• WPP expands its relationship with Snap with an augmented reality partnership.
• Snap claims that over 200 million people use AR on Snapchat.
• The companies said the deal would allow advertisers to capitalize on the growing popularity of AR with online shoppers.

The world’s largest advertising company, WPP, is expanding its relationship with Snap to capitalize on the growing popularity of augmented reality with online shoppers.

The deal sees WPP, which manages advertising for 325 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, and Snap to develop AR products and technologies to help them reach consumers on the social platform.

The companies declined to provide financial details of the partnership, but WPP doubled its spending on Snap to $ 200 million in 2017, and GroupM, its media buying arm, said it had doubled its investments in social AR this past. year, as he sees increased opportunities for AR and commerce. media activations.

“Snap has built an impressive AR platform and we’re excited to partner with them to ensure our employees can access Snap’s latest AR technology and in turn develop richer and more innovative business solutions for our customers and their customers, ”said Sanja Partalo, Executive Vice President of WPP. strategic developments and partnerships.

Snap’s vice president of global agency partnerships David Roter said the partnership will allow WPP clients to reach users in a way that drives real business results.

Snap was very early in adopting AR. In March, it acquired Fit Analytics, a Berlin-based startup that uses this technology to help shoppers find clothing and shoes from online retailers.

Snap shared a recent Deloitte Digital survey commissioned by the platform of 15,000 people worldwide which found that 56% of shoppers said they felt more confident to buy a product online if they had it. ‘examined first with AR. The report also states that 100 million consumers use AR tools to shop, over 200 million people use AR on Snapchat, and brands are 41% more likely to be considered if they have experience. of brand RA.

The new products will be similar to Snap’s Snapchat Trends tool, which gives marketers and content creators insight into users’ most popular keywords and terms. WPP and its clients will also have exclusive access to best practices for developing AR campaigns on Snap effectively and efficiently. The companies plan to develop a methodology to measure the performance of advertising campaigns, and WPP will train approximately 1,000 employees in AR technology and products through Snap.

The move comes after WPP partnered with Snap competitor TikTok to help customers improve their reach on the platform. Snap competes harder with TikTok in the shorthand video space, such as paying creators to post viral content on the platform.

Snap is growing, with advertisers boycotting Facebook and other social platforms for their handling of hate speech and disinformation. The platform saw its strongest year-over-year revenue growth (66% to $ 770 million) and growth rates of daily active users (to 293 million users) in three years in the first quarter of 2021.