Northeastern beats Maroon 5, Marriott hotels for best Snapchat campaign

A globe with all of the locations Northeastern has had Snapchat takeovers

In a competition that celebrates the best social media teams and campaigns, Northeastern won for its global Snapchat takeover map, which highlights the diverse work students are doing around the world.

Northeastern’s Snapchat takeover map won in the Snapchat campaign category at the Social Media Awards, an event hosted annually by communications aggregator PR News.  

There was stiff competition. The university beat out Maroon 5’s marketing campaign for its latest album as well as a campaign by Marriott hotels.

Northeastern’s Snapchat takeovers enable students to tell their stories in a visceral, firsthand way, by posting directly to the university’s official account. Since Snapchat stories disappear after 24 hours, three members of the university’s communications team—Meghan Donovan, Lia Petronio, and Haley Steele—created a map to house these slices of life. Students have taken over Northeastern’s Snapchat account from all seven continents.

Northeastern is in good company. Industry giants such as the tech conglomerate Cisco, health insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield, and soft drink moguls Pepsi Co. took home honors in other categories at the ceremony, held late last month.