Unilever's Dove and Axe brands target Refinery29's audience on Snapchat
Unilever was quick to partner with publishing brand Refinery29 for its recent Snapchat Discovery channel launch, tapping into the publisher?s audience to target millennials for the TreSemmé, Dove and Axe brands.
Snapchat is proving to be a substantial advertising platform and its ad supported publishing channels are growing with a significant amount of media brands jumping to the chance to appeal to millennial users, and marketers are taking notice. Unilever is hoping to appeal to Snapchat users through Refinery29?s native content within the app.
"The partnership between Refinery29, Unilever, and Snapchat confirms that brands want to reach a mobile audience through native experiences," said Dan Laughlin, vice president of business development at HyprMX. "It is a win for Refinery29, one of the new wave of digital content creators, and also another success for Snapchat?s popular Discover platform which is supposedly driving over 100 million views a day."
Discovering Discovery channels
The publisher launched its Discovery channel this week and is sharing content developed specifically for Snapchat with users, supported by a sponsorship with Unilever and other brands such as beauty brand Estee Lauder and apparel retailer Primark. Unilever?s key demographic for TreSemmé, Dove and Axe coincide with the publisher?s audience, making the match, along with the Snapchat platform, an effective venture.
The Discover channels are trending well for publishers and advertisers who have chosen to get on board, which is causing newer media brands and marketers such as Refinery29 and Unilever to jump in as well. For instance Cosmopolitan Magazine, which has been a Discover partner from its launch, generates about 3 million readers a day from its channel on Snapchat, according to a quote from Kate Lewis, vice president and editorial director of digital at Hearst Magazines to DigiDay.
Refinery29 is posting new content daily on its channel, which follows similar content as its Web site. For instance, yesterday the media brand published an article discussing surprising facts regarding bras and another about visible belly fat.
Advertisers content is showcased within the content, in the similar format as Refinery29?s but as a mobile video ad.
The Discovery channels are available to all Snapchat users and are located on the homepage of the app, above the live our stories, which showcases cumulative content from a particular area or event. To view the Discover content, users click on the icon of the publisher and can scroll through laterally to view articles, videos and images.
Snapchat significance
Snapchat has hoped to make a significant uptick in marketing palatable to users with an opt-in approach, but its biggest challenge has been helping marketers measure the return on their investments (see more).
Also, bourbon brand Jim Beam breaks new ground for whiskey marketers by engaging with millennials on Snapchat via 10-second vertical video ads that are being served to viewers of Stories for live events (see more).
"This is not the first partnership between Refinery29 and Unilever, and it is not surprising Unilever chose a partner like Refinery29 to pave their way into Snapchat, digital-first platforms like Vice and Buzzfeed have an edge when it comes to creating content that connects with its Millennial and Gen Z audience," Mr. Laughlin said.
Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer
