Why You Should Care That Snapchat Changed Their Name To Snap Inc.
Snapchat just changed its corporate and business name to Snap Inc. and presented video-recording eyeglasses called 'Spectacles.'
Snapchat's CEO Evan Spiegel declared on Sunday, Sept. 24 that Snapchat as we all know has officially modified its name to Snap Inc.
Spiegel's announcement has many people scratching their heads as to why the sudden rebranding of the company.
With Snapchat finally revealing its $130 Spectacles and rebranding it's name to Snap Inc., it’s clear Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and his team are thinking long term (especially as the company is rumored to be gearing up for a monstrous IPO).
Since the app's release in September of 2011, Snapchat has rapidly turned into one of the most popular apps in the world. In fact, reports suggest that 150 million people are using the disappearing messaging app every single day.
This magnitude of daily users was unthinkable just a few years ago, and with much of the world continuing to become involved online, Snapchat, or Snap Inc., has put itself in a great position to dominate the global market of communication.
The Reason: Communicating on Snapchat is like communicating in real life... It forces you to live in the moment.
For a company has only been around since 2011, these numbers are absolutely mind blowing.
Some may think Snapchat is “just a fad" and while they're entitled to their opinion, there’s no denying the tremendous influence that Snapchat has on the world today.
Snapchat is here to stay and their rebranding to Snap Inc. is a huge step forward into becoming more than just an app that sends disappearing messages.
But why did Snapchat change such a recognizable name?
Founder of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel recently shared his thoughts on why they decided to tweak the name to Snap Inc.
Put simply, Snapchat's Ultimate Goal Isn't Just Chat—It's Total Media Domination Spiegel believes Snap can impact the world just as Facebook does today.
In the spirit of rebranding to Snap, Snap recently introduced the hardware Spectacles, which aims to be a top of the line eyeglasses technology.
The sun shades, which are available in three trendy colors, include a radio video camera which allows an individual to snap Remembrances and talk about them on the app.
Clearly, Snap believes that video and real time communication are essential as the technology world grows.
Spiegel always believed that eliminating the "chat" from its name would make mainstream adoption easier as Snap continues to get into the hardware business. The name change also gives Snap the opportunity to appeal to a wider range of demographics and continue to become an integral part of the everyday lives of millions.
It would seem sensible that the ongoing company be called Snap to add other projects, just as the yellow ghost app keeps its personal, household name.
It also helps that many people already make reference to Snapchat as Snap (such as, "Have a look at my Snap, now.").
This isn't the very first time the business has altered its name actually. Snapchat originally started off with the name "Picaboo".
Snap has time and time again masterfully adapted to a new sea of technological changes.
It's doubtful that the name change will have a significant consequence on the business outright.
Users will continue to use the Snapchat every day, especially as the business is rumored to have incredible plans in store for augmented reality.
Unlike the major Instagram custom logo change that triggered an uproar for apparently appearing out of remaining field with something so different, this change is so trivial and close enough to its familiar name that the business should maintain the clear.
As long as Snap continues to build products people love, they will succeed regardless of their name.
The name change is also important as they continue to build out their hardware. Snap is easier on the tongue and gives them permission to dive into any market they choose.
Whenever a company makes a significant change to its brand or image, a variety of things can occur.
Loyal users may reject the change -- as happened when Coca-Cola tried to introduce "New Coke" in another of the worst marketing disasters ever sold.
On the other hand people may scarcely spot the change, as when Google stealthily improved its name to Alphabet with relatively no major matching changes to its products lineup.
The latter appears to be the case for the company previously known as Snapchat, which renamed itself "Snap Inc." and released a fresh product to go with the change.
People have bought into the Snap rebranding, and the loyalty and attention of Snap users show.
Let's take a closer look at the different moves Snap Inc. is quietly carrying out.
First, Snap released a video tutorial snippet to Business Insider, demonstrating its new "Spectacles" product.
The merchandise is a set of wearable eyeglasses that work as a camera; simply tapping a button will track and record up to 10 minutes of video with a camera that mimics the first-person point of view.
The videos will be documented in a round format, and can play back again on any device. By the end of the promo video, Spectacles was launched by "Snap, Inc.," which introduces the business's new name.
Brilliant.
Following the release of the promo video, Snap established the name change and provided additional information about the hardware product (including its price, $129) to the Wall Street Journal.
The business also made an in depth announcement about each change on its information site, where leader Evan Spiegel discussed the discussion to rebrand.
Spiegel insisted that is a was natural step into growing the business. But noted the familiar ‘fun’ personality of the brand would continue to be unchanged, joking that the change was more for the "Wall structure Street masses" than anybody else.
But what can we take away from all of this?
1. Snapchat Gently Rebranded To Snap Inc.
Shifting from "Snapchat" to "Snap" is not a major change. Snap's new wearables "Spectacles", suits the brand's main aim of telling stories.
Not only has Snap's big unveiling created tremendous hype for the company and their new Snapchat glasses, "Spectacles"... but Spiegel and his company have successfully reaffirmed's the brand's image in new user's eyes.
The gentle rebrand gives Snap the ability to scale the company into a wide variety of markets once the company goes public. No longer is the company revolving around sending disappearing messages.
2. Evan spiegel and his snap Inc team are masters of Marketing
It’s no secret millennial Spiegel and his tribe are masters of media manipulation. Snap teased out the facts of its new features ever so cleverly.
First, Snap staged a "leak" of the video, creating viral visibility by sheer virtue to the fact that the video wasn't designed to be seen.
After the "video leak" Snap almost immediately followed up with a significant information reveal, offering specific details before users could be still left with their own speculative devices.
Only after the internet was buzzing with Snapchat and Spectacles rumors, Snap Inc made formal announcements on their long time blog, providing to its most dedicated fans and sticking with its personal brand voice.
3. Snap Is Intentionally Keeping Us Guessing
Snap is intentionally piquing attention among its users; the name change is slightly mysterious, the unveiling of the new Snapchat wearables, and Evan Spiegel has alluded even bigger advancements are coming soon.
Snap is truly playing the long game. They know that they can truly change the world. They just have to be patient, and continue to innovate on products that matter.
Together with over $1.81 billion dollars fund-raising, Snap won’t be going away anytime soon. Reliable reports have come out recently showing Snap's advertising revenue is booming.
Snap continues to remain relevant by providing value to it’s users. Snap is a communication platform first and foremost, but will soon be involved in a wide variety of other markets.
It would be unwise to sleep on Snap's potential as the titan in the technology space.
4. Snapchat knows its audience
Snap's timing continues to be perfectly calculated. Snap has made mistakes in the past but they continue to take 10 steps forward and 1 step back.
Snap has a tremendous track record of predicting what users will want and love... and executing their plans at the perfect time.
Snap is maturing right at a time when the big players in tech are scaling at an unbelievable pace. As technology continues to become an increasingly part in our every lives, Snap has set itself up to take advantage of the communication revolution.
Snapchat's rebrand was well received by users which allows the company to continue to grow and expand their user base even more.
Snap Inc. Is on track to be the top technology player in world
For many, the name change from Snapchat To “Snap” might not seem like a big deal. And in truth, the name change itself isn’t.
But the name change signals something more. Snapchat has begun to grow up.
Of course, they still have much to do. They will face many challenges as they continue to scale.
They will make mistakes. They will continue to change the way we communicate.
But one thing is clear, whether you believe Snap is just a fad or not… the fact remains.
Snap will continue to influence the world around us.