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CAS STUDY<br />
<strong>Yellow</strong> <strong>Fever</strong><br />
Firt came the rainow vomit. Then the media partner. Now it’<br />
advertiing’ turn. Snapchat’ expanion into content ha opened up new<br />
avenue for rand to reach over 100 million uper-engaged oung people.<br />
ut how, exactl, can ou join the part?<br />
Iue 47 Q2 / 2016 Patrick Jeffre<br />
Preident Oama’ final White Houe<br />
Correpondent’ Dinner peech <strong>–</strong> traditionall a<br />
tongue-in-cheek affair <strong>–</strong> featured Trump gag, a<br />
mic-drop and, perhap le predictal, a Snapchat<br />
joke. ‘Michelle left her phone, and he’ got<br />
Snapchat,’ he aid in a ketch, efore uing the app<br />
to take a elfie video extolling the ucce of hi<br />
Affordale Care Act.<br />
Unfortunatel for the Preident, he ‘accidentall’<br />
tapped into one of Snapchat’ famou lene,<br />
overlaing an animation that turned him into a redeed<br />
demon. Not exactl the picture of good health.<br />
The kit wa good for a laugh, ut wa an even<br />
etter indication of jut how far Snapchat ha<br />
evolved. Five ear ago, it wa a pipe dream in the<br />
head of three Stanford clamate. Toda, uer<br />
watch over 10 illion video ever da on the<br />
platform, and eemingl everone, even the uiet<br />
man in the free world, i jumping on oard.
In the lat couple of ear, the metamorphoi ha<br />
een particularl peed. Snapchat ha changed<br />
from a meaging ervice known principall for it<br />
ephemeralit into a gloal media heavweight. The<br />
app’ Dicover feature, launched in Januar 2015,<br />
now enale uer to watch, read and hare new<br />
from major puliher uch a Vice, Dail Mail,<br />
uzzFeed and National Geographic <strong>–</strong> a well a<br />
ending Snap to their friend.<br />
“Snapchat ha more potential than a lot of<br />
primetime TV, ut ome rand have a hard time<br />
imagining how their trateg come to life on<br />
the platform”<br />
<strong>–</strong> Scott Varland, IPG Media La<br />
Another feature, Live Storie, keep it audience in<br />
tune with popular event, uch a concert,porting<br />
matche or even preidential election <strong>–</strong> nearl<br />
twice a man 18- to 24-ear-old watched the firt<br />
Repulican deate on Snapchat than on televiion.<br />
And on an given da, the app generate over five<br />
time the reach of the average US TV tation among<br />
it ke 18- to 34-ear-old demographic.<br />
‘Snapchat i marring content and communication<br />
together in a wa that other media companie have<br />
never thought to do,’ a Rich Greenfield, a media<br />
analt at TIG. ‘It’ pecificall uilt for the moile<br />
world.’ That unique mixture of media, meaging<br />
and moile ha attracted advertier eeking to<br />
target a outh audience that’ increaingl hard to<br />
reach through traditional channel.
ut thi opportunit ha alo created freh<br />
challenge. ‘Snapchat ha more potential than a lot<br />
of primetime TV, ut ome rand have a hard time<br />
imagining how their trateg come to life on the<br />
platform,’ a Scott Varland, creative director of<br />
IPG Media La in New York. ‘Snapchat require a<br />
cutom approach: cutom trateg, cutom creative<br />
and agenc partner that reall grap how the<br />
platform work.’ In other word, top thinking of it<br />
a jut another ocial media channel.<br />
It all tart with a Snap<br />
‘Snapchat ring together the two element of<br />
entertainment and converation in a ver imple<br />
wa,’ aid Nick ell, the rand’ VP of content, in an<br />
interview with Contagiou at Advertiing Week<br />
urope. ‘It all tart with the camera: we’re aout<br />
creating moment and haring them with friend.’<br />
Uuall, the o-called 1% rule tate that onl 1% of<br />
people on a digital platform create new content,<br />
while 99% lurk and conume. Snapchat upend that<br />
paradigm <strong>–</strong> around two-third of it uer create<br />
content ever da. From the camera, uer can wipe
