Snapchat and the hours of fun that comes with it!

Is Gamification used more than we know?

Bobbie Atkinson April 2016

 Gamification also known as adversing is when an online game is merged with interactive advertisements. It is a very clever way of advertising something without the consumer realising they are consuming it. Since technology has improved so have mobile phone applications, we can transform consumers faces into their friends and families, swap faces with animals and even turn themselves into animals such as dogs and rabbits. 

It is such a simple application, but produces hours and hours of fun, which are then shared across other social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter which only promotes the applications further. The first application spoken about within this blog is Snapchat, created in 2011 where consumers could take photos of themselves in their day to day lives, add text and send to their friends within seconds. This application has grown over the years and now has options to transform your face into images such as the ones below. 

Snapchat has become one of the most used applications, as it consists of everything from messages, setting stories of consumers days with videos and images, allowing users to send private images, choose the amount of seconds it lasts on the receivers phone and the text that goes with it. The application has grown so that users can see if anyone screenshots their messages as well as secret emojis next to their friends name which categorises them depending on how many messages are sent back and forth. As a result of this, the application can also link with the schema of the audience and the self concept as it is directed at young people allowing them to portray themselves in whatever way they want, and allows them to get up to all sorts of mischief young people enjoy.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Companies are tapping into the popularity of Snapchat and are

using it to promote themselves. Now and again as well as the options to turn consumers faces into animals and other characters shown above, there are also options to change into characters from new upcoming films, this is a short game for the consumers which includes the advertisement of the film. If consumers then share this image to their friends on the app, as well as on other social networking sites the new film will get even more free promotion.

Snapchat also has a discover section, which includes many television channels such as Sky News, Comedy Central and the Daily Mail. Consumers can click on these icons and a series of advertisements for that channel will appear. The list of television channels is shown to the right of this blog post. These ads are updated regularly therefore these channels are being shown to millions of people on a daily basis. This will then encourage viewers to then turn on their television and watch the shows instead of just a short video on their phone.

Advertisers are gaining many benefits through this, any news or products that the company or show wants to reach certain audiences can be promoted everyday, as most snapchat users are on the app everyday. This application also has a live

section, this is were mega events or international occasions are shared to millions. For example the Olympics and any other major sporting event will be shown live on snapchat, where consumers can capture themselves at the event and add it to the live Snapchat stream for millions to see. This gives the consumers the chance to get involved and show themselves to the world as well as the companies getting free promotion across the world.

The second application that has followed Snapchat and is slowly growing is MSQRD. It is a similar app that allows consumers to capture themselves in images or videos as characters, also from new films in order to link the advertisement. Users can then save their images and share them across social networking sites. The new upcoming films included in MSQRD are shown below with the film logo in the corner of every photo taken. On each photo the MSQRD logo is also in the bottom right hand corner, so that when they are shared and other viewers see them; they also know how to download the application to join in with the fun.

As technology carries on improving so will gamification, more and more companies will tap into the gamification side of advertising and the social networking world will be full of advertisements made by the people viewing them.

This form of marketing has been rated five stars as social media is flooded with these images and videos, and are shared across millions of people each day giving these applications free promotion on a daily basis. It is an extremely clever use of experiential marketing and is sure to continue growing more and more.