Snapchat organized its’ first partner summit.

Snapchat held partner summit, during which it introduced its’ audience network similar to that of Facebook. Professionals in the industry point out that Snapchat is quite often closed and do not reveal any plans, but this kind of events help them to be more transparent and show the progress. The social network is popular for vertical videos and with this innovation it will be able to place vertical ads on other partners’ apps. It is interesting that they also started partnership with Tinder and want to integrate Snapchat Stories into the app. Some experts also notice that ad networks are usually created, when all of the inventory on the platform itself is sold, but it does not seem to be the case with Snapchat.

Additionally, the company couldn’t neglect fast development of gaming and shared some information about it during the summit. However, it was not very surprising, because Snapchat recently partnered with a game streaming platform called Omlet Arcade. Games will also have integrated commercials, the part of thr revenue from which will go to developers.

Looking for a new job? See how Google, Snapchat, and LinkedIn can help you!

If you are looking for jobs, the internet has newer ways to help you! While Google rolled out a search engine for jobs this week, Snapchat launched ‘Snaplications’ in the US! LinkedIn, on the other hand, rolled out a new tool that makes it easier to know who is searching for your profile.

It is interesting to see how brands are continuously leveraging technology to reach their target audience and simplify processes via digital platforms!

Google’s new job search is powered by AI and lets users find the perfect job listings for a search query. What’s more? It pulls data from some of the world’s biggest job boards, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Monster, Indeed and Glassdoor to give users a dense set of search results and help simplify the tedious job search process.

With the launch of ‘Snaplication’, snapchat is all set to revolutionize the recruiting game! A world’s first, snaplication allows applicants to initiate the job process via snaps! Given the evolution of technology and the change in audience behavior, snapchat is empowering brands to engage directly with its potential talent, especially, millennials.

As the world’s largest youth employer, McDonald’s for instance is already using Snaplication to hire more than 200,000 workers this summer! Since ~48 percent of Snapchat users are between the ages of 18 and 24, it makes a lot of sense for a brand like McDonald's to leverage snap for recruitment.

 

Lastly, I noticed that LinkedIn rolled out a new feature that lets people see who searched for their profile!
The Search Appearances feature is visible on a user's personal profile page (see image), for both mobile and desktop versions. It lets the user find out how many times they've been discovered. With the roll out of this feature, LinkedIn wants to give its users a sense of how frequently they're appearing in queries and how they can strengthen their profile. It also helps people see the companies and job titles of the people who found them in search to help signal what types of opportunities you may be a fit for!





Links:

http://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/2017/06/13/mcdonalds-accepting-snapchat-snaplications-to-lure-millennial-employees.html
https://futurism.com/google-now-employs-ai-to-help-you-land-a-new-job/
https://www.cnet.com/news/linkedin-wants-you-to-know-whos-job-searching-for-you/

Snapchat - where is it going

After watching all my friends use snapchat nonstop and watch it's increasing relevance among the teens. It is now a way for me to discover products from my favorite brands or watch celebrity and brand ambassadors in many cases in their everyday life or promoting various products. In a world where sports-related content seems to be one of the few remaining things that large numbers of people will actually pay for, leagues like the NFL and MLB are becoming increasingly powerful. And they are looking further afield than just the usual streaming or cable partners, to new platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, as a way of broadening their reach and finding new audiences. In one of the more recent examples of this trend, the National Football League signed a partnership deal with Snapchat to create original content and share advertising revenue.

http://fortune.com/2015/09/18/snapchat-nfl/

https://snapchatstrategy.com/five-reasons-snapchat-could-be-the-future-of-social-media-marketing-ca024a920e0#.3wl4gdf76

The Big Players Battle for Breaking News

Four huge players are launching new products that aim to capture share of the breaking news segment. Facebook just announced its standalone app called Notify in response to Twitter's launch of Moments while Apple pre-installed Apple News on all iPhone 6s phones. And Snapchat's recent Live Stories serves up related user-generated content and has been a huge success with millennials.

