Why World Wildlife Fund’s “#LastSelfie” Worked
From front facing smart phone cameras to selfie sticks, the selfie is a phenomenon now a cultural staple, and is constantly evolving into new trends since this campaign was launched. Unlike the Selfie, many animal species are not so lucky. Enter the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), one the preeminent conservation non-profits. Using the mobile social media platform Snapchat, the WWF reminded us of this sobering fact.
The World Wildlife Fund’s brand awareness campaign was centered around Snapchat, a mobile social media platform that allows users to send each other pictures and videos that disappear after ten seconds. The WWF realized that this fleeting functionality could allow them to highlight that time is also quickly running out for many endangered species. This was one of the first introductions to the Snapchat filters, and the way WWF used the social platform was both relevant and impactful to its core message for the campaign.
The activation of the campaign came as followers of The World Wildlife Fund’s Snapchat account received pictures of an endangered animal overlaid with a caption such as “Don’t let this be my #LastSelfie” or “Better take a screenshot this could be my #LastSelfie.” Accompanying these images was information that told the followers where they could go to help.
As a result, there were posts by 40,000 Twitter users that were seen by 120 million users which represents 50% of all users on the platform at the time. The WWF met its monthly donation target in just 3 days.
See the Youtube video here.
The Pineapple Juice:
- Many companies, including Snapchat themselves, have tried and struggled to monetize and mobilize their users. This campaign expertly wove together the theme of disappearing by choosing a social media vehicle that is known for doing just that, and now you can see countless brands using snapchat filters.
- The WWF had a maximum of 10 seconds to clearly display three important points: what their problem is, why you should care and how to take action. With such a small window of opportunity, the WWF clearly hit a home run.
- The WWF understood the value of Snapchat as a medium for reaching and engaging millennials. The Selfie and by association, Snapchat, promotes vanity and self-obsession but the WWF showed us how to flip this paradigm on its head and use the platform to affect amazing positive changes.
