Collection: Community Instagram
IQOS Friends (@iqos_friends) and IQOS Stories (@iqos.stories) are two Instagram accounts that exclusively post IQOS-related content. The @iqos_friends account has a large following with over 50,000 followers. The account is involved in an extensive online network in which IQOS users tag @iqos_friends in their photos, and the account tags them when it reposts their content. Many of its posts are content from users in the community, making the account a gallery featuring the lifestyles of IQOS users, influencers, and Brand Ambassadors around the world in addition to photos of IQOS events and devices. These photographs clearly promote IQOS as desirable and Instagrammable. If @iqos_friends is run by Philip Morris International, then the account is an effective method of advertising; if not, then @iqos_friends is an indication that IQOS-related media has taken on a life of its own, making its promotion even harder to regulate.
IQOS Stories is tagged in many European brand ambassadors and influencers Instagram posts. It also occasionally runs giveaways of IQOS products and event tickets. The account nails the IQOS aesthetic of luxury living, promoting the device as a necessary accessory for the highlife.