Hotdog boy; Snapchat’s unlikely saviour?

The writing appeared to be on the wall for Snapchat only a matter of months ago. However it’s been near impossible to avoid their latest trend.

Dancing Hotdog boy has catapulted the brand back into the limelight, taking the internet by storm and cropping up just about everywhere, a particular highlight is the character being immortalised in iconic album covers…

A collection of screenshots of hot dog boy on album covers- DAMN, Gorrillaz, and Nirvana

Some have not been so kind though…

via GIPHY

Whilst on the surface it appears as a bit of fun, the hugely popular response could mean so much more for Snapchat.

The platform have been experimenting with their ‘world lenses’ since April, letting users overlay their photos with interactive 3d filters. However none have had as monumental an impact as the dancing Hotdog.

Augmented reality is not neccessarily a new feature used by brands, it’s becoming quite a common method, none though have been as well-documented as Snap’s latest outing.

Snapchat’s e-commerce boss has said it could pave the way for a new advertising era for the platform, with consumers being able to ‘try before they buy’ enabling them to place products into the real world.

The technology behind the dancing hot dog Lens emerged from Snap’s acquisition of Israeli startup Cimagine last year. They said Snap’s traditional front-facing camera selfie Lenses were proven by Nielsen metrics to create a “halo effect” for brands using them increasing both brand awareness and purchase intent.

If Snap are to position themselves as an attractive ad platform, something integral to them not only continuing but succeeding, they’ve left themselves in an extremely strong position, boosting their reputation massively.

The immersive nature means there’s an endless list of possibilities for advertisers Vodafone saw excellent results over Christmas clocking up 17 million views in a single day. It was not enough for Snapchat themselves though, as that still fell within that horror first quarter they endured.

Seemingly though they are learning from their mistakes, a new ad platform, a ton of new features and now viral fame could be a winning combination that sees their fortunes begin to change.