Ditto Labs uses computer vision to continuously scour the torrent of photos shared on public social networks. Marketers use Ditto to unlock insights about how customers actually use products in-the-wild, identify brand affinities and find visual influencers. In this guide Ditto shares common findings on brand images associated with the highest engagement during holidays and trending events in Q1 2015.

1. Ditto Labs
How brands steal the
spotlight during
events

2. Contents
2
3Finding Your Brand’s Authentic
Visual Voice
Planned Events
Spontaneous Events
Summary
6
8
10
2

3. 3
Finding Your Brand’s
Authentic Visual Voice
If you’re in marketing, you’ve noticed the extra enthusiastic
attempts by brands at “getting in” on social media conversations
during trending events - whether planned or spontaneous. But
similar to a guest at a party with strangers, interjecting your brand
into an existing conversation is a delicate art.
Land mines to watch out for include: being the last one to the party
- like the late comers to the Harlem Shake, inadvertently offensive
responses and corny jokes.
6 secrets for sparking
photo engagement:
1. Authentic Brand Love
2. Normal Celebrity
Moments
3. Guilty Pleasures
4. Pampered Pups
5. Extreme Sports
6. Trending Events
So how can you be relevant and
engaging? Ditto scanned billions
of images to find themes
associated with the highest
engagement for social photos
with brands and discovered six
commonalities.
In this guide we will briefly
review the first five and dive
deeper into trending events.

4. 4
Nothing contributes more to customer
advocacy than having a great product.
Public admissions of not-so-healthy
habits, like craving fried foods, garner
widespread empathy.
Engagement rates are high for photos
of celebrities casually interacting with
brands during a normal day.
Authentic Brand
Love
Normal Celebrity
Moments
Guilty Pleasures

5. 5
People love to post and share photo
evidence of pampered pets joining in on
human passions.
Speaking of passion, logo-clad
athletes in racing, snowboarding and
other extreme sports earn millions of
additional impressions from fans.
Clever images that authentically
position the brand within the context of
a shared experience spark the most
engagement.
Pampered Pups
Trending Events
Extreme Sports

6. 6
Readiness, humor and creativity help brands make an impression.
Socially savvy marketers anticipate each holiday and media event and are prepared to
capitalize with listening centers and “war rooms” staffed with strategic, creative content
producers. Conversation opportunities are abundant with events like Mother’s Day,
Memorial Day, Graduation, Father’s Day, and “wedding season” on the horizon.
Taking a look back at the first quarter of 2015, here are some brands that stood out.
5
Valentine’s Day
It was Netflix that stole our hearts
during Valentine’s Day with more than
2X as many appearances in #Valentine
photos shared on Twitter than the next
two highest brands (Diet Coke and
Papa John’s). All three seeded the
idea with clever tweets promoting the
holiday occasion with savings.
Regular folks and celebrities alike tweeted photos
celebrating the single life by watching movies and
eating pizza.
Planned Events

7. 7
For many Super Bowl watchers, Katy Perry’s
halftime performance was the event to watch
— after all she does have the most Twitter
followers in the world. While all eyes were on
her performance, many wondered if she’d
found wardrobe inspiration from Cheetos.
Whether it was orchestrated by PepsiCo, the
major halftime performance sponsor and
owner of brand Cheetos, or a brilliant
coincidence, Cheetos stole the spotlight with
the brand earning the most visual mentions
on Twitter.
Guinness Reigns on St. Patrick’s Day
Unsurprisingly, nothing says “St. Patrick’s Day” like our favorite Irish libations. Guinness
made the most appearances in Twitter photos this holiday with over 3X the incidence of
runner up Jameson.
Cheetos Steals Super Bowl Spotlight

8. 85
Spontaneous Events
The #Blizzards of 2015
#Juno, the first blizzard that
blanketed the Northeast this year,
encouraged stock up shopping,
impromptu celebrations and binge
viewing.
Jim Beam and Sam Adams
authentically captured the spirit of
the season, with Jim Beam having
the highest visual mentions among
brands during the January storm.
Below are examples of brands that captured the public’s attention
with their personality by rapidly reacting to unexpected events.

9. 9
#TheDress was a two day social media
phenomenon that seemed to capture
everyone’s attention, no matter the
demographic. In the example above,
Heineken’s social team nailed the
debate by coming down on one side of
the argument (white & gold vs. blue &
black) and promoting their product.
Yet, some brands
miss major
opportunities
because they only
track text.
By listening to photos and text, brands
like Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks
could reach out to loyal customers
whose business they missed due to
inclement weather and engage with
customers at high profile events like
#SXSW.
#TheDress

10. 10
1.8 Billion photos are shared daily. Of the ones
containing brands, Ditto discovered that 85%
do not mention the brand in accompanying text.
Studies reveal the human brain retains only
20% of text but 80% of visuals. Brands that
“listen” to public social photos in addition to text
can engage with customers sharing their
experiences and leverage these “in the wild”
insights to authentically engage in popular
conversations.
Be the star of the spotlight, not the photo bomb
that ruins the picture.
See more photo insight examples in
chronological order on our blog and contact
us to see what photo insights reveal about
your brand.
@DittoLabs ditto.us.com