5 Brands Doing Cool Things on Instagram

While brands always like to flock to the new platforms, not every platform is a great fit for every brand.

Instagram was definitely a shiny new object when it first came out, and many brands rushed onto it but soon realized it wasn’t quite right. Here are five examples of brands (and only one is a fashion brand) that are doing cool things on the social picture-sharing platform.

General Electric: You wouldn’t necessarily expect a conglomerate corporation in energy, technology infrastructure, capital finance and consumer and industrial sectors to be on Instagram, let alone to be posting interesting things. But that’s what GE is doing. The company posts neat behind-the-scenes pics of things you wouldn’t normally see, like engineers working on huge engines, industrial machines and new technology they are developing.

NFL: For all of you football fans out there, the NFL brings you up close and personal to the action. The NFL’s Instagram does a good job of showcasing the athletes and important games by pulling in photos from all of the NFL photographers and mixing in other fun things like vintage football pictures. 

Red Bull: It’s no surprise that Red Bull would be doing cool stuff on a social platform. Along with using Instagram for contests, the energy-drink brand posts high-quality action shots of all kind of sports and adrenaline-pumping stunts. 

Sharpie: This brand that makes an office-supply staple, permanent markers, has really gotten creative. Its account features hand-drawn images that use Sharpies, and the results are great fun. My personal favorite is this Psy picture. 

Topshop: While it’s definitely easier for fashion brands to take to Instagram with their wealth of visual content and products to display, ever-popular U.K. clothing brand Topshop does a good job of mixing in behind-the-scenes images of photoshoots and celebrity campaign images.