Snapchat stories: a brand marketing platform

When I opened EDC our story, on Snapchat over the weekend my curiosity was peaked. Watching the story of the Electric Daisy Carnival unfold as Snap Chat launched a new idea within a trending feature on their popular mobile app.   This feature allows the approximately 400,000 music enthusiasts who will attend EDC to create a public photo and video stream that collectively tells the EDC story to the world; who's there, and most importantly perhaps - what it feels like to be there.  The story was shot from performer and attendee vantage points.

Snapchat: Our Story feature

With over 1 billion views per day which is double the 500 million views just two months ago, Snachat's story telling feature is now viewed more frequently than individual snaps.  Since its launch just over a year ago the My story feature would only allow users who were friends within the app to share a curated story that could be viewed for a period of 24 hours.  Our Story allows users to collaboratively upload and stream one central story without the limitations of being friends within the app.

Snapchat hasn't released much information of how they monitor and curate the Our Story feature, filtering out inappropriate content as the story is curated; if this feature maintains a premium streaming quality the opportunity for large brands to tell a global and intimate story of their own could redefine marketing through social media. 

The Electric Daisy Carnival: First to market 

EDC, put on by Los Angeles based production company Insomniac Events, is a ever growing music festival held seasonally around the US and now Purto Rico.  By telling their story through snap chat's global social media platform EDC broadens its demographic exposure and opens up further growth opportunities for not just the Electric Daisy Carnival but also the wide roster of festivals Insomniac Events hosts annually.

What this could mean for surf and action sports brands: 

It's mid January, the break is pumping and the 20th annual In Memory of Eddie Aikau is about to go.  At the same time, on the opposite side of the globe, Iouri Podladtchikov is training on a desolate powder covered mountain.  Dane Reynolds is working on a new video collaboration with Craig Anderson and all of this is being shown on the same stream, practically in real time  - for only 24 hours.   Then the content changes.  

Any brand within ZQK could tell intimate behind the scenes or on the front lines of the action stories to its consumers and share the felling that "only a surfer knows".  

Mike Randal, former Facebook PMD director new Snapchat powerhouse:

Mike Randal recently signed with Snapchat to be their VP of Business and Marketing partnerships.  Early commentary about this news is that Snapchat will look to monetize through building partnerships with other brands and events. 

Sources:
Snap Chat
http://www.insomniac.com/festival/edc-las-vegas-2014/#main
http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/21/snapchat-our-story/
http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/24/facebook-steals-features-snapchat-steals-talent/?utm_campaign=fb&ncid=fb