Snapchat seeks to distinguish itself from category [Video]

Snapchat is seeking to distance itself from social media rivals in its new campaign, positioning itself as an “antidote” to other platforms.

“We’re not social media, we’re Snapchat,” the company’s chief creative and marketing officer Colleen DeCourcy tells Marketing Week.

The platform, launched in 2011, is first and foremost used for messaging close friends, she states, citing statistics that three in four 13- to 24-year-olds in more than 25 countries are using Snapchat everyday to privately talk to their friends.

Snapchat’s message of difference has become particularly relevant in recent times, DeCourcy says. While there was a great deal of optimism and excitement about what social media could offer in its early days, she notes some drawbacks have become apparent in recent years, such as the pressure young people feel to accumulate likes and followers.

When Snapchat launched “people thought [it] was crazy” to focus on messaging rather than building …