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Brief:
- L’Oréal USA today launched the first Beauty Augmented Reality (AR) glasses for Snap’s desktop app, allowing customers to virtually try looks from brands like Garnier, Lancôme, L’Oréal Paris and Maybelline. All eight branded lenses appear in a “beauty” area on the opening page of Snap Camera, according to an announcement shared with Mobile Marketer.
- L’Oréal’s AR looks include product categories such as hair color, makeup, fragrances, and skincare, and are available to Snap Camera users worldwide over the next week. Snap Camera is free to download for Windows and Mac computers, and is compatible with video calling software such as Zoom or Google Hangouts.
- Snap has seen a 30-fold increase in daily Snap Camera downloads amid increased video conferencing and live streaming during the coronavirus pandemic. After installing the application, video conferencing software users can select “Snap Camera” from the video sources menu to decorate their chats with AR lenses, including those from L’Oréal, according to their announcement.
Vision:
L’Oréal’s AR lenses are notable for being the first brand beauty experiences on Snap’s desktop platform, unlike its Snapchat mobile app that has 229 million users worldwide. With millions of consumers relying on video calling software like Zoom to stay connected with friends, family and colleagues during coronavirus blockages, L’Oréal can help them add a little whimsy to their conversations with their selection of branded AR lenses. .
Increased use of Snap Camera can help L’Oréal extend the reach of its campaign as people decorate their video calls with their branded content. Beauty brands like L’Oréal need to maintain a strong presence as the pandemic leads to a significant change in sales of cosmetics and personal care products. While hair and skin health has become more important among homebound consumers, makeup and fragrances have faced challenges. Prestigious beauty sales fell 14% to $ 3.6 billion in the first quarter of the previous year, as stores closed across the country, and makeup fell 22% to $ 1.4 billion, according to Group data. NPDs cited by WWD. Online makeup sales increased 18% during the period, which helped offset the decline in store sales. Until the pandemic subsides, it is important for beauty brands to maintain visibility in their digital sales channels.
L’Oréal has long embraced AR technology to appeal to consumers with branded content. The beauty giant two years ago acquired Modiface, the maker of AR software for virtual makeup testing, and has since embraced the platform in a variety of campaigns. L’Oréal in December integrated the technology with Google Lens, the search giant’s image-recognition application, to allow shoppers to virtually test their Garnier brand’s hair coloring. Color & Co, L’Oréal’s brand for home hair coloring, added similar AR technology from Modiface to its website in September. Virtual testing services had urged consumers to buy more L’Oréal hair coloring and makeup products, The Wall Street Journal reported last year.
For Snap, the L’Oréal campaign is an opportunity to showcase the AR features of its desktop app, which can help drive more downloads as video call software users seek to add immersive or entertaining content to their calls. . Snap relies heavily on its Snapchat mobile app for revenue, but the rise of video conferencing is an opportunity to extend its presence on the desktop. Snap has continually sought to expand its range of brand experiences and ad formats, including launching this week’s seamless acquisition commercials that appear before video scheduling in the image messaging app.
Snap’s revenue grew 44% in the first quarter of the previous year, faster than more established rivals such as Facebook, whose ad sales increased 17%, and Google 10% growth. The pandemic didn’t affect ad sales until the middle of last month, making the current quarter a bigger test for all digital advertising platforms, including Snap. The company said this month that users’ engagement with advertising grew in March amid record levels of usage, as the COVID-19 crisis forces people to stay home.
