BeReal launches ads in the US

French social media app BeReal today launched a broad-based advertising platform in the U.S., nearly three years after it first captured the hearts and minds of Gen Zers and attracted advertiser attention in the process. BeReal—known for its encouragement of spontaneous posts of unrefined front and back-facing pictures—is less hyped than it once was. But it has gained some momentum with advertisers. It is already running native ads in some markets such as the U.K., to the chagrin of some users, and shared that it has run campaigns for more than 200 advertisers, including Nike, Netflix, Amazon and Levi’s. The app first began testing ads in the U.S. with brands mainly in the beauty, fashion and gaming industries in its third quarter last year. Now, it is opening up availability with a dedicated commercial team to support brands, agencies and other partners. Ads look similar to users’ posts, with a front-facing picture taking up most of the ad and a smaller, back-facing picture overlaid in the upper-left corner. Brands can run targeted ads in user feeds or purchase a takeover for one full day. One Levi’s campaign got five times more engagement on BeReal compared to other social networks, according to the app. BeReal purports to have more than 40 million monthly users globally, including 5 million in the U.S. More than half of its users are active six days per week and 70% post daily, it stated, adding that 85% of users are Gen Z. To support its growth in the U.S., BeReal has hired Ben Moore as managing director in the region. Moore, who starts with the company next week, comes from TikTok, where he led global media buying partnerships for almost four years until October. “We’re excited to roll out native BeReal ads more broadly in the U.S.,” Moore said via email. “We’ve always had a highly engaged Gen Z audience here, and we’ve taken our time to ensure we introduce advertising in a way that feels authentic … With so much uncertainty across the social media landscape, brands, agencies, and more partners are looking for a trusted alternative. BeReal is ready.” BeReal has taken other steps to ingratiate brands onto the platform and prepare users for their presence. In February 2024, it released “RealBrands,” which allowed brands to have unlimited friends and up to 10 account managers simultaneously logged in, addressing issues social teams often encountered during their initial experiments with the platform back in 2022. RealBrands accounts were still required to take an unedited dual-camera photo at a random time each day, like any other user, however, which continued to challenge social marketers. Adidas, Glossier, Gymshark, Liquid Death, MAC Cosmetics and Reebok were among the first brands BeReal invited to the platform after BeReal opened applications for RealBrands accounts. Sports teams and universities also joined the rollout. Join Ad Age for the Data-Driven Marketing Playbook on May 22

BeReal launches ads in the US

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