Super Bowl LI

Still wallowing over the loss of the Atlanta Falcons, the Super Bowl is still very prevelant in my mind. I have analyzed the game, the commercials, and now I wanted to take the time to evaluate the digital media used during the largest sports game of the year. An average of 111.3 million Americans tuned into this year's game, so it is no doubt that brands want a piece of this action. With a 30 second traditional television ad costing about $5 million, brands are looking to leverage digital and live ads on Snapchat, and other forms of social media, to connect with consumers.

If you recorded yourself being doused by Gatorade on Snapchat (like I did), then Gatorade was successful in their campaign to connect with their audience. Snapchat charges around $750,000 for a custom Snapchat lens on peak days such as the Super Bowl. This is much cheaper than the traditional television ad, and occasionally more successful. For those who may be unaware, a Snapchat lens  allows users to add special effects to selfies. Users' open the app, frame their face, touch the screen, and below appears a menu of lens options. There are many standard lenses, but the first few slots are reserved for the daily sponsored lenses. Snapchat's lenses are to digital advertising what commercials are to television advertising. Just like television ads in the Superbowl, Snapchat users expect the lenses to be entertaining on event days. Users' are eager to open the app and see what marketers have created for them. An average Snapchat consumer spends 20 seconds playing with a sponsored lens; that's 20 seconds of a consumer actively being involved with a brand. Snapchat's daily audience reaches 150 million, which is greater than the Superbowl's viewing audience. Therefore, Snapchat allows brands to reach those consumers that may not be a fan of football, but still want to be apart of the hype on social media. On Sunday morning Gatorade tweeted a GIF of the lens to build momentum, and by the end of the almost every Snapchat user had been soaked with the orange sports drink.

The statistics from Gatorade's Super Bowl lens has proven it to be a successful advertising campaign, and I have no doubt that many other brands will follow suit in the upcoming years.

Sources

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/02/05/brands-capitalize-live-video-snapchat-instagram-super-bowl-li

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/snapchat-best-brands#sm.00001e35dn1pq1dciugdr5zo3bcif

http://www.tubefilter.com/2017/02/02/snapchat-lens-super-bowl-ad/

http://www.ibtimes.com/super-bowl-ratings-2017-how-many-people-watched-patriots-vs-falcons-nfl-game-sets-2487347

http://www.ibtimes.com/snapchats-super-bowl-sponsored-lens-gatorade-had-more-100-million-views-2298865

#foodie

Millennials are the largest generational group in the United States, and hold about $200 billion in annual buying power. The understand that fast-food is unhealthy, although they enjoy the quick and convenient aspect of it. Therefore millennials have become dominant buyers in the fast-casual restaurant industry. Millennials are the main consumer of fast-casual and Snapchat, so why not combine the two? 

If a restaurant is interested in using Snapchat as a way of social marketing, they should begin by spreading the word on their other social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Adding their Snapchat name to any promotions or campaigns will help them gain a strong follower base. Once an account has a follower base the restaurant can begin enticing customers to follow them on Snapchat by sending promo codes and coupons through the app. For example, is someone adds a restaurant on Snapchat, the restaurant can respond with a reward that they can redeem for 5% off or free delivery. This makes the promotions seem more personalized and exclusive. It also will encourage word-of-mouth promotions.

Snapchat use can also be promoted while in the restaurant. The restaurant can create Geofilters for their locations so customers do the advertising themselves. When they are presented with a beautiful dish they may Snap a photo and swipe to the right to add the Geofilter before they even take a bite! Restaurants can also encourage on-premise Snaps to help engage customers even further while they are in the restaurant. For example, if they Snap a photo at the restaurant and post it, they could receive 10% of their meal.

Another important aspect of using Snapchat in restaurants is to be able to go behind the scenes. Customers enjoy seeing how their food is made, how fresh the ingredients are, and where the shipments are coming in from. Show them that! Restaurants should show their followers how clean their kitchen is and how colorful their fruits and veggies are! It is also just as important to show case the personality of the chef and staff, and show that your restaurant is friendly and knows how to have a good time!

Sources

https://www.foodabletv.com/blog/2016/7/26/snapchat-an-unexpected-restaurant-marketing-tool

http://get.grubhub.com/blog/snapchat-101-a-guide-for-restaurants.html

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/52/9e/43/529e430e27d1c5194a0da13e0ac78aed.jpg

http://www.themplsegotist.com/sites/www.themplsegotist.com/files/images/Greetings%20from%20BDubs%20Snapchat%20Filter.img_assist_custom-480x854.JPG

Something's missing

Has anyone realized something different about Snapchat? Something missing? Remember the local collaborative stories that allowed you to view what people were doing in other cities? Well, they are gone now. Snapchat has decided to end these local stories because they were one of their least popular features. There will still be live stories, but they will be focused around bigger events such as award shows or holidays.

It seems that Snapchat is now seeking more exclusive content, and opting for official deals with companies desiring to be part of their "Discover" section. So instead of the National Football League (NFL) just being involved in live stories, they are going to build a Discover channel. With these partnerships the ad revenue is split.

Sadly, Snapchat had to lay off about fifteen employees that were in charge of curating the live story submissions cities would receive. Curators would sift through around 20,000 submissions a day, and only chose 50-60 to showcase. With the elimination of local stories, Snapchat is expected to raise their revenue by 150% in 2017. It is expected to rise from $360 million to $935.5 million.

Although this was one of my shorter blog posts, I felt it was necessary to address. Check back next week to see how Snapchat is being integrated into many restaurants' marketing plans.

Sources

http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/7/12830618/snapchat-ends-local-stories-for-cities
http://mashable.com/2016/09/07/snapchat-local-stories/#K._2Q2.d28qH