Snapchat is a camera at its core, but most people don’t see it that way. So the in-house team at Snap set out to re-engage lapsed users (and get the attention of new ones) through a global brand campaign with a simple message: the Snapchat camera can unlock millions of mind-blowing AR experiences. All you have to do is open it.

We launched the campaign with hundreds of OOH placements in London, Mexico City, and a dozen US markets, each featuring a scannable Snapcode that opened a contextual AR Lens. We also partnered with iconic brands to make these scannable ads shoppable. And our digital presence was just as contextual: when people searched a range of topics on YouTube, we served them a relevant Lens in one of 50 pre-roll videos.

Open Your Snapchat got people to rethink—and reopen—an app they had pegged as little more than disappearing messages. And it evolved people’s understanding of what a camera is and can do.