What Happened
Snapchat is brushing off Instagram’s head-on attack by adding new features and content to its service. For starters, the social messaging app is rolling out Geostickers – think Geofilters meet regular stickers – to ten global cities including New York City, San Francisco, London, and Sydney.
The L.A.-based company also announced that it is extending its content partnership with the NFL. As part of the deal, Snapchat will be adding a new Discover channel for the NFL this fall, making it the first sports league to get a dedicated content portal on Snapchat. The NFL will also be creating Live Stories for Snapchat. Sources say Snapchat will be handling most of the ad sales for both NFL content channels.
In addition, Snapchat is reportedly developing a new ad unit which allows users to scan barcodes and other images to unlock sponsored content or special offers in app. The scannable ad product is reportedly aiming for a fall launch this year.
Why Brands Should Care
There is no denying that Snapchat is the buzziest social app at the moment, amassing over 150 million daily active users as of June and surpassing Twitter in daily usage. Only time will tell how much Instagram will undermine Snapchat’s growth by adding a nearly identical Stories feature, and for now Snapchat seems to be soldiering on and focusing on improving its content offering and ad products. As Snapchat continues to grow and make its platform more brand-friendly, brands should get on board early to explore Snapchat’s unique ad products in order to reach mobile consumers.
Sources: VentureBeat & WSJ & The Information
