Snapchat Announces New Ad Partnership with Cameo, Unveils New Snap Originals

This could be a very interesting new addition for advertisers on Snapchat.

Today, as part of its NewFronts presentation, Snap unveiled a new partnership with celebrity video creation platform Cameo, which will enable Snap advertisers to pay Cameo members to create short video ads for their Snap marketing efforts.

Is that ‘Mean Girls’ star Lindsay Lohan talking up Velveeta on Snap? I think it is.

Called the ‘Snap x Cameo Advertiser Program’, the process essentially simplifies celebrity endorsements, with advertisers now able to directly pitch Cameo’s 45,000 celebrities for their ads.

That could be a big deal. Celebrity endorsements have a much higher chance of going viral, and partnering with just the right person for your brand could explode your marketing efforts overnight.

It won’t necessarily be an automatic win every time, and the celebrities will, of course, have the option not to accept any proposal. But again, the right celebrity, paired with the right message, could be big, and the option will undoubtedly attract a lot of interest.

For context, Cameo generated $125 million in revenue last year, underlining the popularity of the format, while Snapchat is now up to 332 million daily active users, eclipsing Twitter, Reddit and Pinterest.

It seems like an option ripe with opportunity – the Snap x Cameo ad program launches this week with initial partners in the US.

In addition to this, Snap is also launching a new ‘Snap Promote’ option, which will enable content partners to promote their Discover shows and other content within the For You feed on the Stories page. 

Ad partners can also sponsor shows, or advertise within Discover, so while the main focus here is helping publishers build their audiences in the app, it will also have flow-on benefits for all Snap ad users.

Snap’s also announced a range of new and returning Discover shows, including a new season of ‘Charli vs Dixie’, starring TikTok stars Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, as well as a new series with Olympic legend Simone Biles.

Snap’s original programming continues to be a winner for the app, with Snap reporting that overall daily time spent by Snapchatters watching Shows and publisher content on Discover increased 25% year-over-year in Q1 2022.

Snap also claims that over 80% of the US Gen Z Population watched a Snap Original in 2021. Which seems like a lot – but basically, Snap’s short, episodic Discover content has been a hit with younger audiences, catering to modern viewing habits, and aligning with emerging media consumption behaviors.

The new programs will further reinforce its Discover offering, while the partnership with Cameo has huge potential for the app, and for ad partners.

Worth exploring in your process.