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INSTASPACE

Marketing + Experience Design

How might we innovate the future of pharmacy?

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Course: Market Insight - MBA in Design Strategy, CCA

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Instructors: Steve Diller of Scansion

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Role:

I worked on a team with three classmates and played a significant and extensive role on the project by helping to formulate the basic stakeholder interview questionnaire, by interviewing 6 stakeholders through street intercepts, by synthesizing the 15 interview responses and distilling the core experiences, and by facilitating an ideation session to come up with viable new products or services based on the research findings. I collaboratively led the content strategy for the presentation report in order to effectively tell the story of how we arrived at our recommendations for Instagram and to communicate our marketing plan.

 

Tools/Frameworks:

Street Intercepts

Market Research

Ideation

Brand Strategy

Experience Strategy

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Design Thinking Facilitation

Storytelling

Need-finding

Pattern-finding

CHALLENGE

CHALLENGE

 

Investigate the key experiences people seek from a company and come up with a new offering that leverages those experiences to build deeper relationships and generate a new, profitable revenue stream.

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My team chose to use Instagram for this project.

TARGET MARKET

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Millennial women ages 18-34 who are creatives: designers, artists, makers, photographers, creative thinkers, etc.

UNDERSTAND

 

 

UNDERSTAND

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Research Methods

  • Primary Research​

    • Street Intercepts

    • Qualitative

  • Secondary Research​

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Background

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people worldwide use Instagram every month

people worldwide use Instagram every day

of Instagram users are women

of Instagram users

are between 18-29 years old

of women in the U.S. aged 25-54 report spending more time on Instagram now than 6 months ago

 

Current Touchpoints

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Street Intercepts

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We conducted 15 street incercepts in total, I was responsible for 6 of them. We interviewed  11 millennial woman in San Francisco at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, CCA, a bar in the Mission, Yerba Buena Gardens, and four millennial women in Venice, CA at Abbot Kinney.

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Key Findings:

Through the research we identified five experiences sought from Instagram: Beauty, Community, Validation, Creation, and Wonder.

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Beauty

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Beauty is often subjective, but we find most users seek it, albeit in different ways. We found that users capture and share what they perceive as beautiful and they create/edit or search for something elegant or aesthetically pleasing

Instagram users seek a sense of unity and connection with other human beings. This is primarily derived from building a network of followers/members followed, and having the opportunity to exchange with them.

Community

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Recognition is a key part of the Instagram experience. Users experience validation via likes, comments, shares and follows. 

Validation

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We identified creation as a form of self-expression as one of the experiences derived from Instagram. This manifests in the form of deliberate photography, use of filters, and curating a gallery.

Creation

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Wonder is part of the Instagram experience in how it can make users feel transported to another place and users have access to awe-inspiring images and creations. Users use hashtags, geo-tags, or follow celebrities and brands to obtain a sense of wonder.

Wonder

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Segments

Based on the combination of experiences users seek from Instagram, there are four segments: Archivist, Creative, Flaunter, and Researcher.

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IDEATE

Experiences: Community, Beauty

Archivist Segment

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Characteristics:

  • Searches hashtags and geo-tags to research places to visit/eat

  • Views photos of handbags interior design, and other for ideas of things to buy

  • Views photos of places

Experiences: Creation, Beauty, Community

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Creative Segment

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Characteristics

  • Edited photos

  • Artistic, beautiful photos

  • Consistent, curated look/feel

  • Gallery as personal image

Researcher Segment

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Experiences: Wonder, Beauty

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Characteristics

  • Searches hashtags and geo-tags to research places to visit/eat

  • Views photos of handbags interior design, and other for ideas of things to buy

  • Views photos of places

Flaunter Segment

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Experiences: Validation, Community, Beauty

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Characteristics

  • Posts photos of achievements, gifts, cool places they’ve been, themselves, and accessories

  • “Like” count is important

 

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IDEATE

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Opportunities

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After researching each segment, we had an ideation session where we thought of potential new offerings that leverage the experiences each segment looks for in Instagram.

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Archivist

  • Improve features on Instagram app to enable sorting and searching posts - no new product offering recommendation.

