Instagram hails the power of self-discovery in global brand campaign

Instagram is talking up the power of its platform in helping young people to discover themselves in a new global campaign, “Yours to make”.

Created by Johannes Leonardo alongside Facebook’s in-house shop Creative X, the campaign includes a 95-second film that features various characters exploring an expansive dark space that seems to represent the Instagram universe, taking in both the various features of the app and the array of content within.

Melissa Waters, vice-president, marketing at Instagram, said: “More than any generation before them, young adults today are seeking to discover who they can be. ‘Yours to make’ is all about centring on the beauty of that process, self-discovery and how through exploration and creative expression, we all can become more in tune with who we really are.”

In the UK, the full film will be supported by a range of executions, including a social-first content series with Channel 4’s 4Studio, a brand partnership with fashion and culture publication Dazed, nationwide digital out-of-home, contextually targeted digital and video ads, and experiential activity.

The campaign, however, comes at a difficult moment for Instagram, which is again in the news for the negative impact it has had on some users.

As part of a series of reports dubbed The Facebook Files, the Wall Street Journal recently revealed internal Facebook research, which had previously not been seen outside the company, that found Instagram was having a significant negative effect on the mental health of young people.

The WSJ saw documents stating that, among teens who had reported suicidal thoughts, 13% of those in the UK and 6% in the US linked these to Instagram. Among those who felt alone or lonely, the numbers were 18% in the UK and 21% in the US. Facebook had also found that Instagram made body image issues worse for one in three teen girls.

A podcast covering the WSJ story is available for free here.

Instagram said it had made “big moves” over the past six months to innovate its agency model around Creative X, which is driving the creative approach and strategy for the photo-based platform, alongside Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger and Oculus. It appointed Johannes Leonardo earlier this year to create the campaign following a competitive pitch.