I hadn't heard of Notify or Moments until reading this article and it sounds like that is one of the problems - low awareness for these new products. This seems a bit shocking given the products are being put out by two major players. Perhaps time will tell.

After trying Moments, I actually really like the concept. Tweets are organized by content (News, Sports, Entertainment, etc) and easily searchable. I appreciate the value in being served up the most popular tweets across all users (not just the random ones I follow) and based on content I'm interested in. The article also outlines opportunities for the app to incorporate Twitter-owned Periscope as well. In addition to some drawbacks called out in the article, I think my main concern is the vetting of the news being served up. Unlike a trust-worthy app like New York Times Now, a breaking news app from Twitter doesn't make me think I'll be getting the most well-sourced information. In my opinion, it may be a fun add-on but won't be a substitute for real news.

http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/technology/why-its-game-tech-companies-battle-over-breaking-news-168297

Spotify vs Snapchat- digital video vs digital music world or evolving overlapping core competencies?

Snapchat began as a platform with purely ephemeral content but has slowly evolved into offering digital media content with a twist. With more than 700 million snaps sent daily, it has garnered some serious market power. First, there were personal snaps sent to friends that lasted mere seconds before disappearing. Then there was the introduction of curated “stories," which last longer and can be broadcast to a wider audience, but those still disappear into the Snapchat ether after 24 hours. With January’s introduction of the Discover feature, Snapchat opened the doors to select media outlets, news channels and lifestyle brands. In the Discover section of Snapchat, users can peruse snack-sized content from places like CNN,Foodnetwork, Comedy Central, and National Geographic. And now that original content includes music videos. Snapchat just entered the music video house.

Indie artist, Goldroom, released four music videos this week on Snapchat’s Snap channel, which is accessible on the Discover tab of the app. Value added services around the music video releases include behind-the-scenes exclusive content, including making-of videos and interviews, all with special Snapchat share buttons. With over half of Snapchat users under the age of 25, debuting original and highly-produced content on this platform (a model quite similar to Youtube influencers) could be a game-changer for musicians.  And while Madonna released her new music video on Snapchat in February, what’s different and remarkable about this Goldroom campaign is that all videos are shot in vertical format to accommodate the way people hold their phones.  Traditional media is bending to mobile media in a serious way.

Cross platform digital marketing and content creation especially with Snapchat is the new area of exploration and monetization for other digital platforms. Trying to tap into the millennial userbase of Snapchat, many brands want in on the Discover section. But Snapchat seems to be competing with Spotify by entering the digital music world and Spotify seems to be competing with Snapchat by entering into video content. It’s turning into a race of the platforms to be the one stop shop of all digital services that can be provided. Who will win? The one with the most fierce arc of innovation is set to win in this league of digital platforms. Snapchat has proved its metal in innovation but so has Spotify! Spotify’s ascent hasn’t been as rocket ship-fast, but it’s hold in the market has been steady and consistent, as well as appealing across a wide range of demographics. It now hosts non-music content like podcasts and video, in addition to predicting what kinds of playlists you’ll be into and curating a running playlist that changes with the changing tempo of your workout. Spotify’s first innovation is using data to become more intelligent. It is using its massive amounts of data to predict and create playlists around what you’ve already listened to at specific times of the day .The second innovation is around its running feature which figures your running pace based on your phone’s sensors and changes the music in real time to align with that pace. Now its set to enter the digital video streaming space. Some video content will be exclusive and original from Spotify and others would include launch partners like Comedy Central, Vice News, ABC, BBC, ESPN, Elite Daily, and TED.Spotify is introducing an experience that’s more accessible, personal and more usable than anything in music. You'll be able to watch clips from shows like Broad City. But it'll be a full-screen experience, which you watch horizontally. It is set to compete with Youtube, Vimeo and other video platforms.

So which platform is doing better?or would they resort to cross platform marketing ? or the platform with the best technology takes it all away? This mobile war is definitely set to get more intense and crowded with many smaller apps and players coming into the battle arena. In the end it’s a play of innovation and technology which provide the best user experience that’s going to be the deciding factor for the market share leader in the space of digital video and music.