WE ARE SOCIAL ASIA TUESDAY TUNE UP #294

Social Thinking
meili.yeo

By Rodrigo Bonilla, Iggy Loh and Meili Yeo

A Chinese sneaker brand’s clever (and cunning) tactic to Instagram Stories advertising

More and more brands are utilising Instagram to establish an online presence and to drive users to their sites. Ads on Instagram stories in particular can be particularly effective for the latter, as all that’s required to land on a brand’s site is a simple swipe up from the user. In an attempt to increase “up-swipes,” Chinese sneaker brand Kaiwei Ni took advantage of a universally intuitive human behavior by purposely adding a photo-realistic image of a stray hair in their Instagram stories ad. Thinking that the stray hair was on their actual screen, users would naturally try and swipe up to get the hair off, bringing them to Kaiwei Ni’s page.

Their cunning brilliance definitely didn’t go unnoticed – Instagram later removed the ad and banned the brand from ever advertising again on their platform.

Facebook now allows users to contact brands through WhatsApp directly

Facebook has just launched a new ad format that allows users to message a brand directly on WhatsApp. This will enable users to call or message with just one-click of a button, after viewing the ad.

The combination of these two popular social apps will help to effectively enhance communication between consumers and brands. More interactive experience can also be experimented through such ad format, for better consumer engagement and customer service. Advertisers can now easily inform, educate consumers about their products, set up appointment or use their service.

Honda delivers personalised heartfelt messages through an AR holiday card

This festive season, Honda has used augmented reality (AR) technology to bring the joyous celebrations to kids in hospital battling with cancer.

Using AR, holiday cards given to them transformed their room into a Winter Wonderland with snow, icicles, lights, whimsical animations and all things Christmassy. The holiday card not only delivered a personalised and enthralling experience for kids spending their holidays in the hospital, it also contained well wishes and encouraging messages.


Having seen the power of AR technology through various brand and product activations, we applaud the use of the “Ultimate Get-Well” card to deliver this valuable experience for those who needed it the most – bringing joy, smiles and excitement to an otherwise mundane festive period for them.