Marris Adikwu is a culture writer and a keen observer of consumer behaviour. She also writes short stories and reads anything she can get her hands on.

Since Snapchat rolled out its AR-integrated filters, known as Lenses, in 2018, the company has taken more steps each year to bridge the gap between the virtual and physical worlds by improving on technical setbacks and strengthening its AR developer platform. 

 The company’s efforts are paying off, as more than 200 million users – making up 75% of Snapchat’s daily active users – engage with Lenses every day to transform the way they look, augment the world around them, play games, and learn. In the US alone, an estimated 43.7 million people used social media AR filters in 2020. 

 With constant development of AR and VR products, many users are now able to create filters from the comfort of their homes, and Snap reports that over 1 million Lenses were created by Snapchat users in the first quarter of 2020, a remarkable surge from two years ago, when only 100,000 filters were designed. 

Today, AR filters have become more than a mere tool for social media fun, as more and more young people between the ages of 13-24 – who make up roughly 60% of Snapchat users – are using filters to transform their appearance, shuffle through different identities, and gain new experiences that ordinarily may seem inaccessible to them. 

And it’s not just on Snapchat – beauty filters like Butterfly Pretty on Instagram create the effect of physical makeup, and TikTok’s AR brand effect ad allows users to add interactive visual effects from different brands to their videos. Despite the growing concern about their impact on young people’s mindset and body image, it’s impossible to ignore that many young people are using AR filters to create the world they want to be in.

“Creating filters with more interaction between users can certainly build a sense of involvement for many young people, especially during the period of social seclusion brought about by the pandemic,” says Josh Wright, CEO of Cellphone Deal. With the global AR market projected to grow from $6.12 billion in 2021 to $97.76 billion by 2028, brands are increasingly making use of immersive AR technologies to reach a younger audience, and filters are just the starting point. 

 “As cameras and sensors get more precise, it would be worth watching to see where AR tech can go from here,” says Wright.

Experimenting with identity and playful self-expression

Gen Zers value their individual identities and expressing themselves is integral to who they are. They’re also far more open to changes and fluidity, experimenting with different micro-identities in creative ways. As the first true digitally native generation, these traits reflect in their activities online, including the filters they create and use. With software like Spark AR Studio, young people are able to create their own Instagram and Facebook filter effects for free, and without learning to code. In an interview with Teen Vogue, XR developer, Ommy Akhe, who designed the Supercede filter on Instagram, explained that she views AR filters as a form of expression and creativity, and uses them to convey her moods. Ines Alpha, a 3D artist, designs futuristic AR filters that reflect her passion for makeup and science fiction. For Sophie Katirai, creating Instagram beauty filters was a way to cheer people up by making them feel better about themselves during the lockdown.

In the US, 46% of Gen Zers say that self-expression is ‘very important’ to them, and this, in part, is why social media companies are making it increasingly easy for third-party users to come up with variations of filters by themselves. 

, the goal of Lens is to “provide fun and playful creative effects that allow our community to express themselves freely.” Facebook also calls AR effects “a way to make any moment more fun to share.” By their nature, the filters also increase engagement, as people try different angles and poses, and give their unique personal touch to photos. Julia Roga, a developer who creates AR filters for different brands, says that these filters help young people to try out different aesthetics and decide what resonates more with their personality. “Users get to experiment with their look without having to commit to anything, and it helps them identify quicker what kind of style suits them,” she says.

Virtual try-on tools are becoming increasingly popular

Giving people a sense of personal involvement

As AR filters become more popular on social media, 

 to not only engage and entertain their young customers but to also deliver powerful brand messaging, giving them a personal sense of involvement and ownership over their experiences with the brand. In 2020, 

 became the first fast-casual restaurant chain to launch a customized Instagram AR filter, which overlays a banner on users’ selfies that flicks through several options to answer the question, ’What type of Chipotle customer are you?’ This and other digital marketing strategies led to an increase in the company’s revenue by 41.1% to $1.6 billion. 

 cookies were also promoted with an AR filter that allowed fans to enjoy a special dance to the movie soundtrack. 

 In the same way, Google’s Arts & Culture rolled out AR filters that overlay on photos, turning people into famous artworks. This helped introduce people to artworks in a more personal and engaging way. 

“AR filters are great for brands for so many reasons,” says Roga. “People can try on a product and order it online without having to walk into a store, and this way customers can discover what colors fit them without having to actually test out the products.” She says that some filters allow users to try on accessories like earrings, sunglasses, and hats to see how they would look and what size they are, without walking into a store. “It’s also a great tool for movie studios and artists, as they could create immersive effects that put users into an artwork,” she says.

