Love Runs Deep’ - Instagram launches a campaign to push influencer marketing

Instagram celebrated its 10th birthday this week and reaffirmed its commitment to build for the next generation of young people; to ensure people pursue and share their passions, and that Instagram is the place where culture moves forward. Now in India, the platform launches a new campaign called ‘Love Runs Deep’ to redefine the way brands can authentically tell their stories while engaging with influencers.

Influencers epitomize Instagram for their creativity in content and amazing social video moments. They inform and inspire their community through their pursuit of passion. This highlights the opportunity for brands who can engage with the creator community, in a way that fulfils their business objectives. ‘Love Runs Deep’ is built on this insight, and is Instagram's first campaign in India aimed at marketers and advertisers. It will see the involvement of a diverse set of creators such as Masaba and Neena Gupta, Chef Ranveer Brar, Kusha Kapila, cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur, Savi and Vid from Bruised Passports and Sakshi Sindwani from @stylemeupwithsakshi.

As part of the campaign, brands are invited to submit their briefs in the ‘Love Runs Deep challenge’, and 5 of them will be chosen to have exclusive access to 25 creators to work with them free of cost, in addition to support of USD25,000 worth of ad credits to run their campaigns. The brands could be from all over India and could be big or small businesses. The jury making the selection would include Prabha Narasimhan, Executive Director - Home Care for Hindustan Unilever and Vice President - Home Care, Unilever South Asia; Asim Warsi, Senior Vice President & Head E-commerce, Samsung India; Harish Narayanan, CMO, Myntra; Prasanth Kumar, CEO - GroupM, South Asia; Rajdeepak Das, CCO and MD, Leo Burnett, South Asia; and Neha Markanda, Head of Business Marketing, Facebook India and the selection would be done on the basis of originality, creativity, suitability for mobile and expected business outcome.

Sandeep Bhushan, director and head of global marketing solutions, Facebook India, spoke about the campaign, “Instagram is the place where people express themselves creatively, and there’s a natural affinity to interact with public figures, creators and brands. We want to spur this interaction between creators and brands, in a way that redefines the ecosystem, and allows stories to be told with greater business impact.”

Masaba Gupta, fashion designer and owner of her brand House of Masaba, reiterates the ethos of the campaign, saying, “Instagram is like my second home and it’s allowed me to build a community that makes it feel like family. I am because they are. And so I’ve partnered with Instagram to show that love really does run deep, far and wide.”

This campaign is set in the backdrop of the insights of the BCG-Facebook 'Turn The Tide' report, stating that digital influence has increased significantly in urban consumers - up to 70% for mobiles, 55%-60% for apparel, and up to 20-25% for the non-food CPG categories. Prasanth Kumar, CEO - GroupM, South Asia being part of the selection jury, added to this insight. “As the economy unlocks and brands look to capitalize on the resurgence in consumer demand. We believe that influencer marketing will play a vital role in telling brand stories in an effective way, something we need more of this year. Together with Instagram, we want to create effective methods for Indian brands to reach various audiences. With our joint efforts, we hope to see this campaign elevate the creativity and ingenuity with which brands collaborate with creators and set new standards for the industry.”

The campaign will begin today, and while the entries close on November 13th, the campaign will continue for a duration of 4 months. Brands can submit their briefs on the campaign website (www.igloverunsdeep.com). The campaign will be promoted through print and digital media, including on the Facebook family of apps.