Creative

  • Provide opportunities to network with other creatives

  • Provide opportunities for users to create beautiful things besides posts
     

Researcher

  • Enhance users’ ability to find new things and places

Flaunter

  • Provide users other ways to affirm their identity aside from sharing photos

  • Provide opportunities for people to connect in real life

We came up with several potential solutions, including InstaSpace, InstaView, and InstaFest

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InstaSpace

Segment: Creative

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Experiences: 

  • Creation: Place to make things and learn new art & design skills

  • Beauty: Visually pleasing space with Instagram look/feel

  • Community: Members-only collaborative space for creative people

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Characteristics

  • Membership fee

  • Coffee/Food sales

  • Co-working space

  • Creative workshops

  • Maker equipment

  • Images from Instagram on the walls like a gallery

Experiences: 

  • Wonder: Users can explore new and inspiring places and things

  • Beauty: Find beautiful places

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Instaview

Segment: Researcher

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PROTOTYPE + VALIDATION

Instafest

Segment: Flaunter

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Experiences: 

  • Validation: Recognition by being invited to an exclusive event

  • Community: Part of a members-only group

  • Beauty: Visually and culturally rich surroundings

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Characteristics

  • Interactive map

  • Search by interest or location

  • Find people to follow and places to go

  • Recommendations

  • Reviews

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Characteristics

  • Tickets only open to members

  • Place to be seen

  • Cultural: art, music, and theater

  • Global: can be adapted to multiple contexts and locations

SOLUTION

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InstaSpace exists to provide millennial women with a venue for self-expression. It does so by providing creation, beauty, and community through the use of the mobile app, activities for creating, beautiful finished products, and in-person interactions with other creatives. It's a two-sided platform connecting active creatives.

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Topline

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To validate the concept, I put together the following brief and asked millennial women (the target market) the following questions:

 

Brief:

InstaSpace is a mobile app by Instagram where creative millennial women can find activities to create fun stuff and collaborate in a creative community. All you need to do is download the app, buy a ticket to the activity on the app, and show up. The activities are hosted by creative experts and you leave the activity having created something cool that you can take home and take photos of.

 

Questions:

What do you make of this?

What might make this better?

Does this fit what you’d think of when you think of Instagram?

Would Instagram be credible if it offered InstaSpace?

 

This is the Topline I put together:

 

I conducted 5 interviews on April 24th, 2017 in San Francisco, CA, with women who fit the target profile. Insights subject to change upon future review of the data.

 

Prototype:

InstaSpace is a mobile app by Instagram where creative millennial women can find activities to create fun stuff and collaborate in a creative community. All you need to do is download the app, buy a ticket to the activity on the app, and show up. The activities are hosted by creative experts and you leave the activity having created something cool that you can take home and take photos of.

 

Research:

  • 5 out of 5 individuals had thoughts on what to make of InstaSpace:

    • “It’s nice because experts can gather in one place and share their experience with others”

    • “It’s good because it’s hard to meet other creatives”

    • “It widens perspective”

    • “It’s cool”

    • “It’s great. I don’t have a place to work on messy projects right now”

  • 4 out of 5 individuals had thoughts on what could make this better:

    • “Make the experience interactive, not just a lecture”

    • “Provide workshops where people learn how to document their creations”

    • “Send out a survey to see who has a common interest or who wants to learn a common thing”

    • “Encourage relationships”

  • 3 out of 5 individuals said that InstaSpace fits what they think of when they think of Instagram. Responses included:

    • “No, because Instagram has a negative connotation with people being cautious about how they’re perceived”

  • 5 out of 5 individuals believe Instagram would be credible if it offered InstaSpace. Responses included:

    • “Yeah, definitely”

    • “Yes, because it’s a social and you get to meet other creatives in real life”

    • “Yes, it’d capture the casual creatives like me, and the professional ones who need stuff to post for their livelihood”

 

Insights:

  • Creatives want to connect with other creatives and have an on-going relationship

  • Instagram is credible in offering InstaSpace

  • InstaSpace appeals to the users who seek community and creation from Instagram

 

Opportunity:

  • In addition to providing activities to create, InstaSpace can help creatives learn how to best showcase their creative process and creative work through Instagram

 

Marketing Plan

We composed a marketing plan and go-to-market strategy.

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SOLUTION

Mission

Instagram’s mission is “to capture and share the world's moments,” and deliver “products that bring out the creativity in all of us.” InstaSpace’s mission is to enrich lives by connecting people to opportunities where they can practice creativity beyond the digital world and experience creation, beauty, and community.

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Corporate Objectives

  • Strengthen Instagram’s relationship with the Creative Segment of millennial women

  • Engage the Creative Segment in a physical experience rather than solely digital

  • Become the market leader for access to in-person activities for creation, collaboration, and community

  • Double revenue generated by this segment

  • Offer the Creative Segment 2,500 hosted activities by 2020

  • Grow the Creative Segment by 30%

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Marketing Audit

  • Instagram provides the Creative Segment with a way to capture, create, and share beautiful and creative content through the features on the app, such as photography, filters, photo-editing, video-editing, and galleries. Content can be shared with communities through the Instagram app and website.

