Snaplications | McDonald’s solicits job applications on Snapchat

Dive Brief:

• McDonald’s and Snapchat are summoning Australians to apply for jobs on the social media app thorough so-called “Snaplications,” according to multiple reports. McDonald’s Snaplication recruitment process, the first of its kind, includes a branded Snapchat filter that places virtual McDonald’s hats and nametags on job candidates to offer glances at what they’d look like as employees.
• The Snaplication process doesn’t take the place of McDonald’s traditional application mechanisms in Australia. After people send their Snaplications to McDonald’s, an employee at the company responds to them with links to the company’s career page, where jobseekers fill out the usual applications, according to details described by Fortune.
• The fast-food chain told the Australian news site News.com.au that it hasn’t set specific goals for the Snaplications. The company also didn’t disclose how much it’s spending on the effort but did reveal it isn’t spreading the program to other social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram. McDonald’s employs an estimated 106,000 Australians, and 65% of its workforce in the country is under 18-years-old.

Dive Insight:

McDonald’s is dealing with a millennial dilemma. Only a small portion of 18- to 34-year-old diners have bitten into a Big Mac, and McDonald’s growth has stalled as people pivot to healthier alternatives. Millennials still frequent its locations, but they aren’t prone to celebrate their trips. To help turn millennial eaters into enthusiastic brand converts, the fast-food chain has beefed up its social media team and messaging. McDonald’s has started touting the quality of its meat on social media, a move prompting Wendy’s to highlight its larger competitor’s continued reliance on frozen beef on Twitter. Unlike the meat quality campaign, the Snaplication process isn’t taking a straightforward promotional approach. Instead, it urges young people to interact with McDonald’s on Snapchat for the purpose of landing a job, something they may be trying to do anyway.

Brands such as Everlane that have been praised for their social media prowess have let their fans in on available jobs through social media before. Job information and recruitment on social media provides a reason for consumers to check a brand’s channels. And companies across the board are already tapping some sort of social media for recruiting. But searching for job hopefuls on Snapchat carries risks. In a Smart Company article covering McDonald’s’ Snaplications, Deborah Peppard from HR Staff’n’Stuff warned job applicants who use Snapchat may be judged based on looks. But she didn’t totally dismiss McDonald’s Snapchat endeavor. “I love that they’re applying a recruitment technique to meet their demographic and candidates,” she said.

Although it’s possible the Snaplication process will deepen McDonald’s pool of applicants, it’s probable the campaign isn’t as much intended to draw job candidates as it is to raise the profile of McDonald’s Snapchat account in Australia and lift brand reputation. Shaun Ruming, chief operating officer of McDonald’s Australia, told News.com.au that Snapchat is keenly interested in the Snaplication results. “They’re driven by trying to encourage users onto their platform,” he said. “We presume when someone applies via Snapchat, when their friends ask them how they got the job, they’ll talk about it.” The small market of Australia, where roughly 4 million of Snapchat’s 160 million global users reside, gives McDonald’s and Snapchat the opportunity to trial Snaplications before taking them to bigger markets.