Earlier in the year, Snapchat released a few new brands to its “Discover” function–including Buzzfeed, Refinery29 and Tastemade–that each cater to a specific section of the media platforms customer segment. In the past, the Discover function seemed to be more like a repurpose of already existing content onto a different screen. The Food Network and ESPN for example, simply took TV spots and integrated them into the the platform during its earlier phases.
Times have changed though and it looks like advertisers are finding way to integrate advertisements into these specific channels. Despite its restrictions to vertical videos, marketers are going to extra mile to film segments that are tailored specifically to Snapchat–even if they can’t use the media on other platforms. In comparison, these channels are very similar to a TV channel. The Discover function though, brands these channels towards a product or company and allows the users to engage with it on their own free well.
That’s the key–even though Snapchat Discover is untargeted advertising, it is a media space that users want to interact with on their own time, at their own pace. This allows the brand to feel more familiar and friendly–a huge contrast from the targeted ads that follow users all around the internet.
As Snapchat CEO, Evan Spiegel states, “When a product you didn’t end up buying follows you around—that ends up feeling strange and maybe even winds up doing brand damage.” The familiarity then that Discover brings is what gives users incentive to come back time and time again.
