Facebook is rolling out Instagram video ads in Canada with a new campaign for Insurgent, the sequel to teen dystopian blockbuster Divergent.
The campaign was born out of a partnership between eOne (the film’s Canadian distributor), Facebook and Spoke-Isobar. It is set to launch Wednesday with Instagram video content targeted at Divergent fans aged 13-25, as well as a TV trailer and ads on Facebook, YouTube and Cineplex’s online properties.
“We wanted to breakout on the platform, and get lots of eyeballs, engagement and sharing,” said Damien Lemaitre, vice-president of media for Spoke-Isobar. “To be the first in Canada to do it, that was key.”
Two 15-second looping ads – one featuring action-packed clips from the trailer, another an animated still of the main characters – will appear in fans’ newsfeeds as they scroll. Just like Facebook video ads, they’ll autoplay silently until clicked.
Lemaitre said Instagram’s platform made sense because of its huge adoption by Canadian teens, and that the team wanted to develop unique content for Instagram users excited about the film.
EOne and Spoke-Isobar plan to measure the platform’s impact on brand recall and purchase intent, and publish a case study, Lemaitre said.
Instagram video ads launched in October in the U.S. Facebook told Marketing a number of big brand partners have lined up behind eOne to use Instagram video, including TD Bank, Fido, Ontario Tourism and Canadian Tire.
Update: An earlier version of this story said the campaign would be running exclusively on Instagram, but it will in fact be coordinated across Facebook and YouTube as well.
