As a company known for innovative ideas and an appreciation for creators, GE stayed true to its brand image by using Instagram to find its newest employee. The company was looking to hire a new “Instagrapher” to manage GE’s Instagram and Tumblr accounts, so it went straight to the source. In other words, GE gave its more artistic followers the opportunity to do something the company does every day – create.
Nearly 4,000 Instagram photos were submitted with the hashtag #GEInspiredMe and then posted to Facebook where fans voted on the finalists. Those lucky few were then flown to a GE factory in the UK where their photography skills were put to the test.
GE gave its followers an opportunity to apply for the position of a lifetime by using their own creativity to get them there. The hashtag #GEInspiredMe sends the message that GE encourages personal expression and values a unique mind. By living the expression, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” GE created a world where science and art coexist… beautifully. I believe that smart social is always deserving of a standing ovation, but repurposing an app to take the place of a somewhat consuming task (interviewing a long line of interviewees being asked a standard list of questions), is an example of what social should be – executing a smart strategy versus the usual awful approach where people are driven by tactics. The company has displayed its understanding that there is a time and place for social media, and when used correctly, this medium can work gloriously. In this case, flashing became fun for everyone.
A well-defined objective sometimes calls for an out-of-the-box solution, and with a war-worthy strategy, creativity is able to be the colorful, ingenious thing that it was born to be.
