Top Four Snapchat Lens Campaigns

January 28, 2019

Image of a man with braids holding a white mobile phone while taking a picture
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Snapchat’s Programmatic Advertising

Since making the switch to programmatic advertising in November of 2017, Snapchat’s ad prices have become increasingly reasonable. Now, more brands than ever have been experimenting with the platform as a way of reaching the notoriously difficult Gens Y and Z.

We’ve written about how to integrate 3D lenses into ad campaigns on Snapchat before (see our thoughts on marketing with Snapchat), but there are no shortage of success stories. Below are our top 4 Snapchat Lens campaigns, along with key metrics and reach to get you thinking about how to leverage the power of 3D lenses and filters for your next big content push.

New Year, New Oreo

Within a few weeks of the new year Oreo has already announced a massive 28 market pan-European campaign.

Oreo has placed unique Snapchat codes on 134 million product packages. Users can scan these codes which unlock dunkable AR lenses (see below), filters, and Oreo’s take on digital stickers – Oreojis.

UK cookie fans will be getting an extra treat in the form of an in-app video game where they roll downhill in a giant hamster ball while dodging a field of high-speed hazards.

A user's face is shown in the middle of an Oreo cookie Snapchat lens

Oreo’s big new year push is reminiscent of Snapchat’s wildly successful Taco Bell campaign which racked up a staggering 224 million views in a single day, beating out the previous Super Bowl of AR champion, Gatorade, which had been sitting at a cool 165 million views.

Dom(inate) the Competition

In July of 2018 Dominos took advantage of one of Snapchat’s most exciting new features – shoppable AR.

Their national campaign featured both a world lens and face lens. Interested Snappers were able to don a pair of aviators in the face lens, reflecting a pizza box which they could then examine using the world lens. The kicker? You could order the pepperoni pizza from the world lens without leaving the app.

Third party analytics companies like Neustar, Placed, and Nielsen Catalina have shown that there was an average sales lift 10% following campaigns similar to this one. Brands like Dominos, BMW, and adidas were some of the first on board with integrating e-commerce, and the results already speak for themselves.

Something Strange This Way Comes

To help ring in the new year Netflix announced the 4th of July as the release date for the hotly anticipated third season of streaming king, Stranger Things.

Back in 2017 Netflix partnered with Snapchat to launch a completely immersive AR experience to hype the premiere of Season 2. Unlike some of the other examples on this list Netflix created a replica of Joyce Byers (AKA: Winona Ryder’s) now  iconic living room.  

Two mobile phones with a woman using the Stranger Things Snapchat lens against a background of the living room from the showw
Netflix

Netflix used the world lens to allow users to inspect everything from the bookshelf to the fairy lights and, if you were unlucky enough, get snatched into the upside down just like Will.

This full AR experience also included filters for the face lens and many, many easter eggs

Willy Wonka and Broadway’s Golden Ticket

AR ads don’t just offer opportunities to big brands. In 2017 the launch of the new Broadway musical, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was heralded with an AR push.

Anyone with Snapchat on their phone could head to nine different locations across New York – including Grand Central Terminal and Dylan’s Candy Bar. Once there they could use sponsored geofilters to snap photos or videos to enter the contest through interacting with @CharlieMusical on Snapchat.

Geofilters are a great way of doing a branding push without breaking the bank – as we’ve talked about before.

The sky really is the limit when it comes to this particular tool. For example, Equinox, a high-end gym chain, used geofilters which only appeared at their competitors’ gyms in order to drive new subscriptions during the post new year’s gym rush.

Want to learn more about how you can leverage AR lenses in your brand's next marketing campaign? Check out our full list of resources here.

Reach out to find out how we can create your brand's next Snapchat AR lens.

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