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 the social network’s users with interactive experiences.
The company said it has been investing in ML and automation to make it faster and easier for brands to create AR test assets. In recent years, Snapchat has worked with companies like Amazon and Tiffany and company. to allow users to virtually try different products on 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 convert more 2D product catalogs into test experiences.
Image credits: snapchat
Additionally, brands can now create branded AR ads powered by generative AI to produce personalized eyewear. Snapchat told TechCrunch that with this new capability, brands can provide a simple text message or image to generate a unique ML model that can add realistic facial effects to a lens. Lenses with these ML facial effects can be used as AR ads on Snapchat.
Snapchat also announced AR Extensions, which will allow advertisers to integrate AR lenses and filters directly into all ad formats in the app, including dynamic product ads, snap ads, collection ads, commercials, and featured ads.
The company, which has been an early adopter of AR technology, says that, on average, more than 300 million people interact with AR experiences on its app every day.
The launch of the new tools for brands and advertisers comes a few days after Snap reported that its revenue for the first quarter of 2024 increased 21% to $1.195 billion, primarily due to improvements it made to its advertising platform. The company also shared that the number of small and medium-sized advertisers on Snapchat increased 85% year over year.
Snapchat said Wednesday that it is focused on investing in its advertising business and is “encouraged” by the increase in demand it is seeing.
Image credits: snapchat
The company also announced that it will launch a sports channel within Snapchat called “Snap Sports Network.” The channel will cover unconventional sports such as dog surfing, extreme ironing, water bottle flipping and more. It will include 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 public Snap Nation profile that will feature exclusive behind-the-scenes content from concerts. Snapchat will also curate stories from Live Nation concerts and festivals with public posts from users.
