Cameras at the ready! June 21st is National Selfie Day! To celebrate the longstanding popularity of taking self-portraits with a camera phone, we thought we would take the opportunity to see where the selfie came from and how it became so popular.
From Ellen DeGeneres’ star-studded Oscars selfie to astronaut Chris Hadfield’s literally out of this world reflective space snap, the self-taken photograph comes in countless forms.
Since the dawning of the social media age, the selfie has blossomed and in many ways, changed the way we approach photography, forever.
But, when did it all start and how did it become so popular so fast? Is the selfie still relevant today, especially for marketers, or was it merely a passing fad? Let’s explore.
The Story of the ‘Selfie’ and Its Impact on Marketing
The sensational rise of the selfie
Historians believe that the world's first-ever selfie was taken in 1839 on a daguerreotype camera by a Philadelphia native by the name of Robert Cornelius.
While the selfie in its modern-day form is occasionally a scapegoat for our digital vanity, in this case at least, it appears that Mr Cornelius simply wanted to see what he looked like, using the new technology of photography to echo centuries of artists creating self-portraits. Proof that, as humans, we have always had a desire to take a snapshot image of ourselves.
Fast forward to the smartphone era and the selfie earned itself an official entry in the Oxford dictionary in 2013 with usage of the term across the Web increasing by around 17,000% since then. The rise in self-taken photos was fuelled by the photo-snapping convenience of smartphones, spawning a craze that flipped the visual script, quite literally.
The spread of the selfie grew globally with the advance Photo Editing Services of ever-cheaper international travel as well as the popularity of visual platform Instagram. Indeed, the platform spawned the first hashtag-based selfie trends, including, duckface and Iwokeuplikethis.
“We enjoy opportunities to experiment with different identities—and the selfie allows just that. We all want to be able to 'try' on a new image and imagine how we would feel as that part of ourselves”
Dr Pamela Rutledge, director of the Media Psychology Research Centre in Boston
Clickworthy selfie marketing campaigns
The advent of selfie-driven hashtag trends and the format's growing popularity offered a fresh angle for brands and marketers looking to connect with their audience on a whole new level.
In 2013 alone, around 57 million selfie hashtags were released into the social media landscape. The visual splendor, sheer creative scope, and opportunity for engaging user-generated content (e.g. Dunkin Donuts’ 2014 Shark Week selfie campaign) offered by the selfie became irresistible to brands across industries.
There have been countless selfie-centric digital marketing campaigns or ads in recent years—and here are a few hand-picked examples for your viewing pleasure:
The Walking Dead:
The Story of the ‘Selfie’ and Its Impact on Marketing
The Walking Dead is one of TV’s most iconic zombie dramas. What started as a piece of cult programming quickly skyrocketed into a flesh-hungry global sensation—becoming one of the most-watched shows in TV history. Mainly because of the show’s epic content, but also because of its network’s savvy digital marketing campaigns.
To create a buzz around the show, the AMC Network developed an app that transforms Walking Dead fans into flesh-eating zombies.
By promoting its app across social media and encouraging fans to share zombified photos on Instagram using the hashtag , AMC earned a healthy level of engagement with truly terrifying user-generated content.