We aasmonites aren’t afraid to take risks — if the idea is big enough. Some people call that trend-setting. We call it innovative business. Aasman recently helped Nova Scotian retail icon Mic Mac Mall execute a first-of-its-kind social media promotion. I checked in with Neil, our man in Halifax, to learn more:

KJ: So tell us, what was this Mic Mac Mall promotion all about?

NS: Mic Mac Mall was looking for a fresh idea that would appeal to a youthful target audience over March Break. Our team took that goal and developed what would become Canada’s first Snap Chat Challenge as a way to connect with females aged 13-25.

KJ: What’s a Snap Chat Challenge?

NS: It’s something we made up. Basically you issue a challenge to your connections on Snap Chat. For instance, we challenged snap chatters to draw the logo of their favourite store in Mic Mac Mall. We did this by publishing what are called stories within Snap Chat. Each story presented a different challenge and explained that for every challenge completed the player’s name would be entered into a draw for a $500 dollar shopping spree. The more challenges completed by a player the better their chance of winning the shopping spree.

KJ: Ok, slow down Neil. Some of us aren’t 15-year-old girls. Can you explain to us what Snap Chat is?

NS: Are you saying I’m a 15 year-old girl?!?! Ok, well Snap Chat is this simple application on your smart phone or tablet that allows you to send creative/silly photos and videos to your connections. You can add basic text, draw in a variety of colours on the video or image and tell a simple story that deletes itself immediately afterwards. Over 350 million snaps (images/videos) are sent every day. Facebook recently offered to buy Snap Chat for the modest sum of three billion dollars.

KJ: Cool! I should check it out. How did you come up with the idea?

NS: The biggest perk of our Halifax office is its proximity to family — I’ve been spending lots of time with my nieces and nephews. My oldest niece Brianna and several of my friends were on Snap Chat. I got tired of them ignoring me by staring at their smart phones, so I began asking questions. The next logical step was to get my own version of the app and after about a day I was hooked. When our team was discussing Mic Mac Mall I recalled the Snap Chat user statistics and it was pretty clear we had a solid audience match.

KJ: Sooo, how did it go? Did you get a good response?

NS: Well, we can’t really provide details on client results like this but suffice it to say we reached the client’s goal before the challenges even began. We ended up more than doubling their target and the numbers continue to climb today as the client is still having fun with the new medium.

KJ: Do you think you will try this idea with any other companies?

NS: We work with many brands that would benefit from a presence in this space and I think you’ll see more of this sort of integration. The challenge, as always, is in finding creative ways to make those connections real and value-driven. You still have to earn the right to a person’s time, even if your message will soon self-destruct.

KJ: Anything else you’d like to add?

NS: A couple of things: we had a great team working on this from Halifax to Whitehorse and to Vancouver. This was really a Yukon style idea that even Snap Chat itself was excited about. In the last two weeks brands like Taco Bell and the New Orleans Saints have followed our Yukon lead. That’s something all sourdoughs should be proud of.

Thanks Neil! (I’m proud of you)