Mercedez-Benz USA: A Scroll Through Time

The unique format of Mercedes-Benz USA’s “A Scroll Through Time” Instagram account was conceived by a team of creatives and strategists at Razorfish, of which I was a part, as a way to draw interest and awareness to Mercedes’ heritage and participation in the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Each of the cars highlighted was on display at this prestigious classic-car event held every year in Monterey, California. The unique format uses the landing screen of the Instagram account to create composite images out of individual posts that are meant to be viewed horizontally, by laying the mobile device on its side. The approach of using multiple Instagram posts to create a larger composite image on the landing screen of an account has gained popularity since this project was introduced in the summer of 2015, albeit usually employed in Instagram’s native vertical-scrolling format. Credit for the inventive approach goes to a creative duo who came up with the idea as part of a monthly content-creation process, where teams of creatives and strategists paired up and brainstormed all sorts of ideas, the most promising of which we would refine and present to the client. My input came in pitching the fleshed out concept, then, upon client approval, working with a designer to select photos of each vehicle. I then researched each vehicle’s history and wrote all of the accompanying copy, which is included on the individual Instagram posts for each model. To read these vehicle profiles, head to Instagram here, preferably on a mobile device, which can be oriented horizontally to get the full scrolling experience.