Could Snapchat’s Sponsored 3-D Lenses Make Virtual Promotional Products a Reality?

Snapchat is helping Warner Bros. to promote the release of "Blade Runner 2049." (Image via Net Imperative)

For most of its six-year history, Snapchat has prided itself on helping end-users pull off disappearing acts, and while Shakespeare would have us believe that brevity is the soul of wit, that line of thinking does not always translate to sales success. Through its Thursday appearance at Advertising Week, the instant messaging and multimedia mobile application took a huge step toward aiding businesses in their quests for continued relevancy, teaming with Warner Bros. and Bud Light to discuss Sponsored 3-D World Lenses, tools that allow brands to add company-specific objects to their snaps.

The announcement occurred in New York City, fitting given that Snapchat yesterday marked its seven-month presence on the New York Stock Exchange. Given that the entity is facing falling revenue predictions, it certainly needs more advertising allies for its platform, with the World Lenses being a huge part of its vision to sustain interest in its existence, especially now that it has started to move away from its identity as a here-today-gone-today photo and video messages service. Through the aforementioned entertainment and beverage icons, who inserted into spots a spinner car to promote the October 6 release of “Blade Runner 2049” and a dancing beer vendor, respectively, Snapchat is assisting the advertising-related growth of augmented reality, which is the antithesis of being a flash in the pan thanks to projections that see its market reaching $117.4 billion by 2022.

Accounts of the increased company reliance on augmented reality, which chief strategy officer Imran Khan made public, noted that Snapchat believes the inserted items, be they mascots, goods or other amenities, can assist with product discovery and product trial, with Tech Crunch pointing out that purchases of the lenses can go toward national campaigns, targeted audience outreach examples to those of a particular age, gender or demographic or swipe-up attachments for any Standard Snap Ad. Coupled with Snapchat’s January deal with Oracle Data Cloud to use third-party data for the creation of targeted ads, last week’s news could certainly work toward reversing that earlier referenced revenue statistic.

While Warner Bros., Bud Light and many other behemoths will certainly add to their impressive portfolios, can established promotional products industry presences expand their scope through the lenses? Can burgeoning businesses also converse with clients to have Snapchat cameras be a big part of their development? Given Tech Crunch’s reporting on the Advertising Week declaration, especially the product discovery and trial mentions, promo professionals appear to have another impetus to sacrifice some sleep in the name of enhancing their customer outreach. Imagine the possibilities associated with crafting augmented reality versions of your offerings and placing them in shots or spots that either contain the actual goods or give them a breather. Conferences, symposiums and team meetings could come to feature so many more happy faces, and where there are smiles, there are usually customers to please and dollars to be had.