Snapchat Announces Activations for Festival Season

Snapchat’s looking to help its users get into the festival season spirit, with a range of themed Lenses and content challenges aligned with Summer celebrations.

First off, Snapchat will be hosting exclusive content from Coachella, with a curated Discover element that will highlight video updates from various creators at the event.

As explained by Snap:

“The Coachella Story will feature content captured by Snap Stars, artists, and community creators. From packing how-to’s, road trip BTS, and best festival looks, to the top performances, essential food picks, and everything in between.”

The activation aligns with Snapchat’s broader push to move away from professional content from publishers, and more towards highlighting user-generated material in the app. Which is cheaper to produce, while it’ll also provide more opportunities to drive exposure to Snap creators, as opposed to official content via Snap’s official partnerships.

Snap discontinued funding for its Snap Originals programming last year.

Snap’s also launching four new geo-fenced filters for Snapchatters to use live from festival grounds. 

Yeah, I wouldn’t say that these are amazing additions, but they add to the broader celebratory atmosphere, and could resonate with Snap’s predominantly younger audience.

Finally, Snap’s also launching a new set of Spotlight Challenges to drive more themed UGC:

“Snapchat will also host a series of themed Spotlight Challenges across both weekends including #FestivalSzn, #FestivalFitCheck, and #FestivalMemories. Snapchatters are encouraged to submit their best Snaps for a chance to win a share of a cash prize.”

Spotlight Challenges aim to inspire contributions to Snap’s TikTok-like Spotlight feed, by providing themed concepts that creators can align with in order to qualify for varying rewards.

These new activations will help to align Snap with the broader theme, or “vibe” of upcoming events, which could see more users contributing content from them, which could also provide opportunities for brands to tap into the same with their own themed promotions.

You can read more about Snap’s festival season activations here.