SnapSkate
Coca-Cola GmbH
Issue 44 | September 2017
Agency
Ogilvy & Mather Berlin
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Dr. Stephan Vogel Managing Executive Creative Director Tim Stuebane Executive Creative Director Felix Fenz Creative Director Björn Kernspeckt Creative Director Stese Wagner Art Directors Andreas Richter, Philipp Bertisch Copywriters Jens Friggemann, Thorsten Buesser
Production Team
Production Agency Producer Georg Ilse Technical Director Jens Steffen Application Engineer Frank Schwarzhoff
Other Credits
Managing Director Simon Usifo Account Director Max Brunner Senior Account Manager Samara Schulz Senior Account Director Vanessa Schmidtke Account Manager Anna-Karina Berels Trainee Account Linda Schipp
Date
April 2017
Background
Snapchat was one of the most popular social media platforms for teens on mobile devices. But for brands there were two problems. One, teens instantly skipped everything that felt like advertising. And, two, Snapchat's predefined ad formats were very expensive.
How could Coca-Cola promote new Coca-Cola Zero Sugar on Snapchat in a smart way which was both relevant and entertaining for teens?
Idea
SnapSkate was the first Snapchat Story turned into a game. Without coding and without media investment, it was made playable in the Snapchat Story of one of Germany's most popular influencers, izzi. The game let teens control the famous skateboarder Danny Pham across several levels of difficulty.
The way it worked was through a series of short videos in which a skater had to jump over obstacles but failed every time. Only if the player tapped at exactly the right moment would the skater skip over the obstacles while the viewer skipped to the next video and a continuation of the game.
The game consisted of several dozen Snaps (short videos of up to 10 seconds) with a prize raffle for all those who made it all the way through.
Results
7.5 million views proved teens loved the game. 82% of them played it until the end, resulting in 332 days spent with the brand in total. Even 1.8% of all players registered on the brand website to sample new Coca-Cola Zero Sugar – internal business goals tripled. Even the press liked it.
Our Thoughts
Native advertising is often sneered at by creative agencies but here's proof that (a) it works, especially if you're trying to reach teens who make a thing of being unreachable, and (b) it still requires a creative idea to make it fun. Izzi would never have touched this with a bargepole if it had just been a moronic endorsement of Coca-Cola. His own brand requires inventiveness if he is to buddy up with a brand otherwise it shrivels and dies.
Call me old-fashioned but I am glad the team remembered the product as well as the brand and created the means by which the game could become a sampling exercise. Good news that 4,500 actually signed up to try Coke Zero.