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Fendi involves consumers in holiday pastimes through Snapchat, Instagram stories

Italian fashion label Fendi is counting down the days until Christmas through interactive stories on Snapchat and Instagram.

The brand?s #12DaysofFendi gives its followers tasks, such as decorating a Christmas tree or building a snowman, which can be completed by tapping their screen. Taking advantage of both platforms? user interfaces, these stories give the illusion of participation to those watching, giving them a reason to stay through the end.

Audience participation
Fendi?s stories use both apps? navigation pattern of skipping forward to the next frame by tapping the screen. Throughout the experience, a magic wand with a star reading ?tap here? appears, instructing viewers.

The successive slides would progress the same way whether or not the user taps, but doing so gives the appearance of affecting the scene.

For instance, in the story from Dec. 20, the viewer is told they will be building a snowman. With each tap, a new part of the character?s body is added, from his twig arms and button face to his hat and scarf. The finishing touch is a pair of Hynoshine sunglasses.

Once the snowman is built on Instagram, consumers are directed to swipe up to shop the frames. This uses Instagram?s new link adding feature, accessible for verified accounts.


By swiping up, consumers are brought to an ecommerce page within the Instagram app, allowing them to browse without ending their social media experience.

Instagram has typically presented a linking problem for brands, with hyperlinks unavailable within posts. Embedding a click-through within a story allows brands to more easily create a call to action for a specific featured product.

Fendi?s experience is updating daily up until Christmas.

The label has previously made up its own rules for Snapchat. Fendi challenged the ephemeral nature of Snapchat by giving earlier snaps new life through a content hub on its Web site.

The brand?s ongoing Snapchat Tour has documented key brand moments around the globe through the eyes of influencers. Like all Snapchat Stories, these photos and videos were originally accessible for a fleeting 24 hours, but Fendi is looking to expand the audience for this content by making them a more permanent part of its online presence (see story).