Snapchat is entering the upscale ad market, looking to mimic a TV style of buying, just ahead of NewFronts, the time of year when all digital publishers pitch exclusive content and advertising to brands.
On Friday, Snapchat announced a new ad product that blends its automated ad platform with an upfront way to pay for ads and reserve inventory in Shows, the highest class of videos on the app. Shows are mobile programs produced by Snapchat and top publishing partners like Condé Nast Entertainment, Hearst, Tastemade, Group Nine Media, NBC Universal and Viacom.
Instead of buying ad space in the shows through an auction, Snapchat developed what it is calling “Snap Select,” a buying option that is similar to Google Preferred, which is an ad offering that is meant to ensure brands that they run in only the top YouTube shows. Facebook also has a similar premium tier of buying ads, which launched this year and is called “In-Stream Reserve” for Watch, the social network’s video platform.
Snap’s new upfront buying, like the rival platforms, gives brands a fixed rate and guarantees on audience size, so the media buyers can plan ad campaigns more efficiently. Digital platforms often liken this style of buying to TV, and brands typically set aside budgets for TV programs in advance—"upfront.”
The way the "select" ad program works is, a brand orders the number of views it would like to obtain, pays according to a set price for every thousand views (a CPM), and then runs 6-second commercials that only appear in the Shows Snapchat considers its most premium. Snapchat did not disclose exactly how it will decide what Shows get to partake in the upfront buying service, but says it will pick from among the Shows with the largest audiences and most committed viewers. Snapchat says it will share with advertisers the exact Shows participating when the program opens later this quarter.
On the internet, most buying is done programmatically in competitive auctions with less predictability, especially around where the ads run. On Facebook, YouTube or Snapchat, advertisers are paying closer attention to placement with more of a focus on “brand safety,” since there has been more scrutiny of the types of videos that often proliferate on social media. For instance, in March, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter were scrambling to remove video footage of the New Zealand massacre.
Snap has always touted its relative control over its platform, because most videos are private, and the public-facing media has to be invited. This new way of buying comes as it invests more in professional content, recently announcing at its first partner conference, 10 new original programs, a mix of scripted dramas, reality shows and news.
Last week, Snapchat announced first-quarter earnings, where it gave a glimpse into the size of its viewership on Discover, the section of the app where Shows and other varieties of media reside. Snapchat said time spent watching Shows tripled in the past year but did not give an exact figure. It did call out some Shows like a docuseries “Endless Summer,” which reached 28 million viewers in its first season, and NBC News’ “Stay Tuned,” which reached 30 million viewers a month in 2018.
Snapchat declined to comment further on its new “select” advertising program, but it comes right on the heels of the NewFronts, before YouTube, Twitter and other rivals (and some partners) announce new programs. Last year, Snapchat participated in NewFronts West but is not presenting at the ones in New York starting April 29.
[from http://bit.ly/2VwvxLm]
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