NIKE ON INSTAGRAM: THEMES OF BRANDED CONTENT AND THEIR ENGAGEMENT POWER

Instagram is the fastest developing new media of high interest to marketers. As at December 21, 2016, the community included 600 million Instagrammers. This paper explores the problem of whether various themes of branded content differ significantly in their engagement power (ability to generate likes, views, and comments). The methodological approach consists of online monitoring of content in posts of a leading brand, Nike, for its 17 verified-badge Instagram accounts. The study focused on posts during the month of February 2017. The chi-square goodness of fit test (for one variable) was applied in the data analysis stage of the research. The initial hypothesis of significant differences between branded content themes as regards their engagement power was accepted. The practical implications of these findings for marketers include better selection of brand messages for Instagrammers and an increase in engagement levels.