<p>Creating an advertisement with a shelf life of a few seconds is seemingly antithetical to a brand's typical goal of making a lasting impression on consumers. But with the growing popularity of Snapchat -- a mobile app that allows users to send photo messages that self-destruct after a period of 10 seconds or less -- brands have begun trying to find ways to take advantage of users' desire to share short-term visual messages.</p><p>"It's just kind of where our users are going at the moment," Adam Britten, community manager for New York City frozen yogurt chain 16 Handles, said. "A lot of our social-media fans are teenagers and we noticed on Facebook and Twitter that they were using it. We figured, 'Why not?' and we gave this a chance."</p><p>Experimenting with the potential marketing uses of an emerging social platform can be challenging because they are typically not mature enough for advertising. Snapchat and Facebook's rival app, Poke, have the added risk of being perceived as overtly sexual messaging services. Still, the sheer popularity of Snapchat and Facebook Poke has begun attracting marketers.</p><p>Mr. Britten is the engineer behind 16 Handles' recent Snapchat promotion, which, according to him, makes 16 Handles the first brand to conduct a marketing campaign through the service. The "Snappy New Year" campaign urges the company's Facebook fans to send a Snapchat photo, or "snap," of their frozen-yogurt purchase to the company's Snapchat account. Participants then receive a coupon via Snapchat that can be redeemed at the register.</p><p><a href="http://adage.com/article/digital/brands-experiment-photo-messaging-service-snapchat-facebook-poke/238979/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/internet/Video-messaging-app-Snapchat-more-popular-than-Facebook-Poke/articleshow/17870411.cms">&#039;Video-messaging app Snapchat more popular than Facebook Poke&#039;</a> (Times of India)</p><p><a href="http://www.szsu.com/2013/01/04/advertising-on-snapchat/">Advertising on Snapchat</a> (Social Zoo: Social Updates (blog))</p><p><a href="http://tech2.in.com/news/apps/more-security-flaws-found-in-snapchat-poke/667942">More security flaws found in Snapchat, Poke</a> (Tech2)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=d-X0cbFfv_XlPBMXu__QOg0iP3B5M&ned=us">81 additional articles.</a></p>