This Week’s Top Brand Storytellers: Tweeting potholes, the first Instagram book

Each week, Pilot brings you a roundup of the best—and occasionally the worst—examples of brand storytelling in the business. Here are our top five picks this week from around the world:

Panama City’s tweeting potholes

Drivers in Panama are thanking news channel Telemetro Reporta for plugging their capital city’s potholes – with live-tweeting devices. Every time a car runs over a pothole, the device tweets a complaint to the Department of Public Works. The tweeting potholes aired on Telemetro’s own TV program before going viral on social media. But the real story here is about how they helped the broadcaster articulate what it believes it does best: reporting that creates change. (The city has since paved over the potholes – the ones that used to tweet, anyway.)

The first Instagram book

On June 25, Jason Sperling will release the first Instagram book: “Look at Me When I’m Talking to You.” Troubled by the attention-deficit-inducing tsunami of information people face today, the ad executive wrote small chapters about fostering customer interest and loyalty to go along with colourful Instagram videos, infographics and pictures, which he will release in illustrated pages over 160 days. Marketing books aren’t new, but Sperling hopes a more engaging medium – and a bold new distribution model – just might make the difference.

Uber’s new glass house

Uber has unveiled the plans for its new headquarters, which will be a glass building designed for “maximum transparency.” According to the architect, there will be ample space for light to shine through the glass to “accentuate the transparency even more.” The message here is anything but subtle as Uber tries to rehabilitate its public reputation, but the publicity Uber has already received for its unbuilt digs reminds us that storytelling can adapt to virtually any medium, including architectural design.

Woods Canada’s Dream Job

After receiving 3,800 video applications to hike the Trans Canada Trail, Woods Canada finally decided on two lucky explorers who will earn cash to hike the trail and share their experiences through social media. Woods Canada produced a simple Dream Job video, filled with images of the Great North’s most beautiful natural assets. The Dream Job video garnered more than 25 million impressions for Woods Canada because it kept close to the company’s number one value: appreciate the outdoors for its own sake. No bank-breaking ad budget required.

Google Street View helps teach new drivers

Though driving manuals are designed for humans, they still depict roads from a bird’s eye view. Romanian Automobile Club (ACR) has changed that with a unique learner’s manual based on real driving situations, presented from—you guessed it—a driver’s eye view. ACR was the first driving school in Romania, and continues to live up to its “firsts” reputation by taking the driving manual to the Google Street View.