ight to acce chat, or left to reach the content,<br />
uch a the Dicover channel and Storie.<br />
The app’ interface han’t een univerall popular,<br />
however. Critic (mainl over the age of 35) point<br />
out that it’ not a uer-friendl a other platform.<br />
Simple tak on Faceook, like finding a friend, can<br />
prove to e much more difficult on Snapchat. ut<br />
ell maintain that’ jut a mptom of eing trul<br />
moile-centric: ‘Over the pat 15 ear, we’ve<br />
ecome ver ued to dektop UI. If ou uild and<br />
innovate for an audience with moile in mind, it will<br />
look and feel different to dektop, ut once ou tart<br />
to ue it, it ecome ver familiar and natural.’<br />
“We count on editor and artit, not click and<br />
hare, to determine what’ important… Thi i<br />
not ocial media”<br />
<strong>–</strong> Snapchat<br />
The UI in’t the onl difference etween Snapchat<br />
and other leading ocial media ite. ‘Snapchat wa<br />
orn out of pure authenticit,’ a Jame Kirkham,<br />
head of Copa90, a gloal footall network and<br />
content platform. ‘Kid have reelled againt the<br />
overl manicured world of Faceook, where<br />
everthing i preened to perfection.’<br />
Snapchat uer are le oeed with capturing the<br />
perfect unet or oating aout their immaculatel<br />
arranged living room furniture (ahem, Intagram).<br />
Intead, the hare quotidian moment and one-off<br />
gag, without the anticipation of view, Like or<br />
retweet weighing them down. ‘It remove a lot of<br />
the preure that ocial media ha created, and<br />
therefore create a willingne of expreion,’ aid<br />
ell.
And ecaue Snap diappear into the digital ether,<br />
the take on an entirel new role. ‘Photo have<br />
changed from memor to converation,’ explained<br />
van Spiegel, the app’ 26-ear-old CO, in a recent<br />
YouTue video. So, rather than reling on the app to<br />
capture taged cene or event (like, a, a wedding<br />
photo), people are uing it to hare a pecific<br />
moment or thought without the urden of it eing<br />
immortalied.<br />
“Snapchat i marring content and<br />
communication together in a wa that other<br />
media companie have never thought to do”<br />
<strong>–</strong> Rich Greenfield, TIG<br />
Thi new approach to communication ha quickl<br />
created a highl engaged audience that chooe to<br />
pend an average of 25 to 30 minute a da on<br />
Snapchat. ‘The realit i that people aren’t haring<br />
or aving content in the ame wa, ut the’re<br />
coming ack continuoul,’ a TIG’ Greenfield.<br />
‘Snapchat create a virtuou ccle where uer are<br />
contantl eing rought ack into the app ecaue<br />
of the communication laer, and that then fuel<br />
their ailit to come into contact with content.’
No interruption<br />
Thi model <strong>–</strong> one aed on time pent in-app rather<br />
than on view or reach <strong>–</strong> i at the heart of<br />
Snapchat’ trateg. ‘We elieve we’ve uilt the et<br />
moile ad unit in the world,’ a Imran Khan,<br />
Snapchat’ chief trateg officer, in an interview<br />
with Contagiou. ‘We’ve taken familiar format like<br />
video and made them more effective… o our<br />
advert add to the experience intead of<br />
interrupting.’<br />
Snapchat enure high engagement through it ‘3V’<br />
philooph <strong>–</strong> vertical video view <strong>–</strong> enuring that<br />
ever ad i tailored perfectl for moile: hot in<br />
portrait, plaed full-creen and with ound. When<br />
ad are vertical and full creen, the have nine time<br />
higher engagement on the platform than letterox<br />
video, the compan claim.<br />
3V ad tailored for Snapchat are then inerted into<br />
either a Dicover channel or a Live Stor, and<br />
viewer can wipe up to acce more information,<br />
download an app or watch a video. arl reult are<br />
impreive. A recent ad for Furiou 7 increaed the<br />
viewer’ likelihood of watching the movie threefold.<br />
And 93% of Snapchatter who watched it either<br />
liked or loved the content.
