If Twitter is all about sharing what is happening now, Instagram is all about showing what you are doing now. It’s less about current news, events and entertainment and more about capturing your perspective on moments in time as you live them — and then showcasing those moments in the best possible light.

1. ERWIN PENLAND PRESENTS
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Putting Instagram in Perspective
October 2013
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential

2. Instagram
Having launched in 2010, the Instagram
population is now at 150 million monthly
active users, representing 13% of all Internet
users.
Instagram users tend to skew young, urban,
multi-cultural & female.
Interaction on Instagram is frequent
and substantial:
40 million photos are posted per day
Age Group
the stats
Population
150
million
Location
urban
1,000 comments are made per second
Users spend an average of 257 minutes on
the platform per month
Photos
40
million
per day
18-29
Gender
SLIGHTL
Y
female
Education
some
college
Ethnicity
africanamerican
8,500 likes/sec
Sources:
blog.bufferapp.com/social-media-in-2013-user-demographics-for-twitter-facebook-pinterest-and-instagram
expandedramblings.com/index.php/important-instagram-stats/
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential

3. me, but better
If Twitter is all about sharing what is happening now,
Instagram is all about showing what you are doing now.
It’s less about current news, events and entertainment
and more about capturing your perspective on
moments in time as you live them — and then
showcasing those moments in the best possible light.
socialTIMELINE
PAST
PRESENT
FUTURE
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential

4. More than selfies?
For evidence of this, you need only look at the
types of photos that get posted most often.
Selfies are the clearest example of this user
behavior, but a quick look at other categories
uncovers additional examples.
When it comes to pictures of kids, images are
often used to document a special moment or
milestone in a child’s development, like the first
day of school.
With nail art, it’s more often about capturing a
moment of creative self-expression or
personal style.
In any case, Instagram tends to be all about
sharing the story of your life, as it happens.
Sources:
mashable.com/2012/08/31/cliche-instagram-photos
dotcomplicated.co/content/2013/04/10-photos-that-instagram-made-popular
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential

5. Brands winning
Some of the top brands on Instagram recognize
this user behavior and try to reflect it in their
own content.
Nike
@Starbucks uses Instagram to capture moments
people associate with coffee — such as a turn to
colder weather (PSL, anyone?), live coffee shop
music or a person’s signature cup.
You’ll see here they took the last example a step
further by writing the copy with a text overlay
app. Many Instagrammers already use these apps
when creating their own content, so Starbucks’
image felt very natural for the platform.
@Nike does use Instagram to capture and
promote images of their products, but they also
use it to capture and re-gram amazing moments
of people living out the “Just do it” mantra.
Everyone's happy. ❤☕#Verismo
Starbucks
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential

6. Instagram vs. Vine
While many brands are still experimenting with
how they use Vine versus how they use
Instagram, some brands seem to be leveraging
the unique functionality of each platform to bring
their content to life.
Lowe’s uses the stop motion aspect of Vine to
provide helpful DIY and home repair tips under
their #fixinsix campaign. They use Instagram to
focus more on capturing moments of visual
inspiration that people can use to add small
visual touches to their home.
GoPro, on the other hand, has a pretty bare Vine
account (only two posts so far and both were
revines) but the brand is active on Instagram.
GoPro leverages the app’s longer 15-second
timeframe and the ability to upload external
content, giving people a taste of the cool
adventure and outdoor content they can capture.
GoPro then often provides a link to their website
where people can view the full edit.
Source:
searchenginewatch.com/article/2297158/How-123-Fortune-500s-Use-Instagram-Marketing-3-Tips-for-Success
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential

7. Food for Thought
Food For Thought is Erwin Penland's thought
leadership platform.
It began six years ago with a three-day annual
symposium celebrating the intersection of
food, creative thinking, entrepreneurialism and
social responsibility through events,
discussions and of course, dining.
The fully experiential gathering is crafted to
inspire dialogue and debate among prominent
entrepreneurs, business leaders and creative
thinkers from around the country – showcasing
how creativity is paramount to success in every
organization, and in fact, in life.
For more information:
Joe Saracino
Chief Marketing Officer
Erwin Penland
joe.saracino@erwinpenland.com
Erwin Penland
erwinpenland.com
@erwinpenland on Instagram, Instagram and Vine
Instagram.com/erwinpenland
Food for Thought Conference
foodforthoughtconference.com
@fftconference on Instagram
Instagram.com/fftconference
The platform itself has been extended into
quarterly client sessions, internal agency
training programs, research and marketing
trend presentations.
Erwin Penland - Proprietary and Confidential