Lost Content is based on the idea that we often focus on the main campaign, content piece or single output - perhaps a TV ad or a photo shoot for a magazine. More often than not there is lots of valuable images, videos or any opportunities that get overlooked or collected and then forgotten about. Magazine shoots might pick the single best image for a spread but there was probably many others shot on the day.
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2. It began with a Darth Vader Selfie
‣If you’re looking to launch in a social space,
then what better way to do it than with one
of your most iconic characters and the
platforms most popular pose.
‣On the 2nd of December - Star Wars
launched on Instagram with the fairly simple
image on the left.
3. Why?
‣Star Wars are beginning production on a new film rumoured to release in 2015. But the
account doesn’t seem to be giving much away about that.
‣The why isn’t all that important when you look at the account, what the account does
show is the power of Lost Content
‣They are leveraging the reasons that people love the iconic franchise and brand in a very
cost effective and easy way.
4. Using Old TV Ads
‣Not even high quality but definitely hard to
find: http://instagram.com/p/h1utaPM_fT/
5. Behind The Scenes Originals
‣Back when Star Wars was first released,
many of the shots taken on set would have
gone unseen. Some perhaps unappreciated
and mundane at the time now give an
extraordinary snap shot: http://
instagram.com/p/h9cKACM_Zl/
6. Humour
‣Old visuals or new shots taken they leverage
classic characters in different situations:
http://instagram.com/p/hl4SNFM_W7/
7. Trivia
‣The CGI has moved on a lot in the more
recent movies compared to that in the first.
Knowing it wasn’t all computer generated
graphics back then makes the originals all
them more fascinating: http://
instagram.com/p/iR7XJpM_ZZ/
8. Archives
‣Star Wars is lucky, they do indeed have quite the archive of content including 6 movies, all
the spin off merchandise, a variety of loved characters and a global fan base.
‣This is what makes it easy for them, a healthy archive of unseen content.
‣Very few people have been on the set of a Star Wars film but there’s a chance to give a
glimpse into that
9. An Instagram generation were not around when
then first ads for the original toys were on air
10. How close has anyone ever seen an
original lightsaber?
11. ‣#Latergram - normally used to reminisce
or perhaps a picture your posting on Sunday
afternoon from your saturday nigth out.
SIDE NOTE...
They do a great job playing
on the culturally popular
Instgram hash tags.
‣The Darther Vader images contained bother
the #selfie hastag but also #gpom gratitoius picture of myself.
‣They’re playing the hashtag game to the
right level.
12. Lost Content
‣Lost Content is anything which may have previously never have seen the light of day, the photos
that didn’t make the magazine spread, the behind the scenes footge that didn’t make the DVD
extras, the things which have been forgotten as they only lived as a TV ad in one country for a
couple of months 30 years ago.
‣Star Wars are doing an amazing job of using potentially Lost Content and giving it to people in a
very simple and straight forward way through Instagram.
‣They don’t need to mobilise a specialist team to create content, they just have to go back through
the years of content they have collected and currate it.
13. Lost Content
‣Every brand, product, franchise and person has Lost Content in some shape or form.
‣The stuff that happened before the levels of documentation we see today, before you had a
high resolution camera on you every minute of the day.
‣The stories or pictures which didn’t seem all that exiciting at the time but now, people
might want to hear.
‣Content that is created by fans.
14. Catching Lost Content
You might not be a multi million dollar franchise owned by Disney,
but chances are you’ll have some Lost Content laying around...
15. Maybe rights issues are going to get in your way and you can’t
use all the off takes from your most iconic ad that everyone still
speaks about 20 years later...
16. Don’t let it happen again...
Realise the importance of captruing everything around your main
campaign, photoshoot, event or R&D department.
17. Who else is doing it right?
Obviously Red Bull...
Never simply filming an event
18. Who else is doing it right?
GoPro
An army of users creating an archive for them...
19. Who else is doing it right?
NASA
The only account that has such an archive...
20. Who else is doing it right?
LEGO
Plenty in the archive, but they could always build more
21. Who else is doing it right?
Patagonia
Brand ambassadors are living the lifestyle already, use it. Catalog archives full of shots
22. 3 tips for Star Wars success
1) Find the archive, what is available that you have rights to use from your brands history. No
history yet - how about what came before the brand?
2) Search Instagram #brandname you might be surpirsed. Ask permission and show of the
good stuff.
3) Never leave home without the photographer - a shoot, event, visit to the factory. Anything
where a unseen visual story might pop up.