EXCLUSIVE: Snapchat Developing "Stories Everywhere” to Push Content Outside the App and Grow Users
Snapchat is developing a new product called “Stories Everywhere” with a goal of making Snapchat Stories available outside the app for the first time and kick-starting the app’s stagnant user growth, Cheddar has learned from a person familiar with the matter.
To lead the effort, Snapchat’s parent company, Snap Inc., has hired Rahul Chopra, the former Senior Vice President and Global Head of Video at News Corp, who recently was CEO of the media conglomerate’s social data agency Storyful.
While Stories Everywhere is still in the early stages of development, Chopra has the important task of figuring out how to finally distribute the app’s wealth of user-generated content on the web and elsewhere. The project could mean that Snapchat makes it easier to share videos on other platforms through a web player that also prompts people to sign up and download the app, the person familiar with the matter told Cheddar.
The move echoes Twitter’s 2011 decision to allow content publishers to embed tweets in articles and blog posts.
Snap has also contemplated allowing other apps to access its feeds of user-generated videos, which are curated by algorithms and Snap employees, for everything from breaking news events to sports games. Opening up its content to other apps could potentially give Snap a way to make money off content licensing at a time when the young company is under pressure from investors to grow revenue.
Additionally, Snap has restructured its expanding content division and added more key roles under the leadership of VP Nick Bell:
* Mike Su, the former Chief Product Officer at Latino-focused digital publisher Mitú, now oversees all of Snap’s content-related product development, including tools for media partners. “This will allow him to oversee the product changes needed to help our partners build sustainable businesses on Snapchat,” Bell said in an internal memo seen by Cheddar and sent to Snap employees last week.
* Snap’s Michael DiBenedetto will now lead the content team’s strategy and operations. In his memo to employees, Bell called the newly-created position “an extremely important role as we look to drive operational efficiency and deliver on our 2018 plan.”
* Former NowThis president Sean Mills will continue to oversee Snap’s original content efforts, including its rapidly growing list of exclusive shows from the likes of NBC and ESPN. In addition, Mills now oversees all programming for the redesigned Snapchat app’s Discover feed of video content, which is being slowly made available to users.
* Longtime Snap employee Josh Stone now leads all media company relations. Stone joined Snap in 2013 and helped lead the company’s initial rollout of the Discover page in 2015. He reports to Ben Schwerin, Snap’s VP of Partnerships.
In a separate memo sent to Snap employees and reviewed by Cheddar, Bell outlined his content team’s goals for 2018. They include: increase the overall output of content in the redesigned Discover feed, widen content distribution, and double-down on news. Snapchat’s previously announced redesign, which includes the new Discover feed of professional and user-generated videos, is still only active for a small percentage of users.
A Snap spokesperson declined to comment for this story.
U.S. stocks closed Tuesday's session near session highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 350 points, after rising more than 400 points at its session high. Shares were also impacted positively by optimism around peace talks in Ukraine. Nancy Prial, Co-Chief Executive Officer & Senior Portfolio Manager of Essex Investment Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Food, paper, and plastic are known to be major factors when it comes to America's trash; but furniture is high on that list, as well. According to the EPA, furniture makes up twelve million tons of waste in landfills every year. It's a problem that one online furniture store is trying to solve. Alpay Koralturk, Founder & CEO of Kaiyo, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Sylvia Jablonski, CIO at Defiance ETFs, breaks down the factors leading to the market's strong start to the week and discusses what investors should be focusing on when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and inflation.
Bitcoin surged to its highest level on Monday since January 2nd. The gains also come after a late Sunday rally for the cryptocurrency, when it surpassed the key price of $45,000, and also turned positive for 2022. Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Asset Fund, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what is behind the recent rallies for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Founder and CEO of Capital Postal & Mail Box Service, Takisha Clark, joined Cheddar News to talk about being the first black woman to own a postal franchise, the obstacles she faced when launching her business, and how she overcame them. “I ran into just dealing with lack of resources, dealing with just being a black woman, just trying to become this entrepreneur and be inspiring to others, so it's been a journey," she said. "It's been hard, and I've just been maneuvering through the cracks."
Cross-border payments are big business, and crypto companies want in on the action, which means challenging established remittance services such as Western Union and MoneyGram.
Fast food chain Arby's is collaborating with rapper Pusha T to market the restaurant's new Spicy Fish Sandwich with a diss track aimed at rival McDonald's Filet-O-Fish — an insult to injury considering Pusha T also wrote the "I'm Lovin' It Jingle" for the Golden Arches. Arby's Chief Marketing Officer and President Patrick Schwing joined Cheddar News to discuss the new song and the new sandwich. "We figured out what is the ultimate expression of confidence and that's a diss track," he said. "You've got to really believe in yourself and your product, and when we realize that there's no better person to partner with than Pusha."
Actress, model, author, and entrepreneur Brooke Shields has joined organic CBD company Prospect Farms as its chief brand officer. She joined CEO Brad Tipper to talk to Cheddar News about her coming aboard. Shield’s explained how her involvement with Prospect Farms stemmed from a discussion about her lack of sleep. “I started learning about the positive effects and the different ways that CBD can be introduced to a person's life, and I was just sort of fascinated because it all feels so new to me," she said.
Andrew Chanin, CEO of investment management firm ProcureAM, joined Cheddar to break down the many industries in the space economy and discuss what trends are driving the most growth. "Right now there's been so much media focus on space tourism. Why? Because last year it really debuted itself to the world," he said. "However it's less than 1 percent of the overall space economy, and there are many other parts of space which are actually driving this area."
