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Comment by lev99 | Hacker News Reader

Snap users and advertisers have responded very positively to the clear division between user generated content and advertising. If you are not a Snap user, or if you haven't used it in awhile, I encourage you to check it out.

Snap advertisers are mostly lifestyle brands that want to engage with their users in a new way. Tacobell isn't advertising on Snap, but Popular Mechanics is. When a user clicks on Popular Mechanics they have confidence it's because a user wants to engage with them, and Popular Mechanics hopes this closer relationship has benefits outside of the Snapchat app. A user choosing to give you their attention is a _very_ valuable thing. Most other social media advertisements are missing this part.

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Why would I want to "engage" with "lifestyle brands"? Am I missing something here? What does that even mean?

>What does that even mean?

My guess is it's just another way of saying people like consuming media from companies that are relevant to their interests.

I personally find Snap's advertising to be nice. It's nice to have it separate from what my friends upload like what others have said. I've also found that what Snap puts out is way more enjoyable to look at than Facebook's advertisements.

Take sports for example. I'm a huge NFL, NBA, and MLB fan. Facebook's sports-oriented ads are usually limited to the game score which I don't need to look at because the game is already on my TV. Snap, on the other hand, puts up a nice collection of Snapchat videos from other people. I can get a pre-game locker room video from the players and I can get a fan's view of the game-winning touchdown in the same collection. Both are things you wouldn't see on a typical game broadcast. I'm fully aware that both are advertisements, but one is significantly more relevant and more enjoyable for me to consume than the other.

Engaging means to give them attention, and assumes a level of active participation. In this case engaging means clicking, watching, swiping, and sharing.

Lifestyle brands are a type of business as varied as Wired Magazine to Rayban Sunglasses. They aren't selling a product, but a "lifestyle" or a feeling. Some people legitimately feel differently when drinking Pepsi verses Coca-Cola.

If you see a popular guy wearing Gucci it can increase the value you give that brand. Gucci has a markup because of this "lifestyle" effect.

Edit: Lifestyle brand literally has a Wikipedia article on it, if you want to know more.

You're not the target demo.

> Why would I want to "engage" with "lifestyle brands"? What does that even mean?

Telling "Apple" that you despise them for batterygate. Or tell them how much you really like the new touchbar. Stuff like that is "engage" with "brands."

I'm not a Snap user, so I'm not really sure what I would do. Send them a snap of my middle finger?

I'm definitely not anyones target demographic, but I do find some satisfaction engaging with Totino's Pizza Rolls.

Depends on what kind of content the lifestyle brand wants to pitch me.

I like weight lifting as a sport. I once saw a video from a popular fitness band that had a ton of advice on proper form and approach before a competition.

I got a lot of value from that and would happily give my time and money to a brand that does the same for other things I enjoy

Just wondering why you say Tacobell isnt advertising on Snap? They were part of a very publicized campaign a couple years ago [1], are you saying they've stopped?

[1] https://www.marketingdive.com/news/taco-bells-cinco-de-mayo-...

I meant it as an example of most people advertising of Snapchat don't sell things but are lifestyle brands.

I should not have used that example.

Taco Bell is a lifestyle.

Think outside the bun for a change.

Can you tell me how you get to see stuff from Popular Mechanics there? Whenever I inadvertently swipe over to the commercial section, it just shows me a bunch of useless plastic celebrities, often in little clothing.

How do you get Popular Mechanics on the Publishers tab? I only see Kylie Jenner.

I opened my snap app and I saw it. Maybe it knows too much about me.

Search for it? Also you can "tell the algorithm" that you want to see less Kylie Jenner (I did that, and I've started to enjoy the kind of content that's been popping up).

This is what makes me lose hope for the web. I see the same celebrity tripe and clickbait on Snapchat, and while annoying, I'm not going to spend my limited time on earth teaching an app my preferences so it can suck up more of my time with brands that want to "engage" with me in new ways. I go there to engage with my human friends, and honestly I'd pay a couple bucks a month to get Snapchat without the brands taking up my screen.

I don't really feel the same way, one of the primary things I use social media for is for the sake of news aggregation, things like NYTimes, WaPo, ect.

> Snap advertisers are mostly lifestyle brands that want to engage with their users in a new way.

Do you have any sources to back up this claim?

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