Check out how this social media marketed itself through a SNAPpy yet captivating outdoor campaign! [Fridays: Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing]
A lot of businesses use social media to market their products or services nowadays.
… but what if one of these digital platforms stepped out of the online realm and into the traditional way of advertising to promote an app?
Would that capture a lot of online users’ attention and generate buzz?
With proper planning and execution, that’s possible!
Check out how this social media platform used outdoor ads to pique the curiosity of many online users in the US.
Snapchat is an American multimedia messaging app that allows users to interact with family and friends through photos or videos.
The app features different filters, lenses, bitmojis, and other kinds of fun effects. Aside from that, Snapchat is known for content that’s often natural, candid, and playful!
Let’s stop talking about Snapchat as a widely-used app for a while…
Have you ever thought about how it gained nearly 300 million active users worldwide?
Back when Snapchat was not yet that popular, it marketed itself to the public with the launch of this guerrilla marketing campaign in 2015:
The “All-Yellow Billboards!”
These boards were filled with nothing but an eccentric ghost logo on a bright yellow background.
These eye-catching displays caught the attention of many passersby in the US and compelled them to talk about what the billboards were pertaining to.
Some immediately searched for “ghost logo on a yellow background” on Google and that’s when they found out that the ads referred to Snapchat!
What a clever tactic by the social media platform to raise awareness about its existence!
Aside from the plain Snapchat logo displays, the brand set up 50 logo-less billboards that looked like “Welcome to…” road signs across the US.
Check out some of these ads below:
The Lincoln Park in Chicago, Illinois
Palm Springs, California
Boston, Massachusetts
Phoenix, Arizona
The Mission District in San Francisco, California
At first, those who saw the billboards didn’t know why the displays all had a yellow background. Then…
Snapchat users took a closer look at the billboards and realized that these represented different geofilters found within the photo-and-video-sharing app.
[Geofilters: Location-based graphics that users can place over their snaps to make their photos and videos look more entertaining and let their friends know where they are snapping from.]
*Clap, clap, clap*
The captivating billboards were so effective that people started talking about the ads online (through social media and a few articles) and offline (while they were passing by the giant displays).
4 months after the launch of the campaign, Snapchat recorded over 210 million downloads of its app, with people from the 18-to-24, 25-to-34, and older-than-35 age groups actively using the social media platform to entertain themselves and communicate with family and friends.
Snapchat also bagged Outdoor Advertising Awards at the CES Innovation Award and the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2016.
Kudos to Snapchat and its marketing team for this clever and eye-catching campaign!
The photo-and-video-sharing app used a unique strategy to let online users know that there’s another rising social media platform in town.
Snapchat didn’t need to use words to get consumers talking about the app. Plain photos and logos are all it took to be the talk of the town—and of search engines.
Here’s one of the key takeaways from the social media platform’s campaign:
As a business owner or marketer, sometimes you have to let your target market do the talking for you and your brand.
Or, let your marketing collaterals do the talking!
The right and effective ads will compel your target market to check out your brand and give your products or services a try.
Get inspired with Snapchat’s plain-yet-captivating campaign!
… and keep in mind that the right kind of curiosity will help generate the right kind of buzz about your brand!
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Fridays: Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing”
Jay Conrad Levinson (1984) said that Guerrilla Marketing “works because it’s simple to appreciate, easy to execute, and inexpensive.”
Guerrilla Marketing is unconventional.
Looking beyond the traditional ways of advertising, marketers, and advertisers need to spice things up in order for their brand to have campaigns that not only make an impact but also stick to their target market’s mind.
Guerrilla Marketing usually aims to have direct contact with consumers.
This type of direct contact should spark an emotional reaction that leads to consumers effectively remembering the brand.
It’s about making a big impression and making that impression last a long time (if not forever).
Guerrilla Marketing can be inexpensive.
The effect of this is being able to create a buzz around the brand, and the strategy used to market it. Almost everything is passed around through word-of-mouth.
Word-of-mouth is one of the greatest outcomes and it usually doesn’t cost anything.
This is every business’ or brand’s dream!
Every Friday, we publish tips, examples, and other useful content on unconventional ways of marketing and promotion.
Learn more about how to grab your target market’s attention and make an amazing first and lasting impression without having to spend a lot of money.
Businesses don’t really need to spend much for a guerrilla campaign. You do not need a big budget to be successful. You just need creativity and a good imagination.
Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Friday’s Gorillas of Guerrilla!
Cheers,
Kyle Yu
Head of Marketing
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
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