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It didn’t take marketers long to jump on Hyperlapse, Instagram’s new app for making time-lapse videos.
Within hours of Tuesday’s app launch, a handful of big name brands like Bud Light and Mountain Dew were already posting time-lapse videos for their Instagram followers.
Jimmy Fallon, host of “The Tonight Show,” downed a massive slice of cake in about four seconds thanks to a little time-lapse technology. Another guy, presumably at Arizona Beverage headquarters, tried nine different flavors of iced tea, also in a four-second burst, before leaving the screen (we assume to use the restroom).
Brands regularly test out new technology, especially when it’s related to social media and even more so when it’s free. Experimenting with the new tech allows them to find out what works (and what doesn’t) before dedicating a portion of their ad budget to more elaborate branded videos. Hyperlapse lets brands fit a lot of video into a short amount of time, but if users don’t seem to care, there’s little need to create a broader strategy around the technology.
The challenge for marketers is reaching their customers on whichever network is monopolizing their time, and yesterday, that time was likely spent on Instagram as users tested out the new app. Between Vine, Snapchat and Instagram, there are lots of “new” frontiers that brands are exploring. It looks like time-lapse video — complete with rapidly disappearing food and drink — will infiltrate your timeline moving forward, at least while brands take it for a test spin.
Here are a few of the brands that got in on the action yesterday.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
