Snapchat partners with Issa Rae’s Ensemble, rolls out new AR ad tools

Snapchat is rolling out new content initiatives and tools for marketers.

On Wednesday night, executives for Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, shared new creator programs and sports programming initiatives, along with new AR tools for marketers to use on the platform, during its annual NewFronts presentation.

The presentation came in the wake of strong Q1 earnings: The company’s revenue increased 21% to $1.19 billion, triggering a 23% jump in stock price. And it comes a few months into the rollout of its new marketing campaign: “Less social media. More Snapchat.”

New tools: Snap is expanding its existing AR tools, including adding the ability to create branded AR ads and custom Lenses using generative AI, as well as AR Extensions, which will let advertisers incorporate AR filters and Lenses into the platform’s various ad formats.

“With AR Extensions, you’re able to integrate AR Lenses directly into all of our ad practices,” Patrick Harris, Snap’s president of the Americas and partnerships, said onstage. “Your audience will be able to try on your product, wear your IP, and enter your branded world directly from your ads.”

New programming: Perhaps the most notable announcement was that Snap’s 523 creator accelerator program has partnered with Issa Rae’s Ensemble, a “new branded entertainment studio…to champion unrecognized artists,” Rae said in a prerecorded clip. “We are going to bring brands together with diverse creators to make content for Snapchat.”

The platform is also leaning heavily into sports content. Some of Snap’s “most popular creators, like Livvy Dunn and Harry Jowsey, will be in Paris,” on site at the Summer Olympics to “bring new perspectives, reporting from the most exciting events in their own unique voices,” Colleen DeCourcy, Snap’s chief creative officer, said. And the company renewed its partnerships with the NFL, NBA, and WNBA, meaning it will continue to provide access to official content from those leagues to its partners.

This July, Snap will introduce the Snap Sports Network, which will feature cheekier sports content, including “high-stakes athletic events like dog surfing, extreme ironing and…water-bottle flipping,” Katelyn Kroneman, Snap’s US head of auto, restaurant, and travel verticals, said. Brands will have opportunities to purchase sponsorships and product integrations, and Taco Bell and e.l.f. are already on board, according to Kroneman.

Later in the year, Phantom House, the interactive Halloween-themed mystery series, will be back for the spooky holiday season. “The scariest moments will pull viewers in through state-of-the-art AR lenses,” Kroneman said. “Just like last year, brands will have the opportunity to create immersive, Phantom House content.”