Imagine the reach of a YouTube masthead advertisement. Picture the advertisement now appearing directly on a mobile phone user’s lock screen. The user doesn’t need to unlock the device, swipe away any notifications, go to the application launcher, scroll all the way down to Y to locate YouTube, press on it, and then open YouTube to view a brand’s advertisement. Instead, the user only needs to lift their phone to start receiving ads with zero clicks.
That is the sales pitch that Glance, a platform for lock screens, is making to brands. Advertising that is entirely immersive and without friction. In India, Glance boasts 180 million active users and comes pre-installed on smartphones from Xiaomi, POCO, Motorola, Samsung, Oppo, Realme, and Vivo. Glance, a division of the ad-tech company InMobi, achieved unicorn status in December 2020. By the end of this year, it is scheduled to debut in the US and Latin America. Currently, the platform may be found in Indonesia and India.
The company wants to reach a billion users within the next two to three years after the launch in the US and Latin America. It’s interesting to note that in the US, Glance won’t feature adverts on the lock screen. The growth that Glance is aiming for is solely due to the fact that it comes pre-loaded on Android mobile devices. Industry insiders call this a stroke of genius by Glance. This eliminates the need for Glance to invest money on new customers and to work hard to keep users.
IDC AVP and tech analyst Navkendar Singh notes that, like Glance, a number of app developers pre-burn their software into cellphones. Unlike such apps, Glance does not require a call to action from consumers. While some smartphone users might find a lock screen app and one that shows advertising invasive, Singh claims that consumers do not. They think the information is current.
Abhay Singhal, a co-founder, deems Glance a category killer. Glance claims to be on 80% of recently released Android handsets as a result of partnerships with handset producers.
As per brand consultant Abhimanyu Mishra from Brandfizz, all that brand marketers need to keep their products at the forefront of consumers’ minds is a message that is compelling and clear, with no distractions and a wide audience. This useful tool helps brands connect with their target audience and facilitate effective brand marketing, which is essential for completing the jigsaw puzzle of a great customer experience.
