Dairy Queen®
As the leaves began to change across Canada, DQ® invited treat-lovers to “Snap, Scan, Save,” turning trillions of unique maple leafs into digital coupons. Using AR and Snap Stars as the foundation of their strategy, and extending their reach and impact via Snap Ads and premium placements, DQ® turned the beauty of Fall into an immersive moment that kept the brand top of mind and DQ® treat cravings alive beyond summer.
“Snapchat sparked cravings for the DQ® Fall Treat menu with the Scan a Leaf AR Lens and Creators, turning real maple leaves into real offers and driving engagement from screen to store.”
- Cheryl Niziolomski, Digital and Direct Marketing Senior Manager, DQ® Canada
DQ® Defies Seasonality on Snapchat
DQ® is a quick-service restaurant known for its signature soft serve with the iconic curl and its gravity defying Blizzard treats. While demand for frozen treats naturally peaks in the warmer months, the brand looked for new ways to drive consideration and spark cravings as fall arrived. As temperatures cooled across Canada, DQ® turned to Snapchat to unlock innovative and immersive formats that reignited cravings for DQ® classics throughout the season.
In a Snapchat-exclusive campaign, DQ® Canada developed a strategy in partnership with Publicis, dentsuX and Media Profile, suited to drive engagement during the off season by integrating creators, augmented reality, and high-impact placements. The brand invited Snapchatters to “Scan a Leaf” with a custom AR Lens produced by Subtropic that rewarded users with a special DQ offer after scanning a maple leaf IRL with the Snapchat camera. Once unlocked, the Lens directed users to the DQ® App to claim their deal for a Fall Treat.
AR Offers a New Way to Discover Deals at DQ®
DQ® Canada tapped Snapchat creators for the first time to drive awareness and momentum for the Scan a Leaf lens. Each creator developed authentic, Snap-exclusive content for their audiences on Stories & Spotlight, and DQ® then amplified these posts as a core part of their video ad strategy via Snap Ads and Sponsored Snaps to extend their reach and impact throughout the wider media strategy. By rolling out creator content in waves and switching up the coupon offer mid-flight, DQ® was able to keep the story & deals feeling fresh.
Recognizing the power of Snap’s 6-second, unskippable Commercial ad format, DQ® knew it had to play a role in their media plan. Most notably, a First Commercial takeover was strategically placed to amplify their reach & sustain momentum in the second half of the campaign.
DQ’s Snapchat strategy helped the brand break through at scale while also encouraging longer, more immersive interactions with the AR Lens. The First Commercial takeover delivered substantially higher reach than auction-based commercials and drove the highest average AR Lens screen time among all video placements.
Collectively, these high-impact placements allowed the brand to stand out and inspire cold treat cravings in a historically quieter season:
Over 2.5M Snapchatters used the AR Lens 1
10+ seconds average Lens playtime, significantly exceeding Snap Canada AR benchmarks 2
54% more reach from the First Commercial compared to auction Commercials 1
4%+ CTR on the First Commercial, outperforming Snap Canada First Commercial benchmarks 2
By combining creators, an innovative seasonal AR Lens, and high-impact Snapchat placements like Sponsored Snaps and First Commercial, DQ® Canada successfully re-ignited treat consideration during an off-season period and demonstrated how Snapchat can drive cultural relevance and meaningful engagement for QSR brands all year long.
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