Snapchat isn’t exactly the most well-embraced social site on the Internet when it comes to consumer brands, mainly due to some of the content that posts on the site – some of which revolves around “sexting” and other unfavorable content. However, one company is looking to put it to good use. In fact, you could say that Dove is intending to, ahem, clean up.
The soap maker has launched a new program that works with Snapchat, in an effort to attempt to boost the image of young women. It’s part of a tie-in with the company’s annual Self-Esteem Weekend, allowing it to send themed Snap pictures to the site and also interact with replies.
“Having a public conversation about your self-esteem can be intimidating,” Unilever Marketing Director Jennifer Bremmer said in an e-mail to Adage. “Our goal was to leverage the ephemeral nature of Snapchat to establish genuine personal connections in a space that feels safe to girls and women. Dove has invited them to share their insecurities via Snaps, and as these Snaps disappear, they can make room for positive thoughts.”
With the snaps, Dove and “ambassadors” of the program will respond with “real-time advice and feedback” that will help out interested parties. And it’s a program that could work out for the better with both parties, according to Bremmer. “We want to speak to them in ways and places that are organic to them,” she explained. “What made the platform most appealing was the ability to engage with women and girls in a personal, one-to-one manner.”
Dove recently hosted the first series of two-hour sessions on the subject across Snapchat, where women could speak with a child psychologist and educator to answer questions revolving around self-esteem. The results were pretty high, with 75 conversations in all, and 130,000 views on the Snap pictures that were posted by the company.
“Given that this marks our fist initiative on Snapchat, we will be looking at many metrics,” Ms. Bremmer said. “Overall, we will look at the conversation and engagement we sparked on this platform individually with girls and women, and seek to understand the value of that connection to users on the platform.”
Other companies are trying out Snapchat as well, including Coty’s cK One, which recently generated a million views with its campaign, and generated over 6,700 followers on the site.
