Millward Brown partnered with Snapchat the Messaging App to understand the brand impact of advertisements for brands in the Brand Story and Our Story formats that are currently available in the disappearing photos and videos formats. The results for the early advertisements placed by six advertisers are promising with lift in  ad awareness and brand favorability metrics with an increase in purchase intent.

Brand Story comprised of up to 20 seconds of an advertisers’ photo and video content and delivered alongside Snapchat’s organic Story product. Since November, advertisers have also begun to sponsor Snapchat Our Stories, collections of user-submitted photos and video that form a multi-perspective window into geo-centric events. The format provides a contextual advertising format where brands can sponsor a part of the conversation within a context. Its stories can draw tens of millions of viewers a day, according to advertisers who said they heard the stats from Snapchat’s team. The app has topped 100 million monthly users.

According to Millward Brown, “Initial advertisements using the Brand Story format include campaigns for time-sensitive events such as opening weekends for NBC Universal’s films “Ouija” and “Dumb and Dumber To,” and the latest release of the Electronic Art’s “Dragon Age” video game series. Our Story sponsorships to date have included Samsung interwoven into the American Music Awards, Macy’s featured in their annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, and Black Friday marketing from Amazon and Hollister”.

More than 60 percent of ‘Our Stories’ and 44 percent of ‘Brand Stories’ viewers enjoyed the ads that they were exposed to. The Ad like-ability or audience who enjoyed the ad is better than three times the average rate ; according to Millward Brown’s 2014 AdReaction study, only 17 percent of US consumers find ads on their smartphone device very or somewhat favorable.

On average the brand advertisers saw a 16 percent lift in ad awareness making it amongst the top quartile of the ad campaigns on mobile according to Millward Brown Digital’s mobile MarketNorms, a database consisting of more than 550 mobile marketing campaigns.

Ad exposure for viewers of the Dragon Age video game Brand Story were 7 percent more likely to buy the game, exhibiting purchase intent in the top quarter of similar mobile campaigns. Millward Brown Digital also measured the impact of NBCUniversal’s Ouija and Dumb and Dumber To Brand Stories, drove a 13 percent increase in turnout among those exposed.