On the heels of its 15th anniversary, Instagram is rolling out a new global brand campaign—“ANYWAY”—aimed at redefining how users, especially Gen Z, express themselves creatively on the platform.
Alongside the campaign, the Meta-owned app is debuting several experimental features that encourage what the company calls “low-pressure” posting, signaling a shift away from performance-driven content toward more intentional, ephemeral experiences.
In an interview with What’s Trending, Meta’s Head of Consumer Marketing, Esh Ponnadurai, explained the motivation behind the platform’s strategic pivot.
“If you think about the genesis of Instagram, we sort of democratized photography and the art of photographers of the world,” Ponnadurai said. “People who had great talent and creativity suddenly could find a platform and a community.”
Now, Instagram wants to return to that foundation while acknowledging how drastically user behavior and social expectations have evolved.
“We thought it was a good time to get back to our roots and who we think we are,” Ponnadurai added. “Instagram gives everyone the ability to express themselves creatively… This is sort of getting back to: here’s what we do for the world.”
New In-App Features
The campaign launches alongside a suite of experimental features designed to lower the stakes of posting and foster more authentic creativity. Among them is “by posting,” a publishing option that lets users share content without notifying followers, allowing for private self-evaluation before wider visibility.
ADVERTISEMENT
Also debuting is “Trial Reels”, which enables creators to test videos with non-followers first. “You can post to people that don’t follow you to see if your creativity lands well,” said Ponnadurai, “and then you can switch it to people that do follow you.”
In addition, Instagram is piloting grid reordering, giving users more control over the presentation of their profile—a feature long requested by creators looking to better curate their aesthetic.
The company is also rolling out Instagram Trust, a new creator incubator program. “We’ll be funding their next ideas,” Ponnadurai said, “to help inspire more creativity and to take more creative chances.”
These updates respond directly to Gen Z user feedback. “What we’ve heard a lot from Gen Z is two things.” Ponnadurai said, “One, they have a desire to express themselves. What gets in the way sometimes is self-doubt, like, ‘Is this cool? Do people like it?” He emphasized that today’s users favor impermanent, casual modes of expression over high-pressure perfection.
The campaign also includes lighter, more playful updates that build on popular features like Close Friends and Notes. Instagram is partnering with Rosalía on a new Stories and Reels font inspired by her handwriting.
ADVERTISEMENT
Co-Creating With Platform Heroes
To help model that ethos, Instagram enlisted a cohort of creators with deep ties to the app’s cultural history. The campaign features Tyler, the Creator, Rosalía, fashion designer Clint419, filmmaker Nadia Lee Cohen, and Cole Bennett of Lyrical Lemonade. Each collaborated on personal vignettes showcasing their creative journeys, unscripted and “co-created” with Instagram.
Alongside these storytelling efforts, Instagram is also introducing features aimed at casual connection, including the ability to share what you’re listening to on Spotify directly in Notes.
“These are people who have very unique IG origin stories,” he explained. “They’ve all come up on the platform and really invested in Instagram to grow their brands, their communities, their creativity.”
Tyler’s segment, for example, is pulled from a live Q&A session with young creators, not a scripted ad shoot. “He’s kind of the best voice we could find to champion the campaign,” Ponnadurai said.
Instagram is also experimenting beyond its flagship app. The newly launched Edits, a standalone video editing app, is one of the company’s first major standalone creative tools. It’s part of a broader strategy to simplify content creation, and reflects Instagram’s growing embrace of AI.
“For us, creating a standalone app just for video editing and video creation is us taking a creative chance,” Ponnadurai explained. “The best thing about AI in the service of being creative is it helps you do that easier, helps you do that in more profound ways, helps you be more creative.”
While other platforms are rapidly integrating AI tools, Instagram’s approach appears focused on utility and creator empowerment rather than novelty. “The feedback so far has been really good—not just from creators, but also consumers,” he added.
This spirit of experimentation defines Instagram’s current strategy. “We wanted to come back with a strong point of view of who we are and our mission in the world,” Ponnadurai said. “There’s a lot of takes on social media. We really believe our job is to be a creative platform for people.”
