Business Extra: How does Snapchat keep the GCC so engaged?

Snapchat long stood out among other social media platforms for introducing interactive user experiences such as filters and augmented reality features.

But today, with TikTok on the scene and Meta, Instagram and YouTube introducing products for creating content, the social media scene has evolved, technology has changed and audiences are different.

General manager, Middle East and North Africa at Snap Inc., Hussein Freijeh, joins Business Extra host Kelsey Warner this week to talk about how the platform has maintained its loyal audience in the Gulf, which is one of the most engaged regions in the world for the platform.

In Saudi Arabia, 90 per cent of 13 to 34 year olds and 71 per cent of parents use Snapchat, and in the UAE, one in three 18 to 34 year olds is an active user.

Freijeh explains how Snapchat focused on the localisation of its business in the region by engaging families and friends who he said use the app’s features as a tool to nourish their relationships creatively.

Pioneering augmented reality, Freijeh also talked about the ways AI meets AR, how Snapchat is keeping up with the current fierce competition in technology and why the platform doesn’t pursue growth at all costs.

Freijeh joined Snap Inc. in 2016 and was previously managing director for Yahoo Middle East, Africa and Turkey, after he led advertising at Maktoob, which Yahoo acquired in 2009.