Dive Brief:

• Snap announced plans to open a Creator Marketplace that seeks to connect creators on the platform with advertisers at the IAB NewFronts on Wednesday. Later this month, a select group of AR creators will be available to advertisers through 2021, with the marketplace expanding in early 2022 to include all Snap creators.
• In a separate NewFronts presentation, Twitter announced a slate of video content from NBCUniversal, Billboard and Riot Games, among others. The company also highlighted a new pre-roll offering called Curated Categories that lets advertisers run ads before health and wellness, esports, gaming, and women in sports and gaming categories. 
• The new video content and ad offerings from both Snap and Twitter seek to connect marketers with the platforms' increasingly video-first audiences. More than 400 million people watched shows on Snapchat last year, including over 90% of the U.S. Gen Z population, per details emailed to Marketing Dive. Meanwhile, Twitter saw a 34% year-over-year increase in video viewing on the platform, according to its presentation.

Dive Insight:

At the NewFronts, Snap and Twitter joined the list of platforms that have expanded content and ad offerings to capitalize on consumers' increased engagement with social media and online video, a trend that accelerated during the pandemic. Other NewsFronts-related developments include the ramp up of ad-supported video on demand (AVOD), YouTube's focus on content curation and the significant growth of Amazon's OTT reach. 

Snap's Creator Marketplace seeks to connect advertisers with its 280 million-strong user base, starting with the 200 million users who engage with AR every day, per the company. In 2022, the offering will extend to Lens Creators, Lens Developers, Lens Partners and Snap Stars, giving advertisers more avenues to engage with young consumers on the platform.

The company also announced nine new Snap Originals that will premiere this year, including one hosted by rap star Megan Thee Stallion and a competition show featuring Charli and Dixie D'Amelio — sister influencers who are stars on rival platform TikTok that are becoming go-to brand partners. These offerings could interest ad buyers, as 60% of Snapchat's 18-plus audience watch less TV or no TV, per Nielsen data cited by Snap.

Similarly, Twitter's expanded video partnerships and pre-roll offering could help advertisers engage with younger consumers that are elusive to traditional media. Twitter announced video programming with publishers Billboard, Genius, Refinery29 and Tastemade; sports organizations MLB, NHL, WNBA, Riot Games and NBC Olympics; and NBCUniversal News in a bid to double-down on the entertainment, sports and news content that drives Twitter engagement.

The company also highlighted the brand safety of its platform, citing an OpenSlate study of more than 455,000 videos in its pre-roll program that found that 100% of the videos reviewed were above the GARM Brand Safety Floor.