Snapchat

Brand Positioning Project - Brandcenter

The Objective

Reposition struggling Snapchat for a market with high potential.

The Problem

The original users of Snapchat are no longer using the app.

The Solution

Remind original Snapchat users why Snapchat is the only app where you can be your full authentic self.

My Takeaway

As social media users continue to feel alienated by today's internet culture, it is important for marketers to create environments where they feel free to be themselves.

My Role

Secondary Research

Audience Analysis

Perception Mapping

Media Strategy

Deck Outline/Design

The Team

Elena Didway (CW)

Jennifer Kim (AD)

Avni Srivastav (ST)

Clarke Weddington (AD)

Keeping it Real

“Snapchat is about communicating with the full range of human emotion — not just what appears to be pretty and perfect.” - Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap Inc.

Snapchat, at its core, is an app designed to share every aspect of your life. In a social media climate where we are forced to put on a curated performance for our followers, apps like Snapchat provide a much-needed aura of authenticity. For this project, our team was tasked with understanding the struggles that Snapchat faces today and how they should position themselves within a market dominated by short-form video.

Falling Short

So, where is Snapchat falling short? Well, Snapchat is consistently spending over $1 billion per year in AI and AR technology, positioning itself just behind Meta as a leader in the space. Despite this increasing investment year over year, Snapchat still captures less than 2% of the US digital ad market.

The Snapchat Native

We identified that Snapchat continues to struggle to attract users as they age into their late 20s and early 30s. We refer to this group as 'Snapchat Natives' as they were among the first to use the app when it debuted in 2011. It's estimated that 25-34 year olds spend 53% less time on Snapchat than their younger counterparts. So, how do we win them back?

here for real. not forever.

What does this group hate the most about social media? It's a pressure cooker of fake, curated content. In this, we found an opportunity for people to be able to share their real, unfiltered moments.

Our goal for this campaign was to remind these users what they loved about Snapchat in the first place. To accomplish this, we focused on pause ad placements on reality TV streaming networks as well as multiple out-of-home (OOH) activations.