New York Fries is asking consumers to pucker up ahead of Valentine’s Day.
On Feb. 8 the brand launched its first-ever Snapchat promotion, inviting consumers to send it a “snap” (a direct photo or video message) of themselves kissing fries in exchange for a coupon of free fries.
The promotion is the reincarnation of a prior couponing program, according to New York Fries brand manager Alyssa Berenstein. In the past, New York Fries offered cheeky coupons on Valentine’s Day that said things like, “Treat your lover to a poutine.” This year, the brand decided to take that sentiment to Snapchat in order to reach a younger audience.
Berenstein said the brand is targeting the 13 to 25-year-old demographic, which is the sweet spot for Snapchat. “What was attractive to our brand about Snapchat is the fact it targets such a younger demographic that isn’t active on Facebook or Twitter for the most part,” she said.
New York Fries is offering coupons to the first 100 users who send it a snap of them kissing fries
The promotion is designed to build the Canadian brand’s presence on Snapchat. In addition to the promotion, the brand is also starting to create Snapchat “stories” – a format that allows Snapchat users to piece together several photo or video snaps into a chain contained in a single post.
Moving forward, Berenstein said her team is considering further Snapchat promotions, including Snapchat takeovers that may see popular users of the app take over New York Fries’ account.
At this time, she said the brand’s not using any paid advertising on Snapchat.
New York Fries is one of several Canadian brands experimenting with Snapchat, which launched in 2011 and has gained consumer adoption over the past two years. However, Canadian marketers have been slower to adopt Snapchat as a marketing channel than their U.S. counterparts. (Last month Marketing asked media and marketing experts about their use of Snapchat – read that here.)
New York Fries’ PR and social media agency, Instigator Communications, led the campaign.
