- Promoted Places enables brands to feature sponsored locations on the Snap Map, turning digital discovery into measurable in-store visits
- Debuted in Saudi Arabia with leading brands including Almarai and Starbucks, activating Promoted Places as part of large-scale Ramadan campaigns
Dubai, UAE – 6 May 2026: Snap Inc. announced the launch of Promoted Places, a new advertising solution that brings sponsored locations directly to the Snapchat Map, enabling brands to drive measurable in-store visits at scale.
With more than 400 million Snapchatters using the Snap Map each month, and users in the GCC opening the app more than 45 times per day on average, Promoted Places allows advertisers to show up during high-intent discovery moments, when people are actively exploring where to go and what to experience next. Unlike traditional navigation-first maps, Snap Map is built for social discovery, helping users see where friends are and explore places that feel relevant and meaningful.
Through Promoted Places, retailers, shops and quick-service restaurants can feature their physical locations as sponsored pins with enhanced visibility, including optional custom 3D animations. When tapped, users are directed to a dedicated Place Profile labeled “Sponsored,” where advertisers can showcase a Snap Ad, link their Business Profile so Spotlight and Stories appear in the carousel, include a custom Map Effect, and allow users to save the location for later.
Advertisers receive core performance metrics, including Promoted Place Impressions, Place Opens, and aggregated Promoted Place Actions, providing clear visibility into engagement and intent. The new Place Partnerships model further expands access, enabling brands without retail footprints to collaborate with partners that operate 200+ locations.
“Across the GCC, discovery is deeply social and often translates quickly into real-world action,” said Hussein Freijeh, Vice President of MENA & APAC at Snap Inc. “Promoted Places allows brands to show up at the moment intent forms, turning digital engagement on the Snap Map into measurable, in-store impact. It’s a powerful example of how we’re building solutions that reflect how our community explores, connects, and experiences the world around them.”
What This Means for Brands
Promoted Places represents a shift from passive digital awareness to actionable, location-based engagement. For brands that prioritize in-store traffic as a KPI, it offers a full-funnel, always-on solution that bridges online discovery and offline conversion. By combining Map visibility, immersive creative, Snap Ads, and organic amplification through Public Profiles, brands can create integrated ecosystems that drive awareness, consideration, and physical visits, all within a platform built around authentic connection.
Early Momentum in Saudi Arabia
The launch in the region is already demonstrating strong momentum, with leading regional and global brands activating the format in Saudi Arabia during Ramadan.
Almarai: Pioneering Promoted Places and AR with Harat ALYOUM
Almarai redefined how brands show up during cultural moments with its Ramadan campaign “Harat ALYOUM,” transforming Snap Map into a gateway to a fictional neighborhood rooted in togetherness, generosity, and belonging. By activating Promoted Places across high-traffic destinations and key waterfront destinations in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Khobar, the brand bridged physical environments with digital discovery in a way that felt both culturally authentic and deeply immersive.
In a first-of-its-kind global execution, Almarai became among the first brands to connect Promoted Places with a dedicated AR Lens, seamlessly transitioning Snapchatters from map-based discovery into an interactive Harat ALYOUM experience.
Through a custom 3D neighborhood presence, immersive AR storytelling, and a weekly episodic content series, the campaign demonstrated how location, creativity, and platform-native behavior can come together to create a unified, culturally resonant experience on Snap Map.
Starbucks: A Multi-Layered Activation
In Saudi Arabia, Starbucks, operated by Alshaya Group, launched Promoted Places as part of its Ramadan campaign, spotlighting its limited-edition Ramadan Cup and Cardamom Latte.
More than 350 Starbucks locations across the Kingdom were activated on the Snap Map, helping drive awareness and consideration by making nearby stores instantly discoverable to users. Snapchatters exploring nearby areas were greeted with a custom 3D rotating cup and coffee bean rainfall effect, designed to capture attention and drive store discovery.
The activation extended beyond the Map. Creators amplified the experience through HaloAI’s user-generated content, guiding audiences on how to locate their nearest store using the Map. A celebratory Ramadan-themed AR Lens further deepened engagement, featuring the new cup design and personalized name stickers.
The campaign showcased how Promoted Places can drive awareness and consideration by connecting immersive digital storytelling across Snapchat’s different tabs with real-world retail discovery, encouraging Snapchatters to explore nearby locations and engage with the brand offline.
Masar Makkah: Driving Discovery Around a Landmark Destination
In Saudi Arabia, Masar Destination activated Promoted Places as part of its “Welcome to the Heart of Makkah” campaign, spotlighting the flagship residential and hospitality destination on the Snap Map.
The activation made Masar discoverable to Snapchatters exploring nearby areas, allowing the brand to surface prominently during high-intent discovery moments on the Map and drive awareness of the development among visitors and residents alike.
The campaign extended beyond the Map through a fully integrated media approach across Snapchat, including First Lens, First Snap, and a comprehensive reach and frequency strategy appearing across multiple Snapchat tabs. Together, these formats created a cohesive journey that connected immersive digital storytelling with real-world destination discovery.
The campaign demonstrated how Promoted Places can help landmark destinations drive awareness and encourage real-world exploration by meeting audiences at the moment they are deciding where to go.
A New Chapter for Location-Based Advertising
As brands across MENA look for more measurable ways to connect digital engagement with real-world impact, Promoted Places introduces a solution built around how people already explore and experience their surroundings.
By embedding sponsored destinations directly within a socially driven Map environment, Snap is enabling advertisers to move from awareness to action, turning discovery into visits, and moments into measurable results.
