Bringing Social Media to Life with iMPuLSe Creative

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Recently, we were given the opportunity to paint our wall, but not in a “What color would you like your wall?” kind of way. We wanted to do something fresh, something new, and something that would encourage conversation.
How does a social media agency do that? To bring this to life, we wanted to work with a team familiar with both social media and Minneapolis.
iMPuLSe Creative was the obvious choice. iMPuLSe Creative is a Minneapolis-based art collective, consisting of Ryan Morey, Nate Keller, & Robb McNeill. iMPuLSe specializes in large-scale art installations and murals, and the three-man team is constantly expanding its portfolio with new mediums and techniques.
“It may not be sustainable forever, but we’re always trying to one-up ourselves until we finally reach our threshold,” Morey said. “We are constantly challenging ourselves in our work, and this is a great example of that, being one of our largest installation to date.”
For reference, the mural stands 10 feet high and stretches 25 feet wide for 250 square feet of meme.

From a social media perspective, people love using the medium as a vehicle to tell stories. Naturally, relatable stories resonate better with an audience than foreign ones. It’s long been accepted that viral content is founded on being highly relatable to its viewers. But how do you elicit an emotional “I’ve been there” response, especially when your audience has never been there?
Answer: memes. Memes have grown to represent more than how a person feels in a given situation, but evoke an emotional response based on a viewer’s past experiences. They’re successful because regardless of the situation, emotionally, we’ve all “been there.”
“[TSL] plays in technology, innovation, communication, and most importantly, fun,” Morey said. “Much of TSL’s work is driven by pop-culture and what’s trending on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Reddit. This led us directly to the idea of playing with memes and social media stars.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUHniH5BaPJ/
While the subject of the mural was a first for the iMPuLSe team, the surrounding environment was also a major selling point for the group.
“We owe pretty much everything to the people of Minneapolis and Instagram,” Morey said. “What started as just a creative outlet from our day-jobs has turned into something we’re really proud of, thanks to people enjoying our work and supporting what we were doing. We were also ecstatic at the opportunity to create something that the whole building would benefit from. With fun and exciting companies in the North Co. building, we knew the mural would fit right in.”
Mission accomplished.
Do you have a favorite social media meme not represented in the mural? Tweet us. Social media moves fast, and memes are gone as fast as they arrive. Who knows what will go into our next rendition.

Want to work with us? Contact us here.

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Background on The Social Lights
The Social Lights® is a social-first agency headquartered in Minneapolis that partners with clients to grow their business through strategy development, creative production, media buying, and social media management. Current clients include General Mills, Ecolab, Cargill, Caribou Coffee, Kwik Trip, Polaris and Massage Envy. The Social Lights was founded in 2011 and is a WBENC-Certified Women Business Enterprise. Learn more at The Social Lights.

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