Making Businesses Instafamous

If you happened to pass by the Burj Al Arab in October, and wondered why the logo was projected onto the structure, it was part of the company’s global fifth anniversary celebrations. To commemorate the occasion, Amy Cole, Head of Brand Development in EMEA and the seventh member of the original Instagram team, visited Dubai for the platform’s Worldwide Instameet– an event for the app’s users to meet and explore new venues together. According to its release, more than 40 billion photos have been posted since its inception and from the 400 million members base, over 75% are based out of the United States, particularly in the – and it’s banking on that. Cole’s visit coincides with Instagram’s announcement of facilitating business use of the platform with more advertising avenues. Product-wise, it showed the roll out of new features for businesses such as landscape photo and video capabilities, and video ads that are up to 30 seconds in length (twice the typical video length). If you’re looking for proof that Instagram has the user base to drive business objectives, then check out the number of pictures posted for the Worldwide Instameet (hashtag #WWIM12), and here in Dubai (hashtag #WWIM12_Burj). The challenge now rests on businesses to generate content that won’t turn off users who are fond of what was previously a commercial-free space.