Lessons from the #followmeproject

About two years ago, aspiring photographer Murad Osmann was in Barcelona on vacation with his girlfriend Russian journalist Nataly Zakharova when she grabbed his hand to pull him forward - annoyed at how often he kept stopping to take photos. He captured that moment from his perspective, and it started a project where he spent the next two years capturing the same pose in dozens of pictures from around the world.

Along the way, Osmann's Instagram account has gathered nearly 1 million followers, and his photos have awakened the imagination of global media and people all around the world. As you might expect, some brands have found their way into Osmann's #followme project as well. He tests out Sony camera lenses, and visits an IKEA in Moscow with his girlfriend. The most ambitious marketing effort around his project, though, was a recently launched TV spot for Google Plus designed for the Russian market. So what can this effort teach you about marketing?

1. Embrace the mystery

There is a reason you never get to see the face of the "beautiful stranger" in Osmann's photos. It piques your curiosity and makes you want to see more photos to learn about the story behind these images. In a world of plentiful video, the hidden mystery of a flat two-dimensional photo is irresistable.

2. Use consistency to build a brand

Almost every shot in the #followme project uses the same recognizable pose of the girl leading her boyfriend into global adventures. That pose is what keeps all the images together and creates a recognizable brand. The lesson? Brands can be built in more ways than just a logo and a tagline.

3. Overcome small challenges

When Google was looking into the idea of telling Osmann's story - there was a small problem. None of his photos were actually on Google Plus since he had been building his audience on Instagram. Instead of letting that be a barrier, Google helped him created a profile on G+, posted all of his previous photos on there, and (probably) secured a commitment from him to continue posting his images on Google Plus. As a result, the campaign works even though it wasn't officially "born" on Google Plus.

4. Share ownership

In order to feature Osmann's story, Google could have demanded that he abandon his Instagram account and only post to Google Plus. Instead, Osmann is actively cross posting new images to both Instagram AND Google Plus. This clearly reduces the views of any image on Google Plus … but more importantly it lets Osmann maintain his current audience - and potentially offers Google a chance to share more engaging experiences about the #followme project (such as the backstory video) to bring Instagram users over to Google Plus.

4. Building on a cultural trend

The last lesson from this campaign that is valuable for any marketer to learn is how Google and Osmann himself managed to use the cultural trend of female empowerment to great effect in this project. The fact that every photo features a woman boldly charging into adventure with her boyfriend following behind is a metaphor that hasn't been lost on anyone who sees the collection.

The author is Rohit Bhargava, professor, global marketing, Georgetown University. Re-printed with permission.
Link: http://www.rohitbhargava.com/2014/03/5-marketing-lessons-from-the-alluring-followme-project.html