The growth of picture sharing tools has created a new social media channel for magazine publishers and their content. (I know, another one!) You might have heard all the numbers: Poster child Instagram has 130 million monthly users (50% USA) posting 45 million photos a day, and Pinterest has its 48.7 million users (83% female).

Instagram was launched in October 2010 as an app for smartphones and is available on Apple and Android devices. It was bought by Facebook in 2012 and launched video sharing in June 2013.


According to a Pinterest user profile study by Engauge, an Atlanta-based digital ad agency, people are using Pinterest for these reasons:
a) Getting inspiration with their careers or hobbies (57%)
b) Storing images of thing they dream about having (53%)
c) Keeping thoughts and ideas organized (47%)
d) Sharing ideas with others (32%)

This new channel is part of the growing mix of social media tools where a one-one digital relationship can be established. With all these new channels comes content requirements and this content is now morphing into what is called branded content, where companies create their own branded media website. Here is what is happening with Coke - you can now go to coca-colacompany.com and get a recipe for macaroni and cheese. The website is less brand thumping and a little more soft sell and engagement. And Coke is the number one brand on Facebook according to this chart, so it has a lot of people to talk to.


OK, we have a new picture sharing social media channel, what content do we package for this new form of reader engagement? This channel is a picture based not text based, or is it both? Here is a challenge for you. I invite you to create captions for these series of photos that will engage the reader, or you can just carry on the conversation with me online and see where it goes. I have tried my hand at creating a little cartoon humour with these pictures from my backyard. Please be kind with your comments.

A Day in the Life of a Garden Plant
A story of pictures and words where plants and animals can talk with each other.





While this is my first public creative stab on a “Picturetainment” message, it is based on conversational marketing principles that I talked about in an October 2011 blog posting. But, can this message be monetized, where do we add graphic branding that is in good taste and how will you track brand mentions for ROI? Is there any paid media value here, or do we lump it into the unpaid media option as its audience reach is unpredictable? Or do we wait as brands take eyeballs away from us like Coke has done already?