Includes user-generated content and sponsored filters By Lauren Johnson
- April 4, 2016, 4:31 PM EDT
- Technology
Jeep is using a photo contest to launch its Snapchat account. Jeep
Jeep raised more than a few eyebrows in February when it chose to air its minute-longSuper Bowl spot "Portraits" vertically, partly because the creative fit the size of a mobile phone. Now, the brand is permanently setting up shop on vertical-oriented Snapchat.
On Thursday, Jeep officially opened a Snapchat account, posting user-generated photos of cars. Each day, users have been voting for their favorite photo by taking a screenshot of the "snap" and sending it back to the brand. In total, 16 photos have been posted, and the brand asked fans to pick the winning shot from the four finalist shots today before a winner is announced tomorrow.
Jason Marchioni, social media manager for Jeep, declined to say what the winning entry entails, but said, "We have some things in mind," which could mean using the content in an upcoming campaign.
The four-day campaign is part of an effort dubbed 4x4 Day to kick off the automaker's presence on the ephemeral photo and video app. It's not the first time that Jeep has tested Snapchat—in December, the brand ran ads within Snapchat Discover and the World Surf League's "Billabong Pipe Masters" live story.
And just like its Super Bowl ad, the content was shot straight-up—this time specifically for Snapchat.
"I wouldn't rule out completely that we would repurpose other assets, [but] everything we produced in the last couple of days was custom, only on Snapchat," Marchioni said. "We would probably look at Snapchat in the future [for] live-event coverage—whether that be an auto show reveal or just some partnership that we have where we're on-site."
In addition to the content that's being pushed out through Jeep's own account, the brand is also running a national geofilter campaign today that encourages Snapchat users to overlay a sponsored graphic on top of photos that they take outside (see the creative below).
Through April 27, 2,000 Fiat-Chrysler dealerships are geofenced with sponsored filters that users can similarly apply to their photos.
"We wanted to make sure that we had the right content play in place so that we're engaging with our fans and creating a lean-forward experience for them," Marchioni said. "It's a fun way to engage with a brand on Snapchat other than looking at photos or video."
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