Another ad, thi time from make-up rand<br />
Lancôme, recentl ran on Comopolitan’ Dicover<br />
channel. Uer could wipe up to explore the rand’<br />
Juic Shaker lip oil and even u the product
without leaving the Snapchat app <strong>–</strong> the firt<br />
example of hoppale ad on the platform.<br />
aed on initial reult, Snapchat report that<br />
engagement rate are ‘multiple time higher’ than<br />
on other, comparale ite <strong>–</strong> omething the<br />
compan attriute to the content eing perfectl<br />
uited for moile, and for Snapchat.<br />
“Photo have changed from memor to<br />
converation”<br />
<strong>–</strong> van Spiegel<br />
Perhap the igget difference <strong>–</strong> from a uer<br />
experience perpective <strong>–</strong> i that viewer can<br />
immediatel kip an content the don’t like or in’t<br />
relevant to them. ‘rand came to u and aid: “Can<br />
we force the uer to watch [our ad]?” That didn’t feel<br />
right to u, o we conducted reearch around it,’ aid<br />
ell. The ke finding: 50% of conumer forced to<br />
watch content form a negative entiment toward<br />
the rand.<br />
‘Major media companie put a lot of their content<br />
online and then diale the ailit to rewind and<br />
fat forward <strong>–</strong> the force ou to watch the<br />
commercial,’ a Greenfield. ‘Snapchat a: “You<br />
don’t want to watch our ad? Flip pat them.<br />
Hopefull we’ll how ou a etter ad the next time.”<br />
Again, it jut put the conumer in control.’<br />
Around the water cooler<br />
For ome rand, 3V ma eem like too much of a<br />
departure from advertiing norm. ‘We’re moving<br />
into a world where moile video ad have to work<br />
verticall and mut e hort. That’ prett much the<br />
polar oppoite of how the ad world ha een<br />
thinking until now,’ a tan Oren, CO of lock<br />
Part, an agenc dedicated to helping rand<br />
achieve a preence on meaging app.
ut while 3V ma e the mot comprehenive<br />
advertiing option, it’ certainl not the onl one.<br />
Gatorade ha never launched a 3V ad, nor ha it<br />
even et up a Snapchat account, et it tand out a<br />
one of the mot memorale rand to have ued the<br />
platform. A ponored len, which allowed uer to<br />
hower a cooler full of Gatorade over their head<br />
and then hare the video with friend, wa viewed<br />
165 million time over the Super owl weekend in<br />
Feruar 2016.<br />
‘We know the power of their platform, epeciall in<br />
reaching our target: teen competitive athlete,’ a<br />
Kenn Mitchell, enior director of conumer<br />
engagement at Gatorade. ‘ut ecaue we don’t<br />
have an ongoing Snapchat preence, it i important<br />
that our engagement are contextuall relevant.’<br />
While Gatorade did not dicloe how much the<br />
activit cot, Mitchell did hare that it generated a<br />
30% lift in ad awarene and an 8% lift in purchae<br />
intent. ‘It exceeded all of our expectation,’ he a.<br />
“You need to create a new et of tool <strong>–</strong> a new<br />
context <strong>–</strong> that feel right for the platform”<br />
<strong>–</strong> Paul Marcum, Truffle Pig<br />
Lene give rand the opportunit to create pike<br />
of activit without the need to uild a following and<br />
then keep it continuoul engaged. A do Geofilter,<br />
which let anone create an image overla, upload it<br />
to Snapchat and then launch it within a pecific<br />
area. oth tend to e particularl ucceful around<br />
pecific event or occaion. Taco ell, for intance,<br />
launched a len that turned the uer’ head into a<br />
taco in celeration of the Mexican holida Cinco de
Mao. In 24 hour, it wa viewed more than 224<br />
million time, with the average uer plaing with it<br />
for 24 econd.<br />
Snapchat i currentl keeping quiet aout how much<br />
thee kind of activitie cot, partl ecaue the<br />
price var hugel. An On-Demand Geofilter, for<br />
intance, can range from $5 to everal thouand of<br />
dollar, depending on the geographic area that it<br />
appear in (a ingle uilding in New York cot le<br />
than one uur, which cot le than having the<br />
filter appear to all uer acro the cit). ut ource<br />
cloe to Snapchat indicate that 3V advert tart at<br />
around $100k in the US and nationwide lene are in<br />
the ten of thouand.<br />
Going organic<br />
If official partnerhip are a it like joining the part<br />
through the front door, invitation in hand, then<br />
organic campaign are more like cramling under<br />
the garden hedge and lipping in through aide<br />
entrance. It take more time and effort, ut the<br />
reward can e equall a enjoale.<br />
Much like accumulating follower on Twitter or<br />
Faceook, organic campaign require rand to<br />
uild a communit, keep it engaged and then<br />
leverage it at pecific time. It’ not a quick fix <strong>–</strong><br />
like, a, a len over Super owl weekend <strong>–</strong> ut it<br />
doe avoid the fee that are part and parcel of<br />
official partnerhip.