  • Community First and Inspire Creativity are two of Instagram’s core values

  • Instagram announced in a video that they “aim to make video as easy to create and share as possible”, along with an ad demonstrating new features such as video filters, trim, and edit.

  • Instagram reaches creatives through blogs, articles, ads, and influencers that promote Instagram as their preferred medium for communication

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Market Overview

  • Millennial women are brand influencers and share their opinions with friends, family, and their online communities

  • 40% of millennials want to co-create with companies

  • 46% of millennials post original photos or video online that they have created

  • Sometimes referred to as the “DIY Generation,” creativity and self-expression are just as important to millennials as money when it comes to employment choices

  • Women value relationships and seek out brands that allow them to connect with each other

  • Pinterest is one of the leading websites for millennial women because it leverages millennials’ desire to create and share content with an online community

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SWOT Analysis

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Marketing Strategy

Target Audience
Millennial Women, 18-34 years old
Creatives: designers, artists, makers, photographers, creative thinkers, etc.

 

Experiences in Demand
Creation: Activities that promote the creation of beautiful things
Beauty: The opportunity to develop and see beautiful things, expand portfolio of creative work, and generate more content to showcase on Instagram
Community: In-person interaction and collaboration with other creatives
 

Tactics

Offering

  • InstaSpace Mobile App - look and feel of Instagram, geared toward the Creative Segment

  • InstaSpace Kit - a toolkit for hosts with the look and feel of Instagram

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Service

  • Connects creatives to expert hosts and opportunities to create

  • Sells tickets to creation activities on platform

  • Provides creative hosts with customer community of creatives

  • Advertises InstaSpace activities across Instagram apps

  • Supports and trains creative hosts to ensure on-brand touchpoints

Brand

  • Brand Elements

    • InstaSpace logo

    • “For creatives, by creatives”

    • Instagram look and feel

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  • Brand Values

    • Enable Creativity

    • Capture Beauty

    • Empower Community

Price

  • Retail price (customers)

    • Average ticket price per activity is $75

    • InstaSpace takes 5% of each ticket sale

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Incentives

  • Customer Incentives

    • Connect to other creatives

    • Create beautiful things

    • Add content to share with others

    • Discounts or rewards for frequent attendance

    • Freebies and giveaways

    • Refer-a-friend discounts or credits

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  • Advertising price

    • InstaSpace takes a 15% cut on ticket sales generated through advertising the InstaSpace activities on the Instagram platform

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  • Host Incentives

    • Revenue

    • Gain customers and expand network

    • Increase brand awareness

    • Access to exclusive host events

    • Advertising opportunities

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Communication

  • Hosts/Customers

    • App and activity promotion on Instagram

    • Advertising at InstaSpace Launch Party

    • Promotional materials at creative venues
      (art schools, museums, galleries, maker spaces, photography stores, art events, etc.)

    • Word of mouth (colleagues, friends, family, etc.)

    • Influencers

    • Blogs

    • Media

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Distribution

InstaSpace is distributed through Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store

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Expected Results (by 2020)

  • 2,500 creative hosts for InstaSpace activities across 50 cities

  • 60,000 InstaSpace activities annually

  • 900,000 attendees (average of 15 attendees per event)

  • A variety of activities offered (e.g. photography classes, printmaking workshops, open-studio sculpting, furniture-making, latte art session, etc.)

  • Revenue of $9M from ticket sales and ads on Instagram platform

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Detailed Implementation Program

  • Preparation (0-6mo)

    • Develop Mobile App Platform (using Instagram staff)

    • Train InstaSpace staff (using Instagram staff)

    • Outline touchpoint guidelines for look and feel

    • Recruit creative hosts, spaces, influencers, and brands in Launch City and future InstaSpace cities

      • Provide incentives (advertising, discounts, etc.)

    • Support hosts in designing activities to ensure on-brand experiences are evoked

    • Beta test InstaSpace activities

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  • Launch (6-9mo)

    • Advertise Launch Party and InstaSpace activities

    • Roll out the app

    • Throw Launch Party

    • Roll out full activities offerings in Launch City

    • Refer-a-friend incentives: $10 for every friend

    • Giveaways: on the app and at the activities

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  • Grow and Scale (9+ mo)

    • Year 1: 1 city, 30 hosts

    • Year 2: 10 cities, 50 hosts per city

    • Year 3: 50 cities, 50 hosts per city

    • Roll out incentives to retain attendees (e.g. discounts for buying bulk ticket packages, discounts for attending more activities, and VIP program with exclusive VIP perks and parties)

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Sources

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