Julie Caironi, head of marketing, MENA – Snap Inc/Image: Supplied
The digital advertising industry has spent the last decade perfecting the feed. We made it infinite, optimised it, personalised it, layered it with targeting and measurement, and trained entire creative cultures around getting people to stop scrolling for just one second more.
But people today are communicating differently than the formats we’ve built for them. They’re moving into more private, personal spaces, places where conversations happen, not broadcasts. Anyone working in marketing today can see the shift clearly, attention isn’t disappearing, it’s becoming more selective. Consumers want relevance, but they want it on their own terms.
On Snapchat, we’ve seen this play out most strongly in chat. It’s where people make plans, share recommendations, send jokes, talk through decisions, and stay close to the people who matter. In Q1 alone, our community exchanged 880 billion chats, a volume that reflects something deeper than usage. It reflects behaviour. It’s a reminder that culture doesn’t form in the loudest places, but in the most personal ones.
This is where the industry has a gap. For all the innovation in digital advertising, very little has been designed for the spaces where people actually communicate. We’ve spent years optimising for public consumption, while private conversation, arguably the most influential space in a person’s decision-making, has remained untouched.
That’s why Sponsored Snaps represent more than a new product. They signal a broader shift, a move away from attention-seeking formats toward communication-led formats. Instead of inserting brands into a feed, this approach considers how people actually talk, share, and engage in the real world. The creative is short, expressive, full-screen. The tone feels conversational rather than declarative. And the interaction is entirely optional, people can watch, ignore, or reply like they would with any message from a friend.
What’s interesting is how naturally people respond when advertising adopts the language of communication rather than the language of broadcasting. We’ve seen this in the behavioural patterns emerging from early experiments, people describe these conversational formats as relevant to how they already use the platform, with a significant majority saying they fit seamlessly into their day-to-day habits. And when an ad feels like it belongs in the environment, rather than interrupting it, its impact shifts. Campaigns rooted in conversational design have shown stronger lifts in key brand metrics and even more efficient paths to purchase, not because they push harder, but because they feel more aligned with how people naturally engage. It’s a reminder that effectiveness often comes from respecting the context, not overpowering it.
This becomes especially important as we approach Ramadan, a moment where attention becomes even more selective, behaviours become more intentional, and real, personal conversations drive decisions. Brands planning for Ramadan will need to think less about broadcasting and more about the value of the spaces where people actually talk to one another, coordinate gatherings, plan purchase and exchange recommendations.
And this is the real inflection point for the industry. We are entering a phase where the format matters less than the behaviour it mirrors. Young audiences, especially in MENA, gravitate toward experiences that feel grounded in real social dynamics, quick exchanges, inside jokes, ephemeral moments, and visually driven communication. When brands participate in that world thoughtfully, they don’t disrupt the experience, they become part of it.
The shift from feeds to chats is not about abandoning reach or scale. It’s about recognising that influence is increasingly built in spaces that feel personal, trusted, and culturally alive. It challenges brands to rethink not just where they show up, but how they show up. Less as broadcasters, more as participants.
Ultimately, the question for marketers becomes whether their brand can show up naturally in conversation. Because the next wave of advertising won’t be defined by who can dominate a feed, it will be defined by who can earn their place in the moments where real decisions are made.
