Keep it real / For Reddit’s first brand marketing campaign, it is apt that it has chosen to encourage voting in the US presidential election, given that voting is intrinsic to its platform. On Reddit, users cast over 165 million votes per day. These votes determine what content on the site is seen most, and what falls to the bottom of the feed.
By drawing a connection between this aspect of users’ experience, and the upcoming election, Reddit is highlighting the mechanics of its platform and the vital part voting plays in the real world. As a result, the campaign serves both as an eye-catching piece of civic responsibility and a deft expression of Reddit’s core appeal.
In-sync / The humorous ads encouraging people to make their real vote count broadens Reddit’s relevance by tying the platform to one of the most topical conversations of the moment – a conversation that will last until 3 November.
Other social media platforms have taken on a similar responsibility encouraging voting in young adults – Snapchat added features to encourage people to become poll volunteers but this message lacks a tangible connection to the platform itself and so doesn’t connect as well as Up The Vote.
Real world / The campaign’s big OOH presence represents Reddit expanding beyond its niche online community (the platform boasts an avid user base, with non-users invariably having never even visited the website, nor understanding how it actually works). Research by Nielsen found that 46% of US adults have searched for something online after seeing an out-of-home advertisement. We’ve seen tech giants like Google and Facebook capitalise on this in attempts to drive new users to their sites, and Reddit’s attention-grabbing foray into the real world may well do the same.
