“In a way Snapchat is a mirror of real life. The images you see are transient, fleeting and gone too soon. They are unique, instant, and yet only live for 10 seconds.” – #LastSelfie
Since its release in 2011, Snapchat has quickly become one of the most frequently used forms of social media. In 2015, it was reported that the picture sharing service averaged 100 million users per day and that 30% of millennials with internet access in the U.S. used Snapchat regularly. It is shocking stats such as these that make me wonder why we haven’t seen more companies using Snapchat to advertise the products and services that they have to offer. One organization that decided to jump on the Snapchat bandwagon was the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). In 2014, the WWF launched a short Snapchat campaign, known as #LastSelfie, that gave the word selfie an entire new meaning. Although this campaign focused on the Turkey branch of the WWF, it eventually impacted individuals all around the world.
As a college student, I am well aware of how Snapchat works and how popular it has become. However, the snaps that I have received cannot possibly compare in importance with those sent by the WWF during their popular #LastSelfie campaign. The basic concept behind this campaign was that Snapchat users would follow the WWF Snapchat account, which would then randomly send out snaps. These snaps contained pictures of different endangered species with the text, “Don’t let this be my #LastSelfie.” Also included was a link for WWF donations and a request for the image to be screenshot and posted to users’ Twitter feeds. Soon, the campaign was gaining recognition on another social media platform, Twitter. In one week, 40,000 related tweets reached 120 million timelines, which accounted for 50% of all Twitter users. Amazingly, #LastSelfie also helped the WWF reach their monthly fundraising goal in ONLY 3 DAYS!
Simply based on the few statistics available, I would say that the #LastSelfie campaign was as successful as it could have been. The general public, and millennials more specifically, seemed to truly believe in what the campaign was seeking to teach. They were willing to do their small part to help endangered species, which was the ultimate goal of the simple, yet effective campaign. With a campaign that reached such a level of success, it is hard to recommend possible changes. From my point of view, the only thing that could have potentially increased its impact would have been to expand it to WWF branches worldwide instead of just basing it from the Turkey, Denmark and Italy branches.
Sources:
http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/snapchat-statistics/
patrickfinlayson 
I do recall the #LastSelfie campaign a few years back. I felt as if this campaign did a very good job of building awareness to these issues within the WWF. Being able to reach a monthly goal in only 3 days is very impressive. WWF did a wonderful job using the snapchat platform to take off their campaign, and with that, it came with much success. I would have to agree with your statement on expanding from just those regions. I feel like their message was a powerful one which would have had success in many other places.
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