Snapchat 2020

Last year we created a snapchat AR campaign that saw 6% increase in sales in the week of launch. It had no media and some of the biggest dwell and share results that snap have seen for a brand.  As a platform, Snapchat can get results.

The challenge we hear too often is that ‘no-one’ is on Snapchat anymore. But that is changing, the platform is growing and at the moment 229million people use snapchat every day, 170million people using AR within the platform and 2 out of 3 users share content. Where Snap is different to other social platforms is that they really put the technology and the innovation first. They also know that brand investment in media must convert into sales, we’ve seen tent-pole examples of Snap projects from brands like Amazon & Nike focus on the sales funnel and now these tools are available to everyone.

As brands pull funding from Facebook and with the new snapchat capabilities that we will see in the coming months, now is the time for a fresh look at the platform.

We’ve recapped 5 new features and tried to explain why we should all be excited about exploring how to use them.

Dynamic Lenses

Let snap become an app extension for your brand. By using real-time data combined with AR effects, animation and models your lens can automatically update without needing to push a new update or version.

What does this mean? If you have a live discount day or race results, the information fed into the lens will be relevant to that moment in time. 

Users no longer have to leave the app to find out the latest information relevant to them whether that’s the cinema schedule for today or the 20% super Saturday discount code. It will be interesting to see how this can be used at scale around sporting events that have been shifted to 2021 like the Olympics.

Local lenses

At the 2019 summit (held in LA when we were still allowed to mix with other humans) they launched “Landmarkers”, turning famous landmarks into Augmented Experiences using AR, excitement was high at the time but the range available was pretty limited.

Fast forward 12 months and things have changed. With the combination of machine learning and real-time 3D, we can now make pretty much anything into a LandMarker. The exclusivity of seeing the Eiffel Tower covered in rainbows is being rolled out to everyone including your local corner shop or historical landmark!

Now we can augment any building, nature spot, street with customisable AR content. This can be interacted with alone but also shared and added to by everyone. We’ve seen through lockdown how emblems of hope like the Rainbow have been shared and have brought people together, imagine what we can do virtually to celebrate and leave our mark in landmarks all over the world. Smart brands will think about how to bring creativity, community and joy through these interactions. We’ve already got some great ideas that we’d love to make…

Machine Learning 

We see a lot of machine learning based early ideas. They often fall at the lack of range within social AR and the high cost/access limitations for machine learning outside of social. SnapML is about to change this.

Historically, the machine learning deployed within snap has been for a limited range of objects and presets controlled by snap. For 2020 lens creators (like us!) have an open playing field for determining the limits and parameters for machine learning and image recognition.

How does that translate? Now we can augment your brands logo. Or better than that, we can recognise your competitors logos and augment it with your brand and content. We range of objects and images we can recognise is going to be huge allowing us to bring creative narrative into a huge range of moments.

Snap Minis

Almost every global campaign we make gets customised for WeChat so it is not surprise ‘mini’s’ was one of the most anticipated announcements at this years summit.

Mini’s is all the best social planning utilities embedded into Snap. Users can plan, chat, interact with friends virtually to schedule their lives from gigs & holidays to drinks in the pub. Bitmoji, chat and other core features are embedded into mini’s.

By using a pre-determined set of tools and features ‘mini’s’ is scaleable in a way that a microsite might often struggle.

We can’t wait to see how they expand this and hopefully  integrate fun interactions like gaming into minis to grow this resource. If they get the formula right this could be our answer to WeChat.

Scan & Learn

We’re longterm fans of Shazam and regularly wish we could Shazam so many other things in our lives… Using the in-app scan camera Snap we can. Snapscan will perform an image based search and educate you on everything you need to know about that cute dog breed (great with kids) or plant (only likes dark humid rooms).

It has been developed to be both fun and educational with the first round of scan parameters including maths, dogs, plants, food and music. Just tap & hold and let SnapScan do the work for you.

We make 100’s of lenses a year and can’t wait to realise these new features in our Snap projects going forward. We already developing prototypes and testing these features.

From a developers point of view, Snap is a sophisticated platform with a lightweight and seamless developer experience. And as a quick recap, with 2 out of 3 Snapchatters making content and a network that prides itself on being about close influential friends, it’s a smart place to be for the future. These are just some of our favourite reasons for creating on the platform:

• It’s fast to make, approve & publish on the platform. When we made the Perrier & Kanye West spoof lens we were in-market in less than 10 days.
• It’s affordable, especially for clients who are nervous about investing financially in digital
• It’s immersive. Snap isn’t just about what happens at home on your phone, it can be used in-store and at events to elevate an experience