Snap Inc. announced the launch of its Discover platform for Snapchatters in the MENA region. The platform will feature local content in Arabic produced exclusively for Snapchat from leading local media companies that cover news, entertainment, fashion, and lifestyle.
The media companies that will begin publishing daily stories for Discover are Al Arabiya, Al Jazeera, Layalina.com, MBC, Sayidaty, Sky News Arabia, and Zahrat Al Khaleej. Each publisher’s story will be live for Snapchatters beginning at 7:00 am GMT+3, which will be the regular daily publishing time for content. During Ramadan, publishers’ content will publish at 10:00 am GMT+3.
Launching localized content for Snapchatters in MENA is an important step for the company that set up its regional office in Dubai last year. Last month, Snap announced that it has over seven million daily active Snapchatters in KSA and one million daily active Snapchatters in the UAE.
Snap’s first Dubai office is headed by Hussein Freijeh as its manager for the region, and Rami Saad to lead its content efforts, including the launch of Discover. Ahead of Discover’s launch, Snap held workshops with each publisher to offer guidance on producing stories for a mobile-first audience, while ensuring that they stay true to each of their strong editorial perspectives. All media publishers on Discover have editorial independence over their content, and Snap’s team works closely with them to ensure they have the support they need to create content for this new medium. Each publisher’s content features Snap Ads from advertisers, which are vertical, full screen, sound on video ads that play for up to 10 seconds. Brands can give Snapchatters the choice to swipe up to see more, like they do elsewhere on Snapchat, to reveal extended content like a long-form video, app install ad, or mobile website.
Snap first launched Discover in 2015, as a place for Snapchatters to explore Stories and learn more about the world around them, from an expert editorial perspective. As of today, Snap has now launched localized Discover content in five languages, including English, French, German and Norwegian.
The company says in a statement that offering localized and relevant content for Snapchatters around the world is a major priority for Snap. Beginning on May 26, Snap is also planning to launch a number of creative tools for Snapchatters in the MENA that will be available during Ramadan, including special Geofilters in Arabic and English; Ramadan-themed Lenses; and Our Stories covering Ramadan celebrations in different regions. Our Stories are compilations of Snaps, submitted by Snapchatters at events and locations around the world, that provide a community perspective on a topic.