In New Zealand, healthcare provider Countie<br />
Manukau Health opted for thi route in an attempt<br />
to call out oung people for moking. Uer were<br />
encouraged to Snap a friend puffing awa, cover<br />
their face with a funn emoji or illutration (to<br />
conceal their identit, ut alo to provide plent of<br />
LOL) and then end it to the Snapped Out NZ<br />
handle. Incentive, like Spotif ucription and<br />
muic fetival ticket were ued to encourage<br />
participation.<br />
After ix week, the campaign had attracted 1,100<br />
follower, with an average engagement rate of 54%.<br />
In total, 100,000 Snap impreion were generated.<br />
‘Snapchat i a tick platform once ou have uilt<br />
the following,’ a Clem Devine, creative director at<br />
Richard Partner in Auckland, the agenc ehind<br />
the idea. ‘ut it in’t a et and forget platform <strong>–</strong> it<br />
need contant engagement to keep the content<br />
freh.’<br />
Influencer can help to uild organic following<br />
more quickl. Sprite in razil printed the Snapcode<br />
(eentiall QR code that, when canned, add that<br />
peron’ Snapchat handle to our account) of 16<br />
influencer on a limited run of can, and then alo<br />
gave memer of the pulic the chance to umit<br />
their own Snapcode and have them printed on it<br />
packaging. In jut two da, 750 code were<br />
umitted, and Sprite’ Snapchat following<br />
increaed 300%.
‘We did feel that Snapchat i different from other<br />
platform and we wanted to repect what the<br />
platform i all aout,’ a Marcelo Pacoa, Coca-<br />
Cola’ creative excellence director in razil. ‘It’ not<br />
aout tring to u follower with media mone, it’<br />
aout getting to know different people and uilding<br />
an audience aed on the fact that ou identif with<br />
the content that i eing produced. You’re going to<br />
conquer through content, not through media.’
Don’t crah the part<br />
Perhap the igget challenge i chooing an<br />
engagement avenue on Snapchat. ‘If our goal i<br />
ignificant reach, ou’re going to want one of the<br />
national paid programme,’ a Paul Marcum,<br />
preident of Truffle Pig, an agenc et up a a joint<br />
venture etween Snapchat, Dail Mail and WPP. ‘If<br />
ou want to pla locall then ou hould look at a<br />
Geofilter. And if ou have pecific age-targeting<br />
need, then 3V i the et tool for that.’<br />
ut whichever path ou decide to take, there i one<br />
rule that applie to all: ‘Thi i a white-hot platform
ight now, ut we run the tpical rik of ever rand<br />
and their dog leaping on oard, thinking the can e<br />
a part of the fun too,’ a Copa90’ Kirkham.<br />
‘However man oung conumer might e on it,<br />
the’ll till niff out a rand that i clumil<br />
occuping a part of their ecotem ecaue it<br />
think it hould e. rand need to intead engineer<br />
campaign around the enefit of the platform.’<br />
Thi advice could, of coure, eail appl to all<br />
channel. ut it feel particularl pertinent to<br />
Snapchat. It’ the world’ firt trul moile media<br />
channel, and it’ governed a et of<br />
commandment that differ from ever other ocial<br />
media platform. Thou halt add, not interrupt. Thou<br />
halt prioritie engagement over reach. Thou halt<br />
cutom-make, not retro-fit.<br />
Getting thi right require marketer to keep oth<br />
ee firml fixed on how the platform i evolving. ‘I<br />
think what’ intereting aout Snapchat i the pace<br />
of innovation that van and Nick have led,’ a<br />
TIG’ Greenfield. ‘Think aout how low Twitter<br />
ha een to iterate. Snapchat continue to come up<br />
with new product that keep conumer coming<br />
ack.’<br />
Two ear ago, Snapchat wa a traightforward<br />
meaging app, aleit a highl ucceful one.<br />
Toda, it’ the world’ mot forward-thinking<br />
content platform, comining chat and media into an<br />
infectiou lend of moile entertainment. And a<br />
thi tranformation ha plaed out, it ha created a<br />
few highl tempting wa for rand to join the<br />
part. Jut watch out for the rainow vomit on our<br />
wa in.<br />
PRVIOUS ARTICL<br />
NXT ARTICL<br />
FATUR<br />
INTRVIW<br />
To ot or Not to ot?<br />
In The Field / Dan Gardener<br />
Contact U Privac Polic www.contagiou.com<br />
© Contagiou Communication Ltd