This man HIJACKED Tech Crunch’s summer party… with a filter

Source: @snapkarenx

With Snapchat and Instagram taking all the headlines with the new ‘InstaStory’s feature, one man has found a way to use Snapchat filters in a way that’s never been done before.

Meet James Shamsi, dubbed a ‘social media savant’ by Business Insider — and for good reason…

Shamsi, a 23-year old Brit now living in LA, has been responsible for some of the biggest viral campaigns and PR stunts of 2016. Though he can’t talk publicly talk about his stunts with major A-list celebrities and artists, he strives to make himself go viral every month to prove he knows his craft.

For example: Shamsi created the viral sensation Kardblock (which turned out to be an SEO stunt), to networking with Tinder, uploading male nipples to Instagram, hiding $10,000 inside of 200 fake vaginas, or raising $500,000 on Kickstarter in 30 days … he’s the brains behind dozens of major viral campaigns and PR stunts, (see his work here).

A few months ago Snapchat begun allowing people to buy geofilters, giving everyone the option to place a custom geofilter at a place of their desire for a short time. So far it’s been used predictably for private events with generic filters, e.g. ones like ‘50th annual cupcake convention’, or ‘Mikes 20th birthday’ as banners… that was until now.

Shamsi, (who is also a tech start-up advisor), heard of TechCrunch’s annual summer party — but his excitement was short-lived once he saw the $85 price tag for a ticket. “I saw it was $85, and I was like f**k that, I’m not paying that much to just network no matter who’s there” Shamsi explained. Hearing him tell it, this is a man who loathes spending money unnecessarily.

“I hate spending money. I’m Indian, it’s in my blood to be cheap” — James Shamsi

“Instead of buying a ticket for $85, I realized I could just buy a filter for $5 that covers the entire event. Not only does this save me a f**k ton of money, but it also makes it so much more efficient, as I can now leave a lasting impression on all the VC’s, influencers, start-ups etc there — as opposed to spending the day talking talking to just just 15–20 people”.

So what did he do? He bought the below filter over the event.

Source: www.JShamsi.com

What was the result? Shamsi said he got over 7,000 impressions, coming from 64 people taking selfies and using his filter — considering this was an incredibly niche event with high profile angels, investors and heavy weights in the tech sphere (who also have influential followers)… this is pretty epic.

Source: www.JShamsi.com

So, what does this all mean?

As marketers we need to get more innovative. Tools like Snapchat filters shouldn’t be taken at face value to be used for things that are expected. Speaking with James he suggests many potential uses for Snapchat and small businesses, from buying geofilters at major local events to raise brand awareness at a local and affordable level — or to using filters like his to ‘growth hack’ networking!

Snapchat’s not dead yet guys, keep pushing creative ideas and sending those snaps!

Like this article? Let me know by sharing it with a friend :)