Snapchat has outlined a range of new elements to celebrate the 2024 Olympics, including AR Lenses, Official Highlights and Filters.
Snap is making an extra effort this time around to help connect fans with the Olympics, which could lead to even more engagement during the event.
Firstly, Snapchat has added a range of AR lenses, including one created in partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that aim to capture the Olympic spirit.
According to Snapchat:
““A range of experiences powered by Snap’s AR Camera Kit technology will be available across the Official Olympic Games Paris 2024 app and on Snapchat. Featuring Olympic data feeds, imagery from the IOC archive and more, the IOC has launched a series of AR lenses to serve fans at home and around the world, helping everyone feel connected to the Olympic Games.”
This means that Snap’s partnership with the IOC extends beyond Snap itself, with the official Olympic Games app also linking to Snap’s AR experiences. This is significant, as given that 180 million Snapchatters engage with sports content within the app each month, this could be a good way for the Olympics to connect more closely with a younger audience and offer them a more immersive digital experience.
The IOC also added scannable AR elements within official Olympic posters and promotions that launch Snap Lens when scanned with the app.
Bitmoji also plays a role, with Snap We’ve partnered with NBCUniversal to incorporate Bitmojis of Team USA athletes into the Opening Ceremony in-app experience.
Bitmoji could eventually be a valuable connector for the transition to the metaverse, with more and more people becoming accustomed to interacting through these digital representations, so it makes sense for Snap to highlight Bitmoji characters as another way to encourage engagement with the Olympics.
Snapchat even partnered with Coca-Cola to install its first-ever AR vending machine and ran IRL activations at the Olympics themselves.
“Installed at the Athletes Village and Coca-Cola’s International Food Fest, the machines feature a custom Snapchat AR mirror and offer photo opportunities, games and prizes, as well as popular Coca-Cola drinks.”“
It’s unclear exactly how this will work, but if athletes are using Snap’s tools to post photos from their villages, it could also be a valuable promotional element for the app.
Snap also hosts Various highlights and official game content, In addition to NBCUniversal and WBD, we’ve also added a variety of themed stickers to our Olympic options.
As mentioned above, many Snapchatters are gamers and Snap clearly sees a lot of interest in events within the app, which is one of the reasons why they’re adding different experiences and opportunities to get involved, which could be a good way to drive engagement and get more people to notice Snap.
