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Snap Stranger Things Advertising

Snapchat's first sponsored World Lens lets Stranger Things fans enter the 'Upside Down'

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By Rebecca Stewart, Trends Editor

October 27, 2017 | 4 min read

Netflix is the first advertiser to use Snapchat’s 3D World Lenses format, allowing Stranger Things fans to step into an ‘upside down’ version of Joyce Byer's famous living room.

Netflix is the first advertiser to use Snapchat’s 3D World Lenses format,

Snapchat Users can access the experience in a few ways, including by physically walking into a AR portal door

The partnership with Netflix, designed to promote the premiere of Stranger Things 2 on Friday (27 October) lets users leap into another world and explore the familiar fairy lights, painted alphabet and floral wallpaper as the theme tune plays in the background. If Snapchatters tap on the objects, there are hidden easter eggs to be found.

World Lenses is tool which lets users view AR elements in any scene they capture with their rear facing camera. It was launched earlier this year, with Snap announcing plans to open it up to advertisers during Ad Week New York.

Snapchat Users can access the experience in a few ways, including by physically walking into a AR portal door which appears in front of them after unlocking the lens. Alternatively, they can enter the living room through what Snapchat is calling ‘gyroscope Lens’ and diehard fans can even enter the ‘upside down’ if they dare.

Snap has also teamed up with Shazam to lets users unlock the Lens when they listen to the Stranger Things theme. The messaging app is going big for the tie-up, also unveiling a selfie Lens that mimics character Eleven’s nosebleed, while a second World Lens will transport users to the swimming pool where beloved Barb went missing.

The interactive push is available to Snapchatters for one day only across 10 global markets including the US and the UK. There are two versions of the experience depending on the market.

The scale of the partnership hints at Snapchat's ambitions for World Lenses, which is now a point of difference for it in an increasingly crowded market. Facebook and Instagram having been nabbing its unique features and, unfortunately for Snap, have yielded fruit for doing so.

In July, Snapchat’s head of e-commerce and streaming, Fintan Gillespie, hinted there was further commercial potential in World Lenses, saying in time they could allow brands to let shopppers visualise how products will look in the real world before purchase.

In the US, internal Snap data gathered by Nielsen claimed that campaigns featuring interactive Lenses drove a 19.7 point lift in ad awareness, a 6.4 point lift in brand awareness, and a 3.4 point lift in action intent on average.

Stranger Things is one of Netflix’s most marketable original shows and is the first show the streaming service has merchandised, so it's no surprise several brands have jumped at the chance to be part of the buzz around season two.

Snap Stranger Things Advertising

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