The Walt Disney Co., the CW, Activision, Banana Republic and Lancome are among the first advertisers to start promoting their products on Instagram with video ads.
The companies have started rolling out 15-second autoplay ads on the photo and video app, with each one tailored to the platform.
Instagram already has enabled marketers to post sponsored images, but the app’s users objected to the promotional pushes appearing in their feeds. By packaging the ads more like content, Instagram could have figured out a way to make marketers and its users happy.
For Disney’s “Big Hero 6,” for example, the film’s animated characters are posting selfies of themselves, fitting in with what normally appears on Instagram.
The CW is using Instagram to promote “The Flash,” in short video bursts.
Meanwhile, Activision is using Instagram to promote the live action ad for “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare,” that launched today. Peter Berg directed the spot that stars Taylor Kitsch.
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Facebook, which owns Instagram, has naturally tried to figure out ways to attract advertisers to the platform as a way for it to start generating revenue.
Instagram had been testing autoplay ads — similar to what appears on Facebook — for the past six months.
Snapchat, too, has started launching the first ads, with Universal’s “Ouija,” recently becoming the first product to be promoted on that mobile platform.
And Yahoo’s Tumblr started launching its own autoplay ads with a bevy of entertainment companies, including Universal, the CW and Hulu.
Lancome is promoting a new perfume and mascara on Instagram, while Banana Republic is going after women with an ad that introduces its fall fashion line.
