How Brands are Using Snapchat

Snapchat’s emergence on the social media scene raised a few eyebrows when it was best known for people sharing inappropriate images – only for them to be deleted in seconds.

Today it has more than 100 million daily users and the app has undergone several updates and changes along the way. Users can still send ‘snaps’ – whether they are pictures or videos – which can be viewed for up to 10 seconds before disappearing forever, but can now also chat with their connected friends, create stories compiled of multiple photos and videos throughout a day, and watch ‘Live Stories’ of events and locations around the world.

Snapchat has been used to broadcast events including the Superbowl, London Fashion Week and the Oscars, and brands are jumping on board the platform to connect with their audiences.

Media partners such as Vice, National Geographic and the Daily Mail already have prominent placement on the app, where users can read articles and watch videos from their publications on a daily basis, so it is no surprise that companies feel they need to get in on the action.

From a creative aspect, Snapchat allows users to experiment with storytelling, using different lenses and filters and even adding emojis and text.

Pepsi Max was one of the first UK brands to use Snapchat’s sponsored filters – creating a ‘Chelfie’ Valentine’s Day campaign that gave selfies a “cherry-flavoured” makeover – and Rooster PR’s own client WOW Air has used the app to host competitions for free holidays. Rimmel also used the social platform to host a press conference announcing Cara Delevingne as their new brand ambassador.

Even plastic surgeons are using Snapchat to broadcast graphic procedures as an educational tool!

I know that I will never be able to fly to America for a behind-the-scenes look at the Ellen de Generes show, or be invited to sit at the front row of the launch of Burberry’s latest collection – but with Snapchat, I feel like I have.

No longer limited to hideous selfies or bragging photographs – I say brands… snap away!

By Natalie Garland