Jimmy John’s Is the Latest To Target Tech-Savvy Consumers With New Snapchat Lens

Sandwich chain Jimmy John's is launching a multi-channel campaign for its $3 Little John sub today, a promotion that includes its first nationwide augmented reality (AR) Snapchat Lens with a mobile game. Rapper Lil' Jon is the face behind the new marketing campaign—for obvious reasons—and appears in a national TV spot and behind-the-scenes video on YouTube.

The augmented reality game gives Snapchat users 30 seconds to catch as many falling sandwiches as they can in their mouths, which are digitally shrunk, making the game more challenging. Snapchat users can also take selfies from the game and share them on the image-messaging platform.

While the QSR brand is certainly not the first to embark on a celebrity-endorsed marketing campaign, it is leading the way when it comes to innovative mobile advertising. By turning the Snapchat Lens—which is primarily an image-messaging app—into a mobile game, Jimmy John’s is strengthening the reach of its messaging.. Not only are users engaging with an amusing branded experience in a way that they control, but they are also sharing selfies on Snapchat, boosting the campaign's overall reach among the platform's millions of users.

Snapchat introduced this new AR gaming format in April 2018—which it calls "Snappables” to let users control games with facial movements and gestures. Dunkin' was among the first brands to create sponsored Snappables as part of its marketing campaigns. Last Valentine’s Day, Papa John’s released a similar game that allowed users to create Papa John's-themed pictures to share with friends and order pizza directly.

According to a survey by Pew Research Center, about 62% of U.S. adults ages 18 to 29 use Snapchat, making it the fourth-most popular social platform. By running a campaign on Snapchat, Jimmy John's looks to target tech-savvy millennial consumers who are more likely than older generations to consume content on mobile devices and participate in social media games. 

Franchisors are becoming increasingly interested in targeting this demographic through mobile apps. Earlier this year, Chipotle became the first and only major restaurant franchise to have a TikTok account. In April, KFC hilariously poked fun at influencers with a computer-generated, hipster Colonel Sanders posting photos of his “fabulous lifestyle” on the brand’s official Instagram. 

As online promotional campaigns like this continue to lead to overwhelming demands and record sales, it is safe to say that this isn’t the last sponsored Snappable post we’ll be seeing on our timelines.