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Gap?s Instagram mini-soap opera showcases video looping as tactic

Gap?s launching an Instagram soap opera that showcases its products in a dozen 15-second endlessly repeating video bites has made the clothing retailer a provocative early user of Instagram?s new repeating video loops.

Developed with Gap's global agency, Wieden+Kennedy New York, the campaign, which stars Jenny Slate and Paul Dano, follows Instagram?s move last week to enable posted videos to automatically replay as they do in Twitter?s Vine service. With the campaign, Gap is showing the rest of the pack how to marshal video to lower customer friction and garner engagement.

?It?s all about the creative uses for Rich Media content in a snackable format,? said Sheryl Kingstone, Toronto-based research director for Yankee Group. ?Video can be very viral and the goal is to garner re-shares. 

?To do this, there needs to be a cool value added storyline,? she said. ?Gap is leveraging the new capabilities to tell a story, while also creating a halo effect for their brand.?

Gap could not be reached for comment.

Weekly snippets
Each 15-second installment of the ?Spring is Weird? campaign will be released weekly, according to a Wieden + Kennedy posting on Twitter.

In the inaugural episode, Ms. Slate?s character is barraged by mental images suggesting a future romance as she watches herself in the mirror pulling on a pair of Gap jeans.

Promoting the campaign on Twitter.

The snippets, which also will run on dating Web sites, showcase Gap?s Spring fashions such as jeans, khaki pants and jogging pants.

On Twitter, #APerfectFit will offer viewers special rewards for trying on the jeans featured in the micro-series, according to the posting.

Late last year, Instagram started serving its first video ads, which have been used by the likes of Disney to market movies and Electronic Arts to promote video games. 

Brands? interest has grown as Instagram leverages its access to parent Facebook?s enormous storehouse of user data to generate revenue.

Other brands that were to reportedly show 15-second auto-play video spots on the Facebook-owned site were Activision, Lancome and Banana Republic. 

Instagram?s move shows video?s growing importance in mobile marketing, coming on the heels of video advertising launches by Tumblr and Snapchat.

Mobile photo sharing and video marketing tactics dominated 2014.

Instagram?s appeal to advertisers is its ability to highlight small moments that that match the rhythm of daily life.

Brands featured on an Instagram feed are part of the inner circle and become part of the daily life context of the viewer as they go about their own daily activities.

Creative flood
Marketers will be challenged on Instagram to create content that will fit with users? own meaningful, original content. At the same time, Instagram ads are expected to spur a flood of creativity.

Love is on the way.

?Instagram's younger demographic is very attractive to brands like Gap,? said Dirk Rients, founder/CEO of Mobile Ventures. ?The new loop feature will be popular with advertisers as they can now expect a significantly higher number of plays per video.

?While auto-playing video is now the norm for most social platforms, I think the big question is do these videos lead to higher engagement,? he said. ?We continue to see significant growth of video consumption on mobile.  Gap is one of the leading brands utilizing video content to advertise their products.

?Marketers will continue to test new forms of video ad units and video length to determine which work best in terms of engagement,? he said.

Final Take
Michael Barris is staff reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York