Two Brand New Features from Snapchat

Snapchat has recently unveiled a new movie preview ad format which has been developed in association with the upcoming release of the Tom Cruise sequel called 'Top Gun: Maverick', which it calls a 'trailer reaction lens', and it will of course be available long after the movie has finished its run in theaters. The preview format splits your screen into a top and bottom portion, with the top displaying the trailer for the movie, and the bottom showing a front-facing camera.This will give users the opportunity to record their reactions to the trailer, while also adding digital enhancement to their recording, which will of course add to the feel of the recording and make it look fuller and more accomplished, as well as more fun. The relationship between Paramount pictures and Snapchat is that Paramount has become a sponsor for the augmented reality feature called trailer reaction lens, which will be used to promote the Tom Cruise movie.

What is the trailer reaction lens?

The augmented reality lens allows Snapchat users to see a film preview on their smartphone in an upper and lower split screen format, while at the same time having their reactions recorded by the front-facing camera of their phone. The reaction shots recorded can be decorated with digital overlays of objects like the fighter pilot helmet which Tom Cruise wears in portraying his character Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.Fans will have the capability of sending the recorded video directly to Snapchat so that other users can see it, or they can post it as a Story. The trailer reaction lens has already been released as a feature in Canada and the United States, with a follow-up release scheduled for Germany, Mexico, Brazil, France, and the United Kingdom in the coming weeks. The Snapchat promotion for this particular movie is intended to reach an entirely new audience who may not even have been alive when the original film was released in 1986.It is known that approximately 90% of all Snapchat users are between the ages of 13 and 24, and that they spend an average of at least 30 minutes a day using Snapchat. This is why it's so advantageous for sponsors like Paramount pictures to use Snapchat as a vehicle for engaging younger consumers. From the viewpoint of Paramount pictures, the whole point is to promote the movie, but from the Snapchat standpoint, it showcases the trailer reaction lens and provides another excellent usage for augmented reality technology.

More than 70% of Snapchat's active daily users make use of augmented reality lenses every time they log on, which is an impressive figure, and which accounts for Snapchat's interest in promoting these augmented reality trailer reaction lenses. It is expected that by using this strategy for promoting the movie, it will extend the reach of the campaign and may even cause it to go viral, as it will be driven strongly by the online Snapchat community.Another clever aspect of this promotion is that by asking people to add their own augmented reality reaction shots, both Paramount and Snapchat can be assured that mobile viewers will be watching the complete 30-second video clip. Any users who wish to see even more action shots from the movie itself can tap on a button labeled Watch Trailer, so they can see the actual theater trailer, which is longer than two minutes.This is a pioneering use of the trailer reaction lands which is sure to be repeated by other film companies in the coming months and years. If this sounds similar to the feature on TikTok called Reaction, that's because it is, since the TikTok version allows users to share their reactions to any of the videos shown on the platform.Still, it's a very interesting ad format, and the potential for using it on other applications is limitless, because it would allow users to film their reaction to literally any kind of video produced anywhere. The TikTok version has already proven to be tremendously popular, so there's no reason to expect that the Snapchat version would be any less popular, and it will probably even match TikTok in popularity. It is thought that Snapchat will extend the concept into other areas in the coming months, so be on the lookout for this appealing new ad feature to be used in a myriad of other ways in the very near future.

Leaderboard Games

Snapchat is also rolling out a new featured game called Leaderboard Games in which people will be able to compete against online friends and off-line friends, while having ongoing scores from other sources added to the board. This is expected to complement Snapchat's already impressive catalog of video games, and is sure to increase engagement on the part of its hordes of users.Leaderboard Games will be made available on Snapchat's Snap Games platforms, and is expected to take its place among the many other featured games provided by the platform. Leaderboard Games allow competitors to play whenever it's convenient for them, rather than engaging in head-to-head battles at the same time. This asynchronous approach allows everyone to compete for the top spot on a leaderboard within their own circle of friends.Along with the introduction of Leaderboard Games itself, there's a new feature called Score Streaming, which will display your friends' actual scores live, right while they're playing with you. When a number of friends are engaged in playing the same game, they'll see their friends Bitmoji peeking on top of the chat bar, so that 'eye contact' can be experienced in chat.The first two Leaderboard Games which have been developed are called Slide the Shakes and Find My Friends. When playing Find My Friends, points are scored by identifying friends from within a crowd in various crazy scenes. The faster your friends are identified, the higher your score becomes. When playing Slide the Shakes, competitors serve milkshakes to their acquaintances by pushing them down a countertop, while navigating slippery ice, moving platforms, and giant wrecking balls. The whole strategy behind these new Leaderboard Games is to increase engagement among Snapchat users, and to increase their loyalty to the platform.