Some people take their pets everywhere with them. Now Snapchat Plus members can bring them virtually — as Bitmoji.
The latest update, introduced this week, uses artificial intelligence to graphically transform a photo of little Fifi or Fido — essentially a set of avatars that owners can choose from — and place it on the Snap Map . Once inside the platform’s location-sharing visualization tool, the furry friend can follow the user’s own Bitmoji around.
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Pets are not new to the platform, but customization is. Previously, there was only a limited selection of preset options, and no way to select races.
This is clearly one of the AI’s more endearing abilities. The perk has arrived for Snapchat Plus subscribers just now, as they get early access to new features. But it will likely open at some point. There’s good motivation for Snap to do this, after all.
Pets are a gateway to big business, with the pet accessories market alone worth $32.7 billion in 2022, and expected to reach $48.56 billion by 2028. Add pet grooming products animal in the mix, and the market, valued at $68.31 billion in 2022, is expected to reach $116.23 billion by 2030.
The thought of a Prada dog brush may be going too far. Then again, the luxury brand already sells dog bibs — aka, a $460 nylon pet collar — among other accessories. Many fashion brands have also entered pet lines, including Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Hermés, Hugo Boss, Miu Miu, True Religion, Versace and others, from H&M to Tommy Hilfiger.
Users’ pet data — from species to specific breeds, and what’s dominant in specific locations — can also be quite valuable. Of course, the jury is out on whether Snap will use this information for ads. What is clear, however, is that the company needs as much revenue as it can get these days.
Snap has been in a major cash crunch, prompting measures such as closing its Augmented Reality for Enterprise (ARES) unit just months after it opened. The strategy worked. Snap’s revenue in the last three months of 2023 grew 5 percent over the same timeframe last year, meeting or exceeding expectations. Unfortunately, next to the likes of Google and Meta’s double-digit growth, it looks very small – and it didn’t help that 10 percent of Snap’s staff only got pink slips.
Last month, the app developer saw its stock plummet: After the earnings numbers came out, shares fell as much as 34.5 percent.
The Snapchat rush is real and ongoing. Even after the massive flack for My AI, a chatbot powered by ChatGPT released last year, it is still a firm believer in artificial intelligence. This is the way forward, said chief executive officer Evan Spiegel, as his platform continues to develop and release AI features. Now includes building virtual versions of users’ fur babies. Some executives must be thinking about how that data can be used for business purposes.
According to the 2021-2022 APPA National Pet Owners Survey Statistics, more than 70 percent of US households own a pet, and there are more than 7 million Snapchat Plus subscribers, which is a pretty healthy set of data.
Bitmoji for pets may have the makings for big business in a small package, but it’s not the only front Snap is pushing. While ARES is dead, AR lives on for businesses. The newly introduced Sponsored AR Filters for Advertisers offer placements that, according to the company, give brands a way to participate in viral or cultural moments.
“This ad placement occurs after Snapchatters capture their content using the Snapchat Camera, accessible by swiping through the post-capture Filter Carousel,” it explained. “With over 5 billion Snaps created every day, brands can now participate in more shareable moments and truly own the end-to-end Snapchat Camera experience.”
Beyond subscribers and advertisers, the app also has some updates for garden-variety Snapchatters, including easier, template-based clip-editing, a faster way to edit and post content using swipe gestures and longer Stories and Spotlight videos that are three minutes for -app recordings or five minutes for uploads — which is more than enough time to show little Fifi her Louis Vuitton dog collar.
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