Following a disappointing second quarter (Q2) earnings report, augmented reality (AR) firm Snap confirmed it would lay off 20 percent of its 6,400 employee workforce in August.
Additionally, in August, Snap shelved its AR-ready drone Pixy after four months on the market. However, the firm’s AR smart glasses are still going strong, with AR content creators developing immersive experiences for the hardware.
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Snap’s stocks recently dropped by 80 percent, and the firm’s Q1 earnings report recorded $360 million in losses. Despite financial failings, the firm reported an 18 percent year-over-year increase in daily active users.
Tim Van Der Wiel, the Founder of GoSpooky, a social marketing agency and long-time partner of Snapchat, spoke with XR Today. Der Wiel explained why the AR-ready social media service is still a good marketing platform while noting that Snapchat has more daily active users than Twitter.
Der Wiel also said that Snapchat is the most well-known but least understood platform, adding,
“So I think for marketers, Snapchat is huge, especially within the AR space. I think they have the best technology out there and skilled it across the most amount of people. So on a daily basis, 250 million people are using augmented reality on Snapchat that’s more than every other platform out there, and this space is wide open for marketers”
Der Wiel told XR Today that despite Snapchat’s increasing active user base, few marketers still really understand the social media platform. Tapping Snapchat’s platform could provide a massive opportunity for marketing teams, he added.
Partnering with Snapchat
GoSpooky started operators six years ago, growing up to 100 employees and becoming the first Snapchat agency in Europe. De Wiel added, “we’ve grown a lot the last few years, but I don’t know and not too many people know it.”
Starting with Snapchat, GoSpooky has since expanded into providing social marketing to multiple platforms. De Wiel explained that GoSpooky is a very close partner of Snap and voted on Snapchat partner programmes and collaborates for campaigns.
De Wiel continued that working with Snap was “super exciting” and was one of the most innovative companies in the AR space. GoSpooky works with many Snap departments, including Arcadia, its creative studio, to help brands develop AR campaigns.
