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The popularity of Instagram is indisputable at this point. Big brands aren’t just on the photo-sharing network, now Walgreens is helping bring Instagram to life with mobile app Printicular.
The app was made by MEA Mobile, one of Walgreens’ API partners through the Walgreens Developer Program. Printicular lets you print out all of your cool, filtered Instagram pics at your local Walgreens. The pictures come out in 4×4 format and are ready for pickup within an hour. That’s pretty awesome. The app also lets you print photos from Facebook, your Camera Roll (iPhone and iPad) or your Gallery (Android) to be printed in standard 4×6, 5×7 and 8×10 sizes.
For all the talk of “brand utility,” most companies rely on apps that don’t serve any real purpose. It’s nice to see Walgreens step in to create an API program that’s both useful and lines up perfectly with a business goal: selling more prints in an era when photography is mostly digital.
With 90 million active monthly users on Instagram, and 400 million photos being posted per day, Instagram holds a wealth of opportunities for brands to reach large audiences. Other brands have experimented with photo-related apps. For example, Nike created a branded filter for Hipstamatic. As 59 percent of the top 100 brands are on Instagram as of February of this year according to eMarketer, it’s surprising that more brands aren’t playing with Instagram-related apps and branded filters.
Printicular is an awesome app that is actually a useful tool for Instagram users.
Image via Shutterstock
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