For brands, the road to standing out in social media can be a slippery slope. But Mazda and JWT Canada collaborated on a pretty interesting marketing journey on Instagram brand feeds, blah.

This one? Anything but.

First of all, it’s aesthetically exquisite. Secondly, it’s full of fascinating detail to be investigated. Third, it evolved over three months. People today have short attention spans? Not for this campaign.

It’s a virtual road trip on Instagram, created by JWT Canada. The Long Drive home was built by posting images and videos that plotted the course of a Mazda vehicle. Each post meticulously detailed and art directed, and all fit together like puzzle pieces. Three posts were added at a time, every week or so, adding one more layer to the three-column grid. The project began December 17 and concluded on March 28.

When finished, there was a beautiful tableau, viewable as a grid layout. The scene grows to make a growing scene of a road. It lives on Mazda Canada’s Instagram page.

The Long Drive Home also tells the story through creative content such as one-to-one fan interaction, pop culture, events, and car performance & capabilities. One fan whgol followed to the end, was given a surprise – the keys to a new Mazda.

Creative credits:

Agency: JWT Canada
Senior vice president/creative director: Ryan Spelliscy
Copywriter: Mandip Salh
Art director: Tim Zimmerman
Chief creative and integration officer: Brent Choi
Social media director: Tony Wong
Community manager: Alice Greenberg
Account executive: Catherine Norman
Senior project manager: Kristen Neamtz
Animation: CWF3D