Snap Inc. has announced the beta launch of a new permanent home for brands on Snapchat called Brand Profiles. The Brand Profiles are built around a brand’s unique investments in the app—whether its AR Lenses, native commerce stories, or other content highlights.
For the launch, Snap has partnered with roughly 30 of the world’s leading brands to extend the value of their experiences offered on Snapchat, including several from the MENA region. The beta launch will see participating brands from segments such as beauty and fashion, retail, entertainment, technology, telco, food and beverage, and more.
“The beta launch of Brand Profiles introduces exciting new ways for Snapchatters to engage with their favorite brands and discover more AR-inspired content. Ultimately, our aim is for the Snapchat community in the MENA region to better enjoy the variety of products on our service from businesses of all sizes,” says Hussein Freijeh, General Manager of Snap Inc., Middle East.
People can now easily find fun and useful Snapchat experiences from their favorite brands all in one place on the app. After subscribing to a brand, they can find all of its Stories and Lenses in the subscription section of Snapchat. The feature is the beginning of allowing Snapchatters to find and engage with brands organically on the platform in ways they’re familiar with on Snapchat.
For brands, this creates a platform to house all of their AR campaigns and other projects for Snapchatters to discover and revisit at any time. Brand Profiles ultimately incentivize deeper investment in Snapchat platforms like AR. Instead of disappearing, content and experiences can live in perpetuity after a campaign—ready to be redeployed or simply played with later on. Participating brands are also able to manage their profiles and insights within the app, as well as online through Snap’s existing Business Manager, to identify their audience’s perceptions, preferences, and loyalty.
The new Brand Profiles will include four key components. The first is AR Lenses where brands can save and showcase their Lens, which are discoverable through both Snapchat Search and Lens Explorer. Profiles may also include a “Native Store” experience that enables Snapcahtters to seamlessly browse and purchase items directly within the Snapchat app, powered by Shopify. New “Highlights” are made from Stories or Community Snaps that a brand has already shared with the world, and are ideal to showcase a brand to a new customer. In addition, brands can post what they are doing right now through “Story Posts”, inviting interaction with Snapchatters who already know who they are.