Snapchat: Revolutionizing Virtual Reality

Snapchat user or not – the ever-popular snap filters are something that everyone’s at least a little bit familiar with. The introduction of the very first Snapchat filters garnered great success with their users, so naturally, Snapchat has stepped up their game.

Snapchat let its users take advantage of selfie filters such as zombies, seniors, babies and cute animals. Some filters even altered audio in Snapchat videos. Engagement with the Snapchat app increased threefold; something that Snapchat didn’t anticipate would gain the traction it received.

As Snapchat curiously explores the possibilities of augmented reality, users can now use their rear-facing camera to capture a new type of filter, called “New World Lenses.” The filters overlay on top of your camera view and decorate the scene with the same type of technology used for the selfie camera. See for yourself below:

The launch of the new lenses is part of Snapchats overarching strategy to become known as a camera company, following the release of their Snapchat Spectacles. With competition from Instagram’s new story-like feature (that now generates more engagement than Snapchat), the brand has stepped up their game and has partnered with several brands in an effort to turn these 3-d overlays into ads.

The first sponsored ad using the World Lenses is in partnership with Warner Bros., featuring a rear-facing decal in promotion of the Film Everything, Everything that came out in theaters recently. There is also talk around Netflix using Snapchat as one of their media channels for their campaign to promote Glow, a 1980s wrestling comedy.

Currently, the Warner Bros. campaign is taking advantage of Snapchat’s 2-D technology, but in the future, advertisers will have access to a full arsenal of augmented reality technology to use for their campaigns via Snapchat.

Snapchat is also changing the targeting on the sponsored ads in the United States. Until recently, advertisers had to purchase one ad to run nationally, which means that the same generic ad would be served to everyone in the targeted country. Now brands can target specific users based on their demographic and the content they view. This is huge news for advertisers in the US – the average user spends over 30 minutes on Snapchat daily, and the average user plays around with a filter for 15-30 seconds before sending the photo to their friends.

In preparation for our open house to showcase our new office space, we’ve taken full advantage of a geo-filter so that guests can engage with our brand and take share on Snapchat in hopes to generate awareness for the adHOME brand.