W Hotels Tries to Speak Millennial With Snapchat Filters

Hotels are in their own popularity contest of sorts, with brands looking for ways to position themselves as the most relevant to today’s consumer, be it through a brand refresh, launching lifestyle properties as part of their portfolios, or learning how to speak millennial. Engaging in millennial dialogue means mastering a variety digital platforms, and becoming fluent in Snapchat has been a tough task for many brands. But Snapchat now offers a way for brands, especially hotels, to make their mark on the app by creating and sponsoring brand-affiliated filters, or stickers, frames and drawings that can be overlaid on images and video taken on the app. W Hotels is the first hotel brand to capitalize on the opportunity by activating a geofilter campaign through December 31, says Alyssa Kiefer, global social marketing strategist, W Hotels.