March

The Most Instagrammed Team During Week 1 of the NCAA Tournament: Florida Gulf Coast University!

Written by: Kyle Wong, Stephany Yong

Weekend 1 of the NCAA Tournament left us with plenty of storylines: Gonzaga’s early exit, Ohio State’s last minute buzzer beater, and Harvard’s shocking upset over the heavily favored New Mexico Lobos. No headline captured more national attention however than the Cinderella story of Florida Gulf Coast University.

With impressive wins over Georgetown and San Diego State University, Florida Gulf Coast became the first 15 seed in NCAA Tournament history to advance to the Sweet 16!

Using our technology*, we found that Florida Gulf Coast University was the most instagrammed team during week 1 of the NCAA Tournament! The second most instagrammed team was Michigan.

Cheer on FGCU fans, and keep on showcasing your school pride!

Source: Sports Illustrated

*Pixlee’s platform provides a variety of comprehensive photo analytics. For more information please email hi@pixleeteam.com

February

Marketing Linsanity: the Movie

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Written by: Kyle Wong, Stephany Yong

Up to now we have seen how our favorite brands, from Rent the Runway to Taco Bell, leverage user-generated photos to power brand marketing. These photos not only look authentic but also foster a fan community via shared user experiences. However, there is also something to be said about a commonality among these organizations: size.

For smaller projects and brands, the conversation with the customer is even more crucial; as your brand may not be known by ear (yet), much of your company’s growth depends on word of mouth that spreads from a core of loyal customers. In this regard, smaller projects have an advantage in the arena of fan engagement, because the brand-to-fan dialogue can be more personal, powerful and relevant. A great case study of a group that’s doing this right isn’t even a company in the context of our past discussions— the producers of Linsanity: The Movie.

February

Superbowl XLVII: How a city shared their Quest for Six

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Written by: Kyle Wong, Stephany Yong

Coming onto one of the biggest stages in sports, the San Francisco 49ers approached Super Bowl XLVII with the momentum of an organization writing its own feel-good sports movie. You had the up-and-coming young quarterback filled with broad ambitions playing against the backdrop of a franchise looking to make NFL history. Although the 49ers’ season ended less picturesquely than imagined, the 2013 Quest for Six didn’t conclude in a complete disappointment. The Niners may have lost the Superbowl, but they certainly had a victory in terms of fan interaction.

Now before you dismiss this as a self-assuring post coming from a disgruntled Niners fan, hear me out. The Superbowl (and sporting events in general) is just as much about the fans as it is about the game and players— the die-hards who get body modifications corresponding to their team colors and make lifestyle adjustments in the name of scoring a coveted game ticket. These fans make American football what it is: an aggressively loyal and self-identifying fan community.

January

Instant Gramification: How to Structure your Instagram Marketing

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Written by: Kyle Wong, Stephany Yong

The jury has finally returned the verdict– Instagram is the fastest growing social network. With over 100 million active users and more daily mobile users than Twitter, Instagram is encroaching upon Twitter’s claim as the most used mobile photo-sharing service. Last week, Instagram announced it has over 90 million monthly users and over 40 million photos uploaded per day. Of these 40 million photos, 90% are reposted to Facebook and 60% are reposted to Twitter . However, companies use Instagram like they did during the early days of Facebook and Twitter: to post photos and have one-sided conversations with their customers. Yet push-oriented marketing doesn’t have the same appeal that it had three years ago, before Instagram and quality smart phone cameras.

Take, for instance, this Coke advertisement. Coke is arguably the most popular brand in the world, as generations have “Enjoyed Coca-Cola” and “opened happiness.” However, this celebrity-laden image doesn’t convey “open happiness” to me; if anything, the motley crew looks like a well-done project for a Photoshop class. The meaning of the ad is lost, as the last thing I would do if confronted with a zebra-clad Cee-lo Green is whip out a soda.

Open Happiness…?