Kathryn Carter, general manager of Snap Inc. in the APAC region, led an insightful and entertaining Q and A session with Gary Vaynerchuk, known to many on social media as GaryVee, at the ADMA Global Forum 2022 last week.
Carter spoke to Mediaweek about the key takeaways from her conversation with the American entrepreneur, how the industry has changed and Snap’s exciting plans for the year ahead.
The discussion centred on essential ingredients for skills and success and how business leaders can get and develop these traits, trends in data and how to stay ahead of the game in the ever-evolving marketing industry.
There were many nuggets of advice and wisdom from the four-time New York Times bestselling author, who joined the conference via video link from his base in New York – shared with attendees.
For Carter, she noted three core elements that resonated with herself, saying: “I’d love to take away and apply to our business and team.”
Carter on stage with Vaynerchuk on screen
“The first one is around recognising the power of creativity and respecting the craft.
“The second one was the notion of hard work. It’s important to be curious, learn, and have the initiative to work hard.
“And then the final piece was what Gary spoke to around kind candour, which I think is such an important philosophy and framework, especially in today’s environment given the challenges facing those within our industry.
“At Snap, one of our core values is being kind, and that notion of kind candour is a powerful one,” she added.
Since joining Snap Inc. in 2016, first, as general manager of Australia and New Zealand before stepping up to the role of general manager APAC in 2020, Carter has seen the industry and technology change at a steady speed in the company’s 11 years.
“From inception, our founders had an extraordinary perspective and created a platform which respected our community’s safety and privacy from the very beginning.
“The notions of privacy and safety by design guide all our decisions, through our products, which we’re developing, or how we interact with our community and our team,” Carter said.
Carter on stage with Vaynerchuk on screen
She also noted that creating an experience that is incredibly private, safe, and positive while empowering their community to express themselves is another important factor.
“Since I’ve joined Snap, from an industry perspective, it’s been encouraging to see conversations around kindness and mental health become more frequent.
“There certainly seems to be a genuine intent to address the challenges which are facing our industry, and I’m very confident around everyone’s conviction to make a difference and make sure that we’re supporting our industry and teams,” she said.
Vaynerchuk also noted Snapchat’s integration of AR (augmented reality) in the shopping and retail space during the session.
Carter told Mediaweek the impact of AR – particularly in the shopping and retail space – was brought to the forefront amid the events of the past three years.
She said that brands have a scalable audience to try on their product and purchase it within the same experience from the comfort of their home, which Carter added was incredibly powerful.
“More and more, we’re seeing brands in the E-commerce and beauty, and more broadly the CPG (consumer packaged goods) space adopt AR as a very powerful part of their overall marketing strategy,” Carter said.
The general manager of APAC said that AR technology has undoubtedly come a long way from being considered a novelty to now a necessity for brands.
“If you want to engage with a 13 to 34-year-old consumer, you must consider AR as part of your communication strategy,” she said, noting that 75% of consumers will consume and interact with AR in the next few years.
“It’s a sizable opportunity for brands to drive business results. We’re certainly continuing to invest in our AR platform to make the experience faster and easier for brands to unlock daily,” she added.
Looking to the year ahead, Carter noted that Snap is focused on driving the ambition they have for their community and creating the fastest way for them to “interact with their close friends in a safe, private and positive way.”
She also noted that Snap Inc. is in an exciting development phase from an Australian perspective.
“The momentum we have behind our business, both from a commercial and a community point of view, is astounding. There are more people engaging with Snap today than there ever have been,” she shared.
Carter noted that app users are spending more time on the platform, using it in richer ways, consuming quality content, communicating and playing games with close friends, unlocking real-time experiences through Snap maps and learning about the world around them.
“This is incredibly exciting, and we’re strengthening our team in the local market and continuing to make sure that we are attracting, retaining, and engaging with a really fantastic team,” Carter added.