At the IAB NewFronts 2024 event on Wednesday, Snapchat announced a series of new augmented reality (AR) and machine learning (ML) tools designed to help brands and advertisers reach users on the social network with interactive experiences.
The company said it has invested in ML and automation to make it easier for brands to create AR test assets. In recent years, Snapchat has partnered with companies such as Amazon and Tiffany & Co. to allow users to virtually try different products in the app. The social network says it has now reduced the time it takes to create these AR test assets, which will allow brands to quickly turn more of their 2D product catalogs into test experiences.
Image Credits: Snapchat
Additionally, brands can now create branded AR ads with AI technology built to produce custom lenses. Snapchat told TechCrunch that with this new feature, brands can provide a simple text or image message to create a unique ML model that can add realistic facial effects to a lens. Lenses with these ML face effects can then be used as AR ads on Snapchat.
Snapchat also announced AR extensions, which will allow advertisers to embed AR lenses and filters directly into all ad formats in the app, including dynamic product ads, Snap ads, collection ads, commercial ads, and Spotlight ads.
The company, an early adopter of AR technology, says more than 300 million people engage with AR experiences on its app every day, on average.
The launch of the new tools for brands and advertisers comes days after Snap reported that its revenue for the first quarter of 2024 rose 21% to $1.195 million, largely due to improvements it made to its advertising platform. The company also shared that the number of small and medium advertisers on Snapchat grew by 85% year over year.
Snapchat said on Wednesday it was focusing on investing in its advertising business and was “encouraged” by the increased demand it is seeing.
Image Credits: Snapchat
The company also announced that it is launching a sports channel on Snapchat called ‘Snap Sports Network’. The channel will cover unconventional sports such as dog surfing, extreme ironing, water bottle flipping and more. It will feature user-generated content, along with scripted content hosted by Snap Stars.
Additionally, Snapchat is expanding its partnership with Live Nation with the launch of a new Snap Nation Public Profile that will feature exclusive behind-the-scenes content from concerts. Snapchat will also curate stories from Live Nation concerts and festivals with public user posts.
