Snapchat and AR

Brands experiment with Snapchat

“Snapchat is dead” is all we’ve been hearing for some time now, but it doesn’t appear it should be counted out quite yet. Over the last week, both Levi’s and Jägermeister have launched AR campaigns through Snap’s LensStudio, aimed at the young audience the platform is known for.
Levi’s and Disney have paired up to allow users to scan a Snapcode at a retail location at Disney World. This overlays an AR lens allowing users to ‘try on’ a limited edition Levi’s x Mickey Mouse hat. Not only that, the entire purchase can be made in the Snap app – with delivery being free to any park resort. It seems Levi’s may have hit on something here: A good mix of bricks-and-mortar and virtual shopping, with a unique item only available for Snap users. Time will tell if this will be a success; Levi’s only just announced the campaign.
Jager, for its part, is launching a spooky, cocktail-themed tarot card experience to target millennial users of Snapchat. After swiping up in the Snapchat app, tarot cards appear on any surface in the user’s view, showing recipes for different Jager cocktails. While it’s not the same mix of virtual with bricks-and-mortar that Levi’s is providing, the unique nature of this campaign shows exactly how large brands can get creative with Snap’s LensStudio.
As more and more brands experiment with AR, we will likely continue to see unique product offerings at retail locations for specific platform users, as well as unique in-world AR experiences to help them use products differently. And as social media platforms duke it out for supremacy, we’ll also likely continue to see experimentation of this nature on Snapchat.
The only question that remains is, is this enough to keep Snapchat relevant? The fledgling platform has seen a massive drop in unique users over the last couple of quarters, but has reported strong financials for Q3 – likely off the back of campaigns like this. If the user base is dropping, will creative solutions like LensStudio be enough to attract brands like Jager and Levi’s to do more than experiment, and commit to the platform in the future?

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