The Sponsored AI Lenses from Snapchat provide a sneak peek of future advertising, which is far beyond a shiny new toy for marketers. While most platforms are still struggling on how to avoid ignorance towards ads, Snapchat transforms these ads into entertainment. Snapchat just unveiled a brand new ad format that could put old-school display ads to an archaic model. The new Sponsored AI Lenses are interactive, and its AI-driven filters with which brands may be generative experiences for users. It’s more like taking selfies with an AI twist that feels happy to have some sponsorship behind it.
While sponsored lenses have always been an option for advertisers on Snapchat, the new format goes much further. It allows advertisers to bypass the costly 3D and VFX production altogether, plugging directly into Snap’s exclusive generative AI for customized, camera-first campaigns that feel closer to digital magic tricks than advertisements.
Mechanics behind Posing to Prompting
It works in a manner where a user takes a selfie and Snap’s AI engine does the rest. The platform analyzes facial features, applies a preset pose and prompt, and drops the user into an AI-generated scene, from futuristic cityscapes to quirky, surreal environments. Each Lens can contain up to 10 different AI-generated experiences, making them enchanting and endlessly wanting to use it again.
The company said in a blog post,
“Over the past two years, we’ve refined our generative AI technology to make high-quality creative execution fast and efficient. Sponsored AI Lenses eliminate the need for 3D and VFX design, replacing them with AI-generated templates that can help cut production timelines.”
Early Users, Tinder & Uber
Some of the big names that have already signed up for it are Tinder and Uber. Tinder used the format for special custom selfies with the caption “My 2025 Dating Vibe,” so users could see themselves styled into a personal love forecasting. Uber had a Thanksgiving themed Lens that created joyous, playful AI-generated portraits to go with the feel of that holiday.
Both these campaigns managed to generate user engagement at an above average level, and the playtimes also lasted longer than a standard sponsored Lens. Such attention is digital gold for advertisers to utilize to cut through the trend of scrolling thumbs and shorter attention spans.
Generative AI Ambitions
The latest promising step of Snapchat’s apparent expanding commitment to generative AI is its Sponsored AI Lenses. Last month, it announced video-based generative AI Lenses, which broaden the toolkit available to creators and brands. Earlier this year, in February, it had unveiled an AI text-to-image research model that had been rewritten for mobile, indicating further integrated AI lenses expected soon. Long-standing, Snapchat’s edge has been a camera-first viewpoint. Its freshest fuel is now the creative and new magic engine that is AI. This will automate complex visual effects, but somehow makes advertising feel less interruptive and more entertaining by putting the power of transformation directly into the user’s hands.
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