SNAPCHAT – REAL FRIENDS: A MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Why the campaign?
Snapchat disrupted the social media platform with its unique features when it came out. Based on a very new and never-tried-before prospect, Snapchat users could send each other temporary images that lasted upto 10 seconds and would disappear right after being viewed. When it first came out, everyone was downloading snapchat. With the different lens filter, Snapchat users enjoyed using the app and were hooked to it. Millions of people used Snapchat to talk to close friends and family through messages, pictures, and video. It also had a story feature, where an image/video you put up stays for 24 hours before it disappears again.
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Snapchat users access
the platform daily
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Snapchat users are
aged between 18-24
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Snapchatters create new
content on a daily basis
However, not soon enough, Instagram came up with something similar called Instagram Stories and Lens, which was basically the same concept as Snapchat and thus began the downfall of the app. Snapchat’s shares fell down by almost half as all the users switched to Instagram for uploading and sending stories.
However, Snapchat kept coming up with new features and lens and one of them instantly picked up causing users who had uninstalled the app to install it back again – the gender swap filter which added 13 million more daily users in the quarter. As the name suggests, a user could use the lens and choose a gender – male or female – and look like it. A man could use the lens and look like a woman and vice versa. Snapchat also came up with the baby filter which basically made you look like a.. you guessed it, a baby. Soon enough, everyone was trying the filter and uploading their new “looks” on their Instagram and Snapchat stories.
When we launched Snapchat more than seven years ago, it wasn’t about capturing the traditional Kodak moment, or trying to look pretty or perfect. We wanted to create a way for our friends to express themselves and share however they felt in the moment.

Image Credit: Snapchat
The Idea:
Snapchat came up with the massive Global Campaign “Real Friends”. Snapchat has always maintained its focus on close relationships and was made to help people stay in touch with their closest connections, in a more intimate, and less permanent, way. It aims to showcase the value and importance of people who “love you exactly the way you are”. For the campaign, Snapchat connected with various friend-duos from 13 countries, each with a unique tale of their friendship journey. The idea was simple, show unfiltered and very relatable relations. The stories include relations between 2 friends, a long distance couple and even a mother daughter duo. The video consisted of a collection personal snapchat videos that they sent to each other showing how people are more “real” on Snapchat.
The Shade
This was a huge dig on its rival – Instagram. How? In a blog post, Snap wrote, “When we launched Snapchat more than seven years ago, it wasn’t about capturing the traditional Kodak moment, or trying to look pretty or perfect. We wanted to create a way for our friends to express themselves and share however they felt in the moment.” Basically saying – unlike Instagram, where everything is about aesthetics and “looking good”. It seeks to take advantage of Instagram’s increasingly negative perception by users—principally, that the platform is dominated by aesthetic-focused, photoshopped, posed, or otherwise inauthentic content.
“This campaign push is an attempt to position Snapchat as the go-to platform for sharing real moments, and not trying to look pretty or perfect. Snapchat is for real friends, so today we’re launching a celebration of the friends who share, laugh, love and connect with each other using our platform.” Said Kenny Mitchell, an ex Mcdonald’s marketing Exec who was recently appointed as Snapchat’s first CMO
Other than Instagram, it was also a subtle hit at Twitter and Facebook, which have been plagued by the spread of bots and fake users. Earlier this year, Facebook reported that it had removed 3.3 billion fake users within six months, while last year Twitter said it had shut down 70 million fake accounts.
The Marketing:
Image Credit: Google
On the occasion of the United Nations supported International Day of friendship on July 30, Snapchat announced the launch of its new campaign. The company used the #RealFriends to create content that grabbed users’ attention across platforms. They started off by really simple but a really effective move, Instagram marketing. Even though Snap as a company does not have an Instagram presence, Instagram users’ explore feeds were flooded with snapchat’s marketing message. How? Here’s how. Snapchat worked with dozens of “quote influencers” — high-profile accounts that primarily post inspirational quotes. Together, these accounts flooded Instagram with cheery quotes about friends using the “#realfriends” and “#friendshipquotes” hashtags. The hashtag takeover began on July 29, the day before International Friendship Day. The posts were all on a yellow background, complete with Snapchat’s ghost logo and “brought to you by Snapchat” captions. These posts were spotted on Instagram, twitter and even OOH in some countries and was just a “Warm up” for what was coming next. The billboards did not advertise a product, nor did they urge users to download the app – in fact, it didn’t even bear the Snapchat brand name.

Image Credits: Alex Heath on Twitter

Image Credits: Cameron Mills on Twitter

Image Credits: Alex Heath on Twitter

Image Credits: Alex Heath on Twitter
On the occasion of the United Nations supported International Day of friendship on July 30, Snapchat announced the launch of its new campaign. The company used the #RealFriends to create content that grabbed users’ attention across platforms. They started off by really simple but a really effective move, Instagram marketing. Even though Snap as a company does not have an Instagram presence, Instagram users’ explore feeds were flooded with snapchat’s marketing message. How? Here’s how. Snapchat worked with dozens of “quote influencers” — high-profile accounts that primarily post inspirational quotes. Together, these accounts flooded Instagram with cheery quotes about friends using the “#realfriends” and “#friendshipquotes” hashtags. The hashtag takeover began on July 29, the day before International Friendship Day. The posts were all on a yellow background, complete with Snapchat’s ghost logo and “brought to you by Snapchat” captions. These posts were spotted on Instagram, twitter and even OOH in some countries and was just a “Warm up” for what was coming next. The billboards did not advertise a product, nor did they urge users to download the app – in fact, it didn’t even bear the Snapchat brand name.
Longest Snapchat streak as of May 2019.
The billboards sport friendship quotes by various eminent personalities. They are all in signature, eye-catching Snapchat yellow and have Snapchat’s ghost symbol at the bottom. These “posts” were also seen in print ads and TV commercials. This plays into Snapchat’s hands as the pre-eminent “feel good” app. Respondents indicated that 95% of users feel happy while using the app, more than any other social media platform.
The Response
When the teasers were launched, people were confused as there were just quotes on a stark yellow background. But soon, people caught on and not only did people start uploading satires of billboards they saw but Snapchat announced that its user base is growing – for the first time in two years. Here’s some pictures of people uploading billboards they saw:

Image Credits: Stuff We Find on Instagram

Image Credits: Google

Image Credits: Google

Image Credits: Google

Image Credits: Google

Image Credits: Google
Snapchat now has 203 million active users.
Either way, Snap really wants everyone to know that they’re the ones who care about “real friends.”
Your move, Instagram.