We think of Snapchat as a fun little app for sending silly pictures and videos to our friends and families. A quick 10 seconds or less (for a photo, videos are longer) tells a story viewable only to those you choose. Kinda nice, right?
What if I told you that Snapchat could be the future of sharing ads and marketing? (Imagine I said that in the dramatic movie narrator voice.)
Well, it very well could. Just ask Universal Pictures and the Pitch Perfect folks. According to an article on Mashable, the 30-second trailer for Pitch Perfect 2, which is due out in May, included a Snapchat username at the end of the ad, right above the rating.
It was the only Super Bowl ad to include Snapchat in its marketing.
At first I wasn't really surprised. Snapchat generally isn't what I think of when I think of marketing and advertising. I think of Twitter, blogs and other more popular social networking sites. But I think I need to be thinking about it more.
In essence, Snapchats tell stories - stories of your friends' lives and what they're experiencing at any given moment. Why can't that same idea be applied to ads and marketing? Storytelling is becoming a huge part of marketing. It keeps viewers and consumers interested and invested. Remember the Budweiser commercials from the past three Super Bowls? (Trigger warning: you will cry.) That's storytelling, and it works. Why not try it with Snapchat?
Is it brilliant, or the worst idea ever? I think it's pretty brilliant.
I'm not entirely sure how this will catch on. Maybe it depends on the product/service/campaign. I couldn't see Snapchat being super effective for, say, State Farm, for example. I think it's best for entertainment-based content, like movies, sports, pop culture, etc. I'm excited to see where it goes, though. The creative possibilities are encouraging.
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