News: Snapchat Unlocks Snappables Augmented Reality Games for Brands Including Candy Crush, Bud Light & Dunkin' Donuts

Less than two months after launching its augmented reality platform for casual gaming and shared experiences, Snapchat is ready to make Snappables available to advertisers.

The first sponsored Snappables will be available to users Thursday in Snapchat. Candy Crush makers King will be among the first brands to usher forward sponsored AR gaming, according to a Snapchat spokesperson. Bud Light (who was also one of the first brands to purchase a Sponsored World Lens) and Dunkin Donuts have also signed on as launch partners.

In addition, Snapchat has made its AR Lenses for brands easier to buy by making them available in the self-serve tool. With greater control over frequency and more predictable ad delivery, brands can expect to also reduce their advertising costs. One test partner realized a 46% reduction in cost per thousand impressions (CPM) via the self-serve method, according to a company spokesperson.

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Self-serve AR Lenses will be sold through the Reach and Frequency self-serve tool and priced based an effective CPM (eCPM), with ad costs ranging between $8 and $20 based on targeting and other factors. Brands will have access to the same advanced demographic targeting data, such as household income, parental status, and audience match, available to other self-serve Snap Ads, with 500 pre-set audiences at their disposal. In addition, Snapchat will offer a full suite of measurement and engagement metrics. (Snappables, however, will not be available through the self-serve tool at launch.)

In addition to self-serve AR Lenses, Snapchat also offers Shoppable AR for e-commerce and other calls-to action, video Snap Ads that lead into AR experiences, and Lens Studio for creating AR content.

Advertising is a key component of Snap's monetization strategy and augmented reality has become a big draw to brands. Snapchat reports an average of 10 to 15 seconds of play time with AR Lenses, as opposed to other online ad formats, which are subject to being skipped or blocked by software. Among the recent examples of brands sponsoring AR experiences in Snapchat are New Balance, Bareburger, MillerCoors, and KFC.

With Snappables, not only do advertisers get direct engagement, but they also get additional reach since the premise of the games dynamic is to encourage users to connect with others users to play. And now that AR Lenses are moving to the self-serve model, it will become even easier for advertisers to opt into Snapchat's AR marketing format.

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