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April 15, 2016

It’s Hip to Be Square at Coachella

BY: Instagram Business Team

San Francisco, CA

It’s Hip to Be Square at Coachella

Coachella starts today, and what better way to celebrate than enjoying shakes on-demand while rocking to your favorite artists. With Sonic Drive-In and Instagram, Coachella-goers can.

Sonic SquareShakes are “the world’s first shake designed for Instagram.” Tomorrow, on Saturday, April 16, photo and carousel ads showing off celeb-chef designed square shakes will be targeted and shown to attendees. Once they see the ad, festival goers can order a shake that’s hand-delivered within 10 minutes—a service characteristic of Sonic. Using geo-fencing, Sonic will know the exact location orders come from at Coachella Base Camp, so customers can enjoy the festivities without waiting in line.

Sonic advertising on Instagram

While this idea didn’t happen overnight, it did happen within a few weeks. During a recent Creative Hackathon here at Instagram—a concentrated period of time where a team takes on a new challenge—a creative council comprised of internal Instagram creatives, and executive creative directors and creative directors from some of the most influential ad agencies, got together to decide what this quarter’s brief would entail. In this case, the council decided on Sonic as their subject of choice.

The brief? How to help a well-loved, American staple embrace Instagram in a way that people would respond to. After selecting three up-and-coming creatives from Goodby Silverstein & Partners to participate—Tristan Graham, Laura Petruccelli and Rohan Cooke—the Hackathon began.

In an experience akin to Shark Tank, each team worked with a member of Instagram’s Creative Shop to concept and then pitch an idea to the council that would take the cake—or in this case, shake. The client team at Sonic, led by Todd Smith, president & CMO, and Sarah Beddoe, vice president of national marketing, loved the opportunity to extend the brand’s visual strategy and presence on Instagram by innovating and selling a product designed only for the platform.

Coachella on Instagram

“The hackathon allowed us to experiment with the many tools Instagram has to offer brands. Out of this collaborative experience, #SquareShakes were born, harnessing the power of a simple human behavior: people love to take pictures of food on Instagram,” said Margaret Johnson, ECD and partner at Goodby Silverstein & Partners. “During the hackathon, we challenged ourselves to take this one step further and create a product entirely designed for Instagram and available for purchase on the platform. Everything about the shakes—from their shape to their square cherries to the square straw is designed with Instagram in mind. We are thrilled with consumers’ reactions.”

BY: Instagram Business Team

San Francisco, CA