While social media platforms offer a lot of reach for marketing campaigns, not every strategy guarantees a lot of engagement or impact. Research shows that people remember 10% of what they hear, 20% of what they read, and 80% of what they see and do, so graphic content like images, gifs, and videos tends to attract more engagement over textual content. 

 However, because AR filters have an average engagement time of 75 seconds – four times more than video content – they are a great way for brands to give unique experiences to their buyers at a very low production cost. 

Brands can raise awareness of social injustice using AR-integrated campaigns

Accessibility to new ideas, products, and experiences

During the pandemic lockdowns, the use of AR in retail marketing grew significantly, as brand-to-consumer communication was limited. Gucci adopted Snapchat’s AR try-on lens to allow consumers to test how its sneakers look on their feet. 

 With an accompanying ‘shop now’ option, the luxury brand created a strategy to win younger fans over by letting them virtually wear products they may ordinarily be unable to afford. Also, at the height of travel restrictions in April and May 2020, Dubai’s Tourism Department also created AR lenses on Snapchat to let users photograph themselves against landmarks like Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab, giving users the opportunity to explore the city from the comfort of their homes. 

“AR allows you to interact with things you normally might not be able to,” says Wright. “As the technology advances, things like AR-style learning features may also help with remote learning, where instead of simply interacting with a screen, young people can still have a semblance of a classroom setting while being anywhere in the world.”

On a personal level, AR filters are also providing some form of escapism for many young people experiencing real-life challenges. In an article for 

, Caroline Rocha, a makeup artist and photographer, said that Instagram AR filters provided a lifeline and helped cheer her up when she was at a low point in life. “Filters felt like a breakthrough,” she says. “They gave me the chance to travel, to experiment, to try on makeup or a piece of jewelry, and this opened a big window for me.” 

You can try on jewelry, makeup, and even travel with the help of AR filters

 believe that their generation will change the world, and they’re already taking steps to make this belief a reality. Their dissatisfaction with traditional career paths is leading them to build a new future of work from the ground up – one that involves disrupting the formalized approaches to job seeking. With AR filters, Gen Zers are able to virtually build the world they want to see, and simultaneously tackle the social justice issues that currently act as barriers to making this world a possibility. As social media has become a major platform for activism, young people are using filters to make their voices heard. In August 2020, Snapchat commemorated the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington by releasing the ‘Raise Your Voice’ collection, a series of lenses created by Black artists and featuring Black Lives Matter slogans. With social media use at an all-time high, brands can raise awareness and show support for social justice issues by creating impactful AR-integrated campaigns online. 

Allowing people to live experiences that may seem inaccessible

Social media is a key space for performance, and fashion brands are using filters to give Gen Zers access to digital luxury for cheap, or even without having to pay. In 2020, 

 dropped an AR filter on Snapchat to promote the release of its B27 sneakers, enabling people to try on the shoes virtually before they buy. Gucci has also released the Virtual 25, a pair of digital-only trainers that people can try on using AR and wear in photographs for social media. 

 With the rise of Gen-Z subcultures like the 

 (Can’t Afford Real Life Yet), virtual try-ons are becoming a mainstream activity. These young people embrace social sharing to make up for their lack of monetary clout, using content as a form of currency. “There’s a lot of pressure on young people today to be active online,” says Roga. “If one has access to a few of the many tools out there that help people find their place online, there’s no reason to not embrace it.” Brands can widen their reach by making it possible for more young people to try on their products virtually and share with their peers, growing their cultural cachet in the process.

Allowing people to try things without commitment

The beauty industry is also getting in on AR technologies, allowing customers to try on makeup, hairstyles and accessories, to find the perfect match before they make a purchase. In 2020, Maybelline started offering a virtual try-on tool, as well as a foundation shade finder, to help customers find the most suitable shades. 

 Paris-based beauty brand L'Oréal also introduced Signature Faces, a new line of AR filters that users can wear as virtual makeup during video calls on platforms like Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. 

 Approximately 5 billion pounds of retail returns ends up in landfills, and for beauty brands that sell non-reusable products, AR filters can be a great way to get people to buy only items they’re sure of using, thereby reducing returns and leveling up people’s sustainable positioning,; a consideration that matters especially to Gen Zer. 

Josh Wright is the CEO of Cellphone Deal and a consultant who searches for the latest tech built into different gadgets and mobile networks, to help people understand how their devices work.

Julia Roga is a developer and digital marketer who works with several brands to promote their products through AR-based content.

Gen Z (born 1997-2010)

United States

Technology

Tech Crunch

eMarketer

Business of Apps

Statista

Fortune Business Insights

Teen Vogue

PSFK

NCR Corporation

The Mill

9 to 5 Google

Wyzowl

Rubix

Stylus

Skift

MIT Technology Review

Artnet

Dezeen

Futurism

Marketing Dive

Forbes

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