Instagram country spotlight: Australia

Welcome to Instagram country spotlight. This month, we look back at the big trends in April in Australia. (In case you missed it, here's the previous entry, on South Korea.) #NoFilter

1. Fashion

What does it take to create a top fashion moment? Take a cue from local fashion label Ten Pieces. The iconic Bondi Icebergs was emptied to provide a catwalk and front row seating for the fashion pack during Australian Fashion Week #MBFWA. The top photo, based on engagement, was posted by Tourism Australia's @Australia (below). Other top fashion moments on Instagram that created global headlines include Kendal Jenner at Michael Kors, New York Fashion Week and the Zoolander debut at Valentino during Paris Fashion Week. 

 

Now this is special! The iconic #Bondi Icebergs pool was taken over by models today as part of Ten Pieces’ Fashion Show @mbfashionweek. Over the past 5 days #MBFWA has been celebrating its 20th anniversary by showcasing Australia’s diverse and talented designers and their 2015/16 Spring Summer collections. Nice shot @vincent_bondi!

A photo posted by Australia (@australia) on Apr 16, 2015 at 12:02am PDT

 

 

2. The #empty movement

The #empty movement is a way for cultural institutions and brands to engage and create a unique experience for their communities. Instagrammers are given access to explore iconic museums, galleries and other special spaces, and they use this opportunity to capture great moments. #Emptymona in Tasmania saw 30 Instagrammers from across Tasmania plus a few from Sydney and Melbourne participate in the first Australia #empty series. Check out the hashtags: #emptylouvre, #emptymet, #emptybolshoi

 

#EmptyMona

A video posted by Matt Glastonbury (@mattglastonbury) on Apr 9, 2015 at 12:33pm PDT

 

3. Connecting community

Australians local and worldwide were invited to help pay tribute to modern military veterans with the #ModernANZAC hashtag. The campaign by North Bondi RSL in collaboration with Instagram saw over 700 contributions by the local community and from Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

 

Australian Defence Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin and I visited the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, France #modernANZACS #ANZAC100 #ANZAC #PM360

A photo posted by Tony Abbott (@tonyabbottmhr) on Apr 26, 2015 at 3:50pm PDT

 

4. Digital art gallery

26 year old Brisbane artist CJ Hendry uses Instagram to document her work’s progress, gain feedback and suggestions from her followers and sell her artwork. The experience of engaging her audience along the digital journey from conception to curation has helped her build her own network without exhibiting in a physical gallery. The artist held an exhibition in Melbourne, ’50 Foods in 50 Days’, with all her artwork already sold before the gallery opened doors. 

 

I haven't had the energy to pump out a time lapse lately but I'm getting close to the end and getting more excited than I would when eating a slice of cake and that's major! #50foodsin50days #day46

A video posted by cj hendry (@cj_hendry) on Mar 16, 2015 at 2:37pm PDT

 

5. Ads on Instagram

Australia was the third market to roll out ads on Instagram after the US and the UK last October. A recent campaign by retailer David Jones saw a 21 point lift in ad recall from its Instagram campaign, which was designed to engage the fashion-forward audience. The Australian brand also saw a 9 point lift in favorability amongst the 25-34 age group.

 

6. Emojis

#emojisinthewild has been a big community hashtag trend for a while. It refers to a playful take on capturing icons that resemble those found in your mobile emoji world. It’s not surprising then that nearly half of Instagram captions feature the use of emoji. In Australia, supermodel Miranda Kerr tops the list as a power user of emoji on Instagram. PS: You can now hashtag emojis on Instagram.  
 

 

�� Loool! One of my best #emojisinthewild special thnx to @gulsugelgun & @seminerdem

A photo posted by @umitko on Mar 30, 2015 at 1:36pm PDT

 

7. Storm Watch

Local news reports charted Sydneysiders’ personal journeys during the #SydneyStorm, captured by their smartphones, allowing people to experience Sydney’s worst storm in eight years on Instagram—from a safe space. 

 

Skatepark not sand dunes literally got sandblasted in 100km gusting 120km wind. Crazy. Day 2 cyclonic winds. #bondibeach #skatepark #sydneystorm @cityofsydney

A photo posted by the_snap_assembly (@the_snap_assembly) on Apr 20, 2015 at 3:47pm PDT

 

8. Inspiration

The visual nature of Instagram, combined with a passionate community sharing and discovering things it loves, such as @lebackpacker, creates a natural opportunity for the travel sector. 

 

100,000 followers !!! Thank you all for your support over the last year. It definitely has been the most exciting and insane last 12 months of my life, and I hope this is only the beginning ! I remember arriving in New Zealand 7 months ago with a bit more than 25K followers. 3 months later, I celebrated 50K the same day I moved in in @lakewanakanz, and since then, things went really fast ! 100K is just a number of course but gosh, when you think about it, what a number ! I'm so grateful that so many people find my work and travels interesting enough, and I'm really happy to share my adventures with all of you everyday ! Thanks so much everyone, your support is truly appreciated, and I hope to keep inspiring some of you to get out of your comfort zone and go explore the great outdoors ! Ps: That image has been taken last week on top of Roys Peak with @chrisburkard and his team @preston__allen @karimiliya. How do you find my feet? They love being a model ! :) @sonynz @sonyaustralia

A photo posted by ! Johan Lolos (@lebackpacker) on Apr 22, 2015 at 4:16pm PDT