Dive Brief:
- Snapchat has introduced a new Sponsored Lens ad unit that allows brands to take over all of the app's lens inventory on a given day.
- To promote its new "X-Men" movie, 20th Century Fox became the first company to take advantage of the new takeover ad unit by buying all the platform’s lenses on Tuesday.
- According to Adweek, the ad most likely cost the movie studio somewhere north of $750,000 since that’s around the top amount brands have paid for sponsored lenses that still had to compete with Snapchat’s standard lens line-up.
Dive Insight:
Snapchat and its Gen Z and millennial heavy audience has been an attractive venue for movie industry advertising. 20th Century Fox was the first brand to buy a sponsored lens last October, and Sony Pictures was the first to buy a sponsored Discover portal channel last year.
Though not a movie promotion, if Taco Bell’s recent Cinco de Mayo campaign and its 224 million views in one day are any indicator, brands willing to fork out the high cost of a lens takeover stand to expand their reach to a great extent.
Matthew Ball, strategist and VC at Otter Media/Chernin, added to the conversation with an additional data point on how much movie studios are spending on advertising:
@DKThomp In 1980, Hollywood spent fewer than 20 cents on advertising for every $1 in box office. It's now over 60. pic.twitter.com/V7DxWkNv6w
— Matthew Ball (@liamboluk) May 23, 2016
As evidence of why brands should be careful when running innovative campaigns, some Snapchat users did not like that usual favorite lenses were gone for the day and replaced by "X-Men" themed filters. But despite some of the negative sentiments, the movie studio's ad sweep could mean more than just views and actually ticket sales. Users wanting to see the film Friday can snap up tickets by swiping through a campaign video.