Kelly Nyland
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Product Launch · Snap (2015-2017) 2016

Spectacles

The viral camera glasses launch at Snapchat.

Spectacles

Head of Go To Market, Snapchat

NYSE: SNAP, Backed by Lightspeed, Benchmark, Coatue, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Tencent and Alibaba Group.

Pre-IPO, I was sought out and joined the Snap Lab executive team to architect the launch and go-to-market strategy for Spectacles at Snapchat. The concept and execution was developed completely in-house and in secret by my team.

The first version of the Apple iPod sold 100,000 units of it’s first generation, so we made it our goal to construct a viral campaign that would allow us to sell the same number of units through limited distribution within the first year of the product launch. We met our goals, without selling a single unit online, within 9 months of the launch.

This campaign created the momentum that Evan Spiegel wanted to usher in the company’s 2017 IPO.

Model wearing teal Snap Spectacles camera sunglasses against a yellow backdrop, with matching teal lipstick
Black-and-white photos of a man in a white T-shirt wearing clear-framed Snap Spectacles camera glasses
Smiling person with curly blonde hair wearing blue Snap Spectacles with mirrored lenses on a teal background
Yellow Snapchat ghost billboard atop an Allston brick building against blue sky
Man in sunglasses holds Spectacles beside a giant yellow Snapbot vending robot as a beachfront crowd lines up
Yellow Snapbot vending robot with a cartoon face floating under yellow balloons in a desert
Black Snap Spectacles camera-sunglasses in an open yellow case; text reads Sunglasses that Snap!
Coral-red Snap Spectacles beside an iPhone showing a beach Snap in the Snapchat camera
Man in a beanie holds up black Spectacles sealed inside a clear cylindrical package
Black headline on white: Snap Inc.'s 'Spectacles' are fetching as much as $2,500 on eBay
Handwritten Spiegel thank-you notes addressed to Kelly Nyland beside desk flower arrangements

Brand & Campaign

Spectacles Product Design slide: front-on black glasses, yellow case and cable, 8 million snaps, 1 billion views
Product Design board
Spectacles Launch Campaign slide with metrics, activation photos and a model wearing red Spectacles
Launch Campaign board
Spectacles Snapbot slide showing the yellow vending robot in the desert, a California drop map and a user at a machine
Spectacles Advertising slide with a city billboard, phone Snap ads, neon Spectacles sign and a Snapbot robot
Advertising copy
Spectacles advertising slide: yellow stat circles, Snapbot mural photos, and Times Square billboard of woman in teal Spectacles.
Advertising
Spectacles advertising slide with grid of city billboard placements, a phone photographing one, and vending-machine display screens.
Advertising 2
Spectacles web-design slide showing spectacles.com browser mockups, a product page priced $129.99, and phone screens.
Spectacles photography: three models in teal, black, and red camera-glasses on yellow, mint, and red backgrounds, plus yellow cases and packaging.
Photography
Spectacles photography slide: three models side by side wearing red, teal, and black camera-glasses, above yellow campaign stat circles.
Photography 2
Spectacles app-experience slide: two phones showing the Snapchat Memories screen with circular Spectacles video of a cyclist on a bike path.
App experience
Spectacles video slide: close-up of black camera-glasses, circular clips of a dog, swing, and canyon, plus photos of people wearing Spectacles.
Spectacles brand-identity slide: a tweet praising the lens-shaped logo, product renders, yellow canister packaging, and glasses in charging case.
Brand identity
Spectacles circular-video slide: black camera-glasses beside a phone showing circular dog footage and frames of a hand rotating the phone.
Circular video
Spectacles packaging-design slide: teal and red camera-glasses inside clear cylindrical canisters with yellow cases and a printed insert.
Packaging design

Videos

YouTube

I Got The Snapchat Spectacles Early
Snapchat Spectacles Unboxing and review! | iJustine

Awards

  • 🥇 Gold Lion — Temporary Pop-Up Environment & Experience Design · Cannes Lions (2017)
  • 🥈 Silver Lion — Mobile: Connected Devices · Cannes Lions (2017)
  • 🥉 Bronze Lion — Mobile: Wearable Technology · Cannes Lions (2017)
  • 🥉 Bronze Lion — Design: UX Interface & User Journey · Cannes Lions (2017)
  • 🏆 Hardware of the Year (Crunchies) · TechCrunch (2017)
  • 🏆 Best Startup Video (Crunchies) · TechCrunch (2017)

In Their Words

"The marketing genius behind Snap's new Spectacles is something we haven't seen in a long, long time. We all want a pair." — Kurt Wagner, Vox
"With the launch of the brilliantly marketed Spectacles, Snapchat proved that a tech company could create genuine consumer desire." — Thomas Ricker, The Verge

Press