The pre-roll advertisements played before the content which a user wanted to watch, which indicated that the users had been blocked by an ad, in turn, making them feel frustrated that they need to wait before watching the content. The in-feed advertisements were less obstructive but they were not full screen, and users tended to scroll past them, similar to a banner advertisement on a website. According to Snap, the two dominant forms are rather lacking.
The company noticed some light in television ads which the community seemed to enjoy the most since it was part of the experience, considering the advertisements were creative, funny and entertaining as well. It sounds rather similar to the ad product which Snap wanted to make.
According to Snap, the demographic which loves to Snapchat is also the one who watches less TV. Therefore, if the company can re-create TV ads on Snapchat, it would be great. However, a few changes were made by Snapchat from the TV ads.
Firstly, the ads were vertical video, which means they were meant to be seen when holding the phone in the normal way. Moreover, they were skippable because Snap wanted their users to decide whether they wanted to watch it or not.
In other news, BBC Worldwide has teamed up with Snapchat to drive TV tune-in for the North American launch of Planet Earth II, a nature documentary series in an exclusive short-form format. It will feature never-before-seen footage.
Stay tuned for more updates on Snapchat!