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Snap Martech Apps

Vox Pop: is a new-look Snapchat the right way forward? (Part 2)

By Rebecca Levy | Editorial Account Executive

Remarkable Group

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The Drum Network article

This content is produced by The Drum Network, a paid-for membership club for CEOs and their agencies who want to share their expertise and grow their business.

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November 10, 2017 | 7 min read

Snapchat has just announced plans to overhaul its primary app with the intention of making it more intuitive for users. The technology and social media company recently shifted to programmatic advertising and has subsequently suffered huge losses.

Clockwise from top-left: Sagittarius, Disrupt (Found), BWP, Stickyeyes, Return, Iris

Clockwise from top-left; Sagittarius, Disrupt (Found), BWP, Stickyeyes, Return, Iris

The Drum Network asks if a new look Snapchat app is the right way forward to bolster sales and widen its appeal, or if it is at risk of driving away its current audience.

Following on from part 1 of this Vox Pop, here's what some more of our agencies had to say:

Kier Humphreys, digital marketing account manager, Sagittarius

Snapchat's issue remains that it hasn't captured the attention of the 30+ audience and has consistently seen competitors execute what it deems to be its USPs in a more user-friendly style, while providing an environment for users and brands to monetise the services. The older audience hasn't struggled with the user experience; it has struggled with Snapchat’s overall purpose and reason for being in a market, where other, all-encompassing options exist. If they don’t engage the large percentage of available market that holds the genuine buying power, no amount of polishing, brave or not, will create viable longevity.

Matt Thorne, creative director, Disrupt (Found)

A new look Snapchat is needed as it really does have a poor user experience in general. Being unusable, however, isn’t the reason why ads aren’t performing; the young user base just doesn’t want to see ads there. This is first and foremost a messaging platform for them and ads are essentially interrupting their conversation with friends – like an annoying person in the classroom who interrupts the teacher every two minutes.

David Aspinall, performance marketing manager, BWP Group

Changes to social media platforms are often met with negativity, risk and hesitation – remember when Facebook was ad free? Switching to a programmatic system was always going to cause initial dips in revenues, as the number of advertisers are simply not there (yet). I believe that by appealing to new audiences while making the platform more accessible for SMB’s to advertise, the use and appeal of Snapchat should increase across new audiences. In return, impression bids will rise and revenues may well surpass prior results. One of BWP’s values is ‘brave’, and without being brave, takings risks, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

William Conboy, head of paid marketing communications, Stickyeyes

With Snapchat being the darling of innovation (social communication, content delivery), a shake-up is certainly in the safest hands. Snapchat must stay true to its pace-setting design approach, without scaling back on innovation, buffered with smart testing (in-house, its remodelled app is already in-play). Personalising content along with improved creator/influencer support is all too important. Why continue allowing the masters of implementation (Facebook and family) take Snap’s shiniest toys and repackage them with mass appeal? The initial signs are positive with Chinese Behemoth, TenCent (WeChat fame), purchasing 10% of Snapchat. Maybe it knows a thing or two?

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Liam Tasker, social media executive, Return

One of the causes of Snapchat’s losses is slow development of ad revenue after a swap to programmatic. Programmatic is advertising that displays after negotiations between software, without a human element. Snapchat’s native content focus is on making communication instant, ephemeral and above all, personal and intimate. Currently the programmatic advertising runs jars with that native content. Any redesign could be alienating, losing the intimacy of an app that has been in users’ jeans' pockets for years. A facelift may obscure the old friend behind the new look – and turn the platform into more of a friend of the advertiser than the user.

Beth Carroll, social director, Iris.

Snap’s business model is based on taking risks. Without the scale and speed of Facebook and Instagram it relies on constant innovation to stay ahead of the competition. It was the first social platform to bring AR to the masses with World Lenses and the first to launch social tech with Spectacles. The only way for it to maintain its stance as the nimble innovator is to dramatically transform and do it frequently.

Read part 1 of this Vox Pop here.

Snap Martech Apps

Content by The Drum Network member:

Remarkable Group

Sagittarius. Ultimedia. Nemetos Tanasuk. Unify. A new group for remarkable brands and remarkable people. We are Remarkable Group.

We plan the future so you are ready for the customer of tomorrow. The Remarkable Group is an international powerhouse of integrated digital specialist consultancies that offer our clients true partnership and integration at a global scale. We are passionate and expert in digital experience and we put our customers’ customer first in order to drive value from class-leading connected experiences and relationships.

Our performance will always be measured by our legacy. So all of our brands operate with a social conscience, striving to leave the world in a better place than we found it.

We are multiple agencies across Europe, the Middle East and North America focusing on:

Digital TransformationSoftware EngineeringConnected ExperiencePerformance & Analytics

Find out more

Disrupt

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BWP Group

We are a strategically-led creative agency specialising in brand and customer experience.

We are passionate about brands and retail, which makes for the perfect combination - our passion and your brand. We’ll sort out your strategy, big up your brand, add a touch of magic and get the conversation started.

We have brilliant strategists, award-winning creatives and fantastic client service people.

We have vast experience in launching brands, store openings, experiential and sales driver campaigns for our retail and leisure brands such as IKEA, ECCO, Cotswold Outdoor and Sennheiser.

Our core values of passion, impact, excellence and respect are evident in every project we deliver, the long-term relationships we build, and the results we realise for our clients.

Head Office: Jubilee House, Third Avenue, Marlow, Bucks, SL7 1EY

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Stickyeyes

Some online marketing agencies are all style and no substance. Others are so geeky they forget your customers are only human.

We’re relentlessly improving our digital specialisms to provide maximum return on investment, whatever it takes. ROI may be an over-used term, but we’ll never tire of it, because it’s what matters most.

Our approach to digital marketing is made up of the perfect blend of technology, insight and creativity.

Our technology is like no other, with dedicated, proprietary tools that support the creation of digital strategies in organic and biddable media, content and social media. This allows us to remove the guesswork and conjecture in digital marketing, and plot your pathway to success.

We use this data, as well as our leading digital insight and the expertise of our partners in the IPG Mediabrands Group, to devise remarkable creative campaigns, engaging content and intelligent paid activity that are focused on increasing your brand visibility, growing your audiences and delivering results.

We have adopted this approach in more than 20 international markets for some  of the world’s biggest brands, including GlaxoSmithKline, Hilton and Hertz, delivering award winning campaigns that have delivered significant returns on investment.

If you'd like to find out how we can help you grow your revenue from digital, get in touch.

www.stickyeyes.com

0113 391 2929

https://twitter.com/stickyeyes

https://www.facebook.com/Stickyeyes

https://www.youtube.com/user/stickyeyesTV

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Return

Return was born in September 2008 with one simple aim: to maximise our clients' return on digital.

The digital world has seen extraordinary changes since then but one thing has stayed the same. Our passion for return. Everyone who works here, everything we do, is with one goal in mind, to leverage a greater return on investment for our clients.

From a one-man band we’ve grown to an award-winning, market-leading agency with a team of some of the brightest digital minds in Europe. But that’s enough about us, what’s more important is what we can do for you…

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Iris

We know safe is dangerous. We work with ambitious clients to create a bold way forward out of change, challenge and disruption.

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