‘We’re the best known, but least understood’: Snapchat’s global chief creative talks new brand story
Snapchat launched a new campaign overseas earlier this year in an effort to differentiate itself and prove it is a alternative to social media, not just another social platform. The brand’s global chief creative officer, Colleen DeCourcy, spoke to Mumbrella on the campaign, how Australians interact with the app, and how she plans to reinvigorate the brand’s image and story.
When Snapchat first launched in 2011, founders Bobby Murphy and Evan Spiegel said they hated social media, and wanted to created a platform that didn’t have the perfect Kodak moments, or pressure to perform.
The brand has long tried to differentiate itself from social media – a message that DeCourcy is now stressing hard in its creative campaigns.
“This differentiation has always been there,” she told Mumbrella. “I always joke that we’re the best known, but least understood. We’ve tried to be different from day one.
“This differentiation is a process that’s been going on for more than the two years I’ve been here, and we started making this work a year ago, and we’ve really been pushing to get this point across. It feels amazing to have something that we can talk about, that we can hone ever further.”
DeCourcy explained that once she started at Snapchat in early 2022, after a whole career in agencyland – including nearly a decade at Wieden + Kennedy – she started searching through data and research on mental health statistics, people’s feelings of their own self worth and identity, and how social media products play a role in that.
Previous work from the company focused closely on how Snapchat was deeply rooted in the connections between real friends – and while DeCourcy stressed that it was fantastic and necessary work, she argued more needed to be done to reflect the platform’s ability to forge real human connection and conversation.
The new work, ‘Less Social Media, More Snapchat’, aims to share the message that Snapchat was built as an alternative to social media – it was never meant to amass huge ‘friend’ networks, compete for likes or offer an endless stroll of carefully curated content, but instead, it was designed to be a place where users could just be real.
“If you’re a young person figuring out who you are, the likes and shares on your social media is proven to be bad for your mental health, and that’s something we have not done from the get go,” she said.
“We’re rooted in real relationships, and have a lack of those competitive metrics, and we are doing things that are connecting the real world altogether.”
She explained that the campaign has been met with conversations with people who ask: ‘But, aren’t you social media?’
“And I love that, and that’s exactly why we are making this statement,” she continued.
“We do not follow that typical business model, and we make choices from a business perspective that mean we don’t follow that business model. And we see the outcomes on the other side of how people feel, and they’re happy, and that’s really what we’re all about.”
The app boasts an Australian audience of over 8 million people every month, 45% of which are over the age of 25, Snapchat is deeply embedded in the Australian social landscape. According to Snap Inc’s research, Australian Snapchatters open the app over 40 times per day, and over 60% interact with augmented reality lenses daily, on average.
Globally, it has 800 million monthly active users, reaching 90% of 13-24 year-olds, and over 75% of 13-35 year-olds across 25 different countries.
DeCourcy said there is one main thing uniting users – a love for a platform that’s fun, free of pressure and stands for genuine connections.
In a 2021 study by Goodques Path to Purchase, commissioned by Snap Inc, the app was ranked the number one happiest platform when compared to others. Over 90% of users say they feel comfortable, happy and connected when using the service.
DeCourcy said: “People are there because of what they value. The freedom [of Snapchat] is really interesting, and there are a lot of values that keep people on the platform… It’s the one place you can get a response when you probably won’t get it anywhere else.”
DeCourcy
She said the overarching goal of the campaign is to make it clear people have an alternative to social media, and the idea is key in reinvigorating Snapchat’s brand story.
“This is what I had in mind to do here,” she explained.
“It’s not a reactive stance, I’m not rushing to try and change people’s minds, or create some kind of cover, but I think it’s time to push for authenticity because of what we’re seeing in the world.”
DeCourcy said the business has some very clear focuses for the next 12-18 months to keep doubling down on its brand image and stance in market.
“One of them is now that we feel an increased heat around the safe environment that we’re creating for people, we’re also working very hard to make sure that we are equally as good for brands and advertisers, and you’ll continue to see us engage with AI,” she said.
“But most importantly, we are putting extra emphasis on how we make all this tie back into real world connections that keep everybody on par. This will be the year of us committing to our community and making sure we can grow this collective experience for them.”
The campaign has kicked off in the US across TV, OOH, print and digital, and in the UK with OOH and digital ads. DeCourcy said as the campaign continues to rollout, the brand will lean into more behavioural elements that drive people back to having real connections in the real world.
Rollout in Australia can be expected in the coming months.
Keep an eye on Mumbrella for the full feature with DeCourcy next week.
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Lauren McNamara is a journalist at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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