Brands on Instagram

Is Instagram effective for businesses?

The App has been a huge hit, but I am a little skeptical of its effectiveness with branding. I think it might be best for brands that already have established their image, messages and key publics. These are the brands that we interact with everyday, the brands that people are going to seek out on this mobile app.

A perfect example is the Jordan brand which recently joined Instagram and gained 10,000 followers after posting their first photo. I guess the idea is to be where their fans are, but a brand’s success on sites such as Instagram relies entirely on their ability to humanize their brand.

Why should consumers get to know them? What do they have to offer?

It will be interesting to see if they start utilizing hashtags.

I’m interested to see how successful Instagram will be. After all, a year ago everyone was talking about the promise of Foursquare, which now seems like a forgotten app for brands. (I’m still addicted, though!)

Other brands that are currently using Instagram including Levis, Gucci and Starbucks. It seems this app is most effective for the visually appealing brands: designers, news organizations, etc.

What do you think?