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Sweet channel launches on Snapchat Discover

Director Ramy Romani watches the screen as the crew gets ready to shoot at the studios of Tastemade, a Snapchat Discover member.

Director Ramy Romani watches the screen as the crew gets ready to shoot at the studios of Tastemade, a Snapchat Discover member.

(Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
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Snapchat on Monday for the first time added an unestablished media brand to its Discover collection of channels.

CNN, Buzzfeed, Vice, Tastemade and a dozen others are on Discover. Now, Sweet gets its chance.

Sweet features articles and videos about a new handbag line, bath salts, furniture, design and music. Video ads for L’Oreal makeup are interspersed.

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Snapchat and Sweet are coy about Sweet’s origins. Women’s Wear Daily reported last week that Sweet is a creation of Hearst Corp.

On Tuesday, Hearst executives offered more details in prepared statements and said that the “completely new brand” was being run by Luke Crisell.

“Every day, Sweet unearths the best things in culture, experience and stuff,” said Troy Young, president of Hearst Magazines Digital Media. “It’s global in purview, it’s optimistic, it’s super discriminating and, uniquely, transcends gender.”

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Hearst also owns magazines such as Esquire, newspapers and TV stations. Hearst’s Cosmopolitan magazine already has a Discover channel.

On Discover, Sweet told users they should follow WeAreSweet on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram as well, suggesting the brand is likely to exist through social media initially.

Though individuals on Snapchat have come out of nowhere to establish big fan bases, Sweet presents the first largely visible test of Snapchat’s ability to kickstart a company. Some Discover channels have drawn millions of viewers a day.

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Chat with me on Twitter @peard33

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