Snap Inc., the maker of the Snapchat app, has hired two former employees of Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. as part of a drive to expand its advertising business. Patrick Harris will become Snap's senior vice president of partnerships, the company said in a statement Monday. This is a new role to drive personalized use of company's technology, like its recent work with concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment Inc. to bring augmented reality technology to music festivals.

Harris will be based in New York and will report to Chief Operating Officer Jerry Hunter. The company has also brought on David Sommer, who most recently served as chief commercial officer at Fetch, a shopping rewards technology company, after 11 years at Meta. He'll be Snap's head of verticals, and will be responsible for working more closely with consumer packaged goods companies to use the tools Snap has to offer.

Santa Monica, California-based Snap has been trying to jump-start its advertising business after a slowdown in marketer spending and changes to Apple Inc.'s privacy policies made digital ads less effective. The company, which reported its first-ever decline in quarterly revenue last month, has also turned to additional revenue opportunities, like selling augmented reality software for retailers to use on their own websites.