vice President of Marketing
Janine Giafredi, Director of Global Consumer Marketing
Sue Anderson, Head of Creative, Facebook and Instagram Apps
Lauren Starr, Global Brand Marketing Lead
Sam Saliba, Global Brand Marketing Lead
Mary Lahey, Program Manager
Enrique Mosqueda, Creative Director
Erica Fahr Campbell, Creative Director
Vaishali Khatri Sharp, Business Affairs Lead
Noah Winter, Business Affairs Lead
Palak Sheth, Public Policy Manager
Alexander Thebez, Community Lab Curation Lead
Joel Jagerroos, Curation Editor
Samar Al-Khudhairi, Curation Editor
Bryan Lewis, Platform Buying Manager
Jeffrey Wisenbaugh, Communications Manager Content
Sarissa Thrower, Communications Manager
Lisette Mejia, Social Lead
Lizzie Fuhr, Development Lead
Alina Grosman, Production Lead
PRODUCTION PARTNERS
Work Editorial
Rich Orrick, Partner/Editor
Anne Perri, Editor
Theo Mercado, Editor
Emilie Aubry, Editor
Niles Howard, Editor
Jane Dilworth, Partner
Erica Thompson, Executive Producer
Chris Delarenal, Producer
Chris O'Brien, Assistant Editor
Fatos Marishta, Assistant Editor
Julian Laing, Assistant Editor
Griffin Ver Steeg, Media Manager
Blacksmith TV
Charlotte Arnold, Executive Producer
Ashley Goodwin, Producer
Compositors: Iwan Zwarts, Jacob Slutsky, Ben Kwok, Robert Bruce, Hieu Phan, Yebin Ahn
Gramercy Park Studios
Ned Martin, Executive Producer
Alexa Benitez, Senior Post Producer
Collin Blendell, Senior Audio Engineer
MUSIC CREDITS
Confidence - Mind Enterprises "Mont Blanc (Purple Disco Machine Remix)
Inspiration - Chapelier Fou "Constantinople"
Humor & Super Edit - Yacht "Downtown Dancing"
Unexpected - Shygirl "Slime"
Belonging - Thandii and Will Vaughan "Company"
Euphoria - Toulouse "Tangiers"
Change - Vitamin P ft. Baja Frequencia "Dai Burger (Instrumental)"
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