ASOS was founded in 2000 and has become one of the world’s best known online retailers: it now stocks over 80,000 products and sells a staggering 300,000 dresses and 85,000 men’s shirts each week.

The brand also has a vast following on social media. Its Facebook page has 5.2 million likes and 6 million Instagram users follow the @asos account. An in-house content team produces video and editorial content for ASOS’s print magazine, website and social channels and put out 1600 videos and 500 articles over the past 12 months.

ASOS has also been experimenting with creative ad formats and released its first Instagram Stories campaign earlier this year. A 15-second spot was created to drive brand awareness and engagement among its core audience of 20-somethings.

The spot shows a young men and women jumping into a pool, playing basketball and joking around in a house in north London. It ends with the message ASOS: Next Level You, highlighting the brand’s focus on celebrating individual style.

Footage looks as if it was shot on a mobile, resulting in a campaign that feels native to the format and in keeping with the type of videos uploaded by users. Instead of pushing a particular product, the ad aims to showcase a range of items and promote the brand’s key message. Models are pictured in formalwear and sportswear as well as jeans and dresses, highlighting the diversity of ASOS’s offering.

Leila Thabet, Global Director of Content and Engagement at ASOS, says the aim was to create a video that was “sympathetic” to the platform. The ad was shot in a vertical format and created with Instagram Stories in mind.

“It’s more about delivering a brand message, and helping to drive awareness and engagement and ideally entertaining our audience,” she told Facebook.

The video reached 3 million people in the UK and saw a 14-point uplift in ad recall in the UK and a 3-point increase in brand awareness. It also led to a 7-point increase in brand awareness in the US.

The success of the project lies in ASOS’s willingness to experiment with different formats – from live action videos to stop motion animations and behind-the-scenes content from shoots. The Stories campaign doesn’t try to push specific items and aims to deliver content that is stylish and is engaging to watch.

Offering some advice for other brands, Thabet says: “Don’t be afraid to test new formats … make sure [you’re delivering] the right message on the right platform and that you understand how where and why people are using Instagram stories and weave your brand’s narrative into that.”

Great Work is part of Inspire, a year-long partnership between Creative Review, Facebook and Instagram to showcase outstanding creative work across both platforms. Facebook and Instagram’s Creative Hub was launched this year to help the creative communities understand mobile marketing. The online tool allows creatives to experiment with content formats – from Instagram video to Facebook Canvas – and produce mock-ups to share with clients and stakeholders. It also showcases successful campaigns created for mobile. Try out the mock up tool at facebook.com/ads/creativehub and see the inspiration gallery at facebook.com/ads/creativehub/gallery.