Dive Brief:
- Snapchat has a sizable audience of young people, particularly those ages 12 through 24, which is an opportunity for food and beverage brands to target this demographic. However, "Earlier this year, Snapchat found that 60% to 70% of users stopped watching ads on the app just three seconds in," according to Fast Company.
- Despite that statistic, Coca-Cola found a way to attract more viewers for longer by working closely with Snapchat to create content specifically tailored for the social network and its audience.
- While Coca-Cola's ads repurposed from TV and other social networks didn't perform well on Snapchat for the NCAA Final Four tournament, Coca-Cola's next attempt, an ad for Snapchat’s back-to-high-school Story that highlighted scenes from kids’ first day of classes, produced a completion rate of 54% for a Snapchat-exclusive 10-second Coke spot.
Dive Insight:
Social media and digital marketing are already part of many brands' advertising strategy, but for other brands, digital represents a new, untapped frontier for reaching and engaging with consumers. Snapchat is garnering the attention of both consumers and marketers, though its high costs can be a turn off for some companies with smaller marketing budgets.
"Snapchat's selling point continues to be its audience, despite sky-high advertising rates and misgivings that it doesn't offer brands detailed metrics on viewership. The company is acutely aware that it offers unique access to a young audience," Fast Company reported.
"They understand their power right now, and they’re just egotistical about what they have," one marketing exec told Fast Company.
