Snap back to reality...

Good morning! That’s money, Honey… Sales of [Honey Deuce]( cocktails will exceed $10 million at the US Open, where picking up a singles title nets you a comparatively meager $3.6 million. Today we’re exploring: - Ad friends: Snap experiments with chats to try and turn a profit. - Late starts: Flexible working has transformed the typical 9-to-5. Have feedback for us? Just hit reply - we'd love to hear from you! TOGETHER WITH [Sponsor Logo](   Snap back to reality… Yesterday, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel marked the company’s 13th anniversary with a [letter]( to employees that cut straight to the chase: Snap is struggling. The Snapchat founder addressed the company’s ongoing challenges and its share price, which has shed 45% of its value this year. After bursting onto the public markets in 2017, Snap, Inc. promised investors exposure to what could be the next Facebook (now Meta), a company that’s currently valued at $1.3 trillion… some ~88x what Snap is worth. Snap, like Meta, relies on advertising for the overwhelming majority of its business, some 96% of its $4.6 billion in revenue was from ads last year, a figure that barely grew relative to 2022 — not ideal for a company that is still running at a heavy loss. Ads with friends In a bid to grow its sales, Spiegel outlined two new experiments to get more ads in more places across the app. One change is the introduction of "Sponsored Snaps", which will now appear in the [previously ad-free]( chat inbox. While opening these sponsored messages is optional, the move signals that no part of the Snapchat experience is off-limits when it comes to monetization. Additionally, Snap is rolling out "Promoted Places", allowing businesses to pay for greater prominence on the Snap Map — a feature people use to see what their friends are up to and keep track of their favorite spots. When those ad dollars do roll in, they quickly get spent, as Snap continues to invest heavily in other projects such as the company's mini camera drones, [Pixy](, and AR glasses called Spectacles — a product the company has been developing for roughly a decade. The good news for Snap is that its user numbers have continued to climb… although only really outside of North America recently. The app now boasts 432 million daily active users — more than double what it was five years ago. Although impressive, much of this growth has come from outside of its most lucrative markets — the average revenue per user in the US was $7.67 in the latest quarter, more than seven times the $1.02 generated by users in its “Rest of World” region. This disparity highlights one of Snap's ongoing challenges: how to turn its growing international audience into a more profitable one. More ads might help. Founder mode In his letter Spiegel goes on to compare Snapchat's product strategy to the menu of fast-food chain In-N-Out Burger — with Snapping, chatting, and watching Stories apparently akin to the fast-food joint's hamburger, cheeseburger, and Double-Double. We’re not quite sure what to make of that analogy. [Read this on the web instead](   [Sponsored by Attention]( Get to the core of customer conversations. If only I’d said that… The right words don’t always come at the right moment. Sales reps know the feeling better than anyone — but [Attention’s AI-native sales platform]( turns 20/20 hindsight into 20/20 vision for getting deals closed. Make the right call… Attention’s AI records and analyzes sales conversations across all touchpoints to teach you how your deals are won. [Then, it powers productivity](: ⏳ Automated workflows: Attention can automate routine tasks after calls conclude, such as updating your CRM, sending churn risk alerts, or sending a Slack message when a competitor is mentioned. 💡 Real-time intelligence: Deliver data-backed sales messaging and tips to reps while they’re on calls. 📩 Customized follow-ups: In 60 seconds, generate a follow-up email tailored to call content and customer voice. [Get through to your leads, with the leading AI-native sales intelligence platform]( [Get through to your leads, with the leading AI-native sales intelligence platform](   Some Americans are now tumbling out of bed and stumbling into work a little later than before, as 9-to-5 hours have been transformed by flexible working arrangements. Indeed, the number of hourly trips taken by drivers in the US on an average weekday no longer follows the sharply defined spikes in traffic previously seen in the early morning and evening. Rather, they’ve flattened out dramatically, according to the 2023 Global Traffic Scorecard from [INRIX](, suggesting that working 10-to-4 — at least in the office — is increasingly normal. With flexibility becoming more common in major cities, some of the typical “rush hour” traffic has shifted into the middle of the day, with trip counts for the entire AM and PM periods both declining 12% and 9%, respectively, from 2019. Instead, there is now a “midday rush hour”, established by the growing trend of workers coming into the office only if necessary (or, “coffee badging”, per [CNBC](). The report found that car trips taken around noon rose a massive 23% from 2019 to 72 million — about the same as the whole evening commuting period, generally the most congested interval of the day. The study also revealed that congestion cost the US more than $70 billion in 2023, and estimated that New York drivers were the most affected by traffic — losing 101 hours to delays last year. Note: AM period is defined as 6am - 10am. Midday is 10am - 3pm. PM period is 3pm - 6pm. [Read this on the web instead](   More Data - DirecTV is handing out $20 refunds after subscribers lost access to ESPN, ABC, and other Disney-owned channels, as the distributor hashes out [a new deal]( with the House of Mouse. - Phoenix, Arizona hit 100 consecutive days of 100° temperatures on Tuesday, in a record-breaking [hot streak]( that shows few signs of stopping. - A lot of life-sciences properties are sitting empty, with office vacancies [hitting 24% in the sector](. - With this year’s sky-high [tourism figures](, it's expected that $1 out of every $10 spent globally in 2024 will be on travel, according to a new report from the [World Travel and Tourism Council](. Hold the phone: this [AI-powered platform]( analyzes your sales calls to show you where you’re winning leads (...and where you’re losing them). It’s called Attention, and it’s the leading AI-native sales platform pulling insights that earn an extra $250k in ARR per rep. [Take a tour of Attention here](. Ad   Hi-Viz - Game, tech, match: A neon-heavy deep dive on the [future of tennis](. Off the charts: The latest devices from which camera company are being described as the brand’s “[biggest shake up in years](”? [Answer below]. [Answer here.](   Thanks for stopping by! Have some [feedback](mailto:daily@chartr.co?subject=Feedback&body=Hi, I like the newsletters, but I had a thought for you...) or want to [sponsor this newsletter](mailto:advertising@sherwoodmedia.com?subject=I’m interested in advertising with Sherwood Media)?   Not a subscriber? Sign up for free below. 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