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Facebook launches Creative Accelerator program
The program will work with brands in India, Indonesia, South Africa, Kenya and Turkey, by creating tailored campaigns based on the devices people use to access Facebook.
Facebook has launched Creative Accelerator, a program to help brands unlock the power of storytelling in high-growth countries.
This move becomes all the more important in light of the growth of smartphones which blurs all geographical divides.
"Facebook's Creative Accelerator is a program designed to help brands unlock the power of personal storytelling in high-growth countries. We are rolling up our sleeves to co-create with our partners. There is no better way to learn than by building together," says Melissa Oppenheim, the Creative Accelerator program manager.
Facebook has already started working on campaigns with brands through its Creative Accelerator model. For example, when Durex wanted to reach people on the go and express the message that condoms can make "love pleasurable," Facebook partnered with Durex's creative agency in Indonesia, Upnormal Pingfans, to ensure that people accessing Facebook through feature phones and low-end smartphones would be able to seamlessly view the content on their devices. Different copy went out to males and females to take into account the cultural norms associated with condoms and sex in Indonesia.
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In another instance, Nestle Everyday wanted to reach people in both metro and rural areas in India. Facebook, along with the brand and its agencies, Publicis Delhi and Media Alliance, developed creatives based on people's bandwidth strengths and device types. People accessing Facebook with lower bandwidths on feature phones and low-end smartphones received still images from Nestle Everyday. People with stronger bandwidth connections and more sophisticated devices received videos in their News Feed.
Through the Creative Accelerator program, the brand wants to create campaigns that are meant for everyone - not just for high-end smartphones or iPhone users. It keeps in mind that mobile phone screens can be different for different users and tweaks its campaigns around that. Bandwidth is also a challenge, because whether the campaign should feature moving images or stills depends on that as well.
Mark D'Arcy, chief creative officer, Facebook's Creative Shop, adds, "The biggest learning for me - and this is overwhelmingly true - is that technical limitation is not a limitation of cultural sophistication. And that creativity is not limited by the bandwidth or by any one phone a person owns."