I, me, myselfie

The selfie first appeared in 2002 on an Australian online forum before the social media catapulted this shorthand for a ‘self-portrait photograph’ into the mainstream, and even the Oxford Dictionary, in 2013. A survey that year found two-thirds of Australian women aged 18–35 took selfies to post on Facebook, the most popular destination for the selfie. Samsung’s poll showed that 30 per cent of the photos taken by 18-to-24-year-olds were selfies, and that clearly resonates with online photo- and video-sharing social network Instagram’s proud declaration that it hosted 35 million selfies as of October 2013.

The youth in this digital age are greatly driven by what their friends think of them and what makes them constantly connected. How they are perceived and accepted is often defined by the places they go to, the clothes they wear and even the lip shade they have considered for the day. The selfie captures all this, as well as the company they keep, boosting their self-image.

What you were wearing and where you were remained the most common selfies until the celebrity Oscar selfie shot by talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres at the 86th Academy Awards became the most retweeted photograph ever. That sparked off the current trend of taking selfies in large groups, termed as #Ussie or #OscarSelfie, and now the older adults too joined in.

Statistically, the popular locations for the selfie are holidays, homes and nights out. The top reasons for taking one include freezing a happy moment, capturing a funny one or showing off a brilliant outfit.

The business that selfies have opened up is evident from the technology investments in mobile applications that allow you touch up your photographs, mobile messaging platforms such as Snapchat that enable chatting via photos or videos, and smartphones with front-view cameras to snap a selfie at your best.

So where are selfies being shared?

With 35 million selfies, Instagram is responsible for making the selfie what it is today. The feature that allows one to touch up photographs before they go online is key to Instagram’s success. Having said that, Facebook currently leads, with 48 per cent of selfies coming from it; but the ability to sync with Twitter and Facebook to increase outreach will make Instagram the leader in capitalising on the selfies phenomenon.

Selfie as a hashtag grew more than 200 per cent in usage since January 2013, making way for adaptations such as #selfiesunday, #selfienation and some rather interesting hashtags such as #belfie (bottom selfie), #aftersex selfies showing people snuggled up to their lovers and, of course, the #OscarSelfie.

Do selfies have any relevance to brands?

There are enough people standing with their phone-clutching hands extended, ready to click a selfie. Marketers will need to tap this potential audience and get their attention. The keyword here remains the essence of social media — gaining insights about your consumers by listening to them and decoding what they truly want, and how they want it. This, together with understanding the mindset behind a selfie, and the ways to create a connect with your brand. Here are a few who have got it right.

Dove: #BeautyIs (Global) and #DoveSelfie (India) launched on Women’s Day

Selfies were used to inspire, through a series of videos celebrating real beauty.

In the videos, mothers and daughters compare their perceived flaws to the attributes others compliment them on. The videos garnered nearly 9 lakh views and helped create a mindshift in how the individuals interviewed saw themselves. In India, the #DoveSelfie contest invited women to take a selfie of their best hairstyle according to the theme of the day and post it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Max Bupa Health Insurance: #FamilySelfie

Highlighting its insurance plan for the entire family and tapping the Indian love for taking family photographs, Max Bupa encouraged Twitter users to post a family selfie with loved ones. With influential tweeps joining in, the campaign attracted 2.44 lakh participants and 500 targeted followers within four days.

Skybags: #BackIsTheNewFront

To promote the brand’s latest backpack, the campaign highlighted how everything is done backwards these days, including the trend of reverse selfies, where one had to show off unique personal styles with the back facing the camera and taking either the help of a mirror or another person to click the picture.

McDowell’s Signature: #SignatureSelfies

Leveraging smartphone users and helping them take better selfies, the contest roped in ace fashion photographer Atul Kasbekar to provide tips and launched an Android and iOS application with filters to enhance the selfie. With the marketing limitations on alcohol brands, this was an excellent strategy to connect with the youth and create brand evangelism.

As brands engage more with the concept of the selfie, it clearly won’t remain just a fad.

Apple has embarked on a mission to enable users to take the highest-quality selfies from their smartphones, while also offering a new section in the iTunes store dedicated to selfie-sharing apps and fixing lenses to the iPhone.

Instagram sees a daily traffic of 7.3 million users, and an average of 60 million photos uploaded daily. It acquisition by Facebook makes it more seamless and capable of leading the selfie domain for years to come.

Gmail recently announced Shelfie, the Shareable Selfie, built on the idea that you shouldn’t be selfish with your selfie. Shelfie enables you to check, read and write emails while seeing your face in the background. Gmail is confident it can make ‘Shelfie’ the Word of the Year 2014.

(ZAFAR RAIS Founder & CEO, Mindshift Interactive)

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