Question of the day: Do you think that mobile phone is purely an electronic device for you to call or message others?
I would say one of the successful branded application will be WeChat (微信), below is a logo of the application if you are not aware what am I referring to.
Some background information on WeChat:
Owned by Tecent Holding Ltd, a Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company, specialise in various internet-related services and product (i.e. WeChat), entertainment, artificial intelligence and technology globally.
In Singapore, you might not encounter a lot of people to message you through WeChat, but fun fact: WeChat is more than just a communication application in China!
You will hardly see anyone making payment with cash in China. All they need is to link their card or bank to WeChat Pay, and they are free to go anyway with just their phone. Sounds good right, you can simply leave the house empty handed (just bring along your phone and make sure you have internet connection) for anything.
Source: WeChat
Nowadays, mobile phone and all-in-one applications are an inseparable item of consumers. Why are we not leveraging on mobile marketing to reach out to your potential clients and buildup your brand awareness.
As such, WeChat made some strategic moves which includes:
- Official Account with Quality Content (i.e. fun and interactive content such as video or audio)
- Loyalty Programs
- VIP card – to establish a long term relationship with consumers
- Promotion code – to make online purchases through WeChat store
- e-coupons – to exchange in physical stores
- In-built Website
If you are interested know more on leveraging on WeChat to market you business, do check up this article by Neal Schaffer.
“Businesses and marketers don’t need a mobile marketing strategy. Rather, their strategy needs mobile.”
Becker (2016)
Research has shown that consumers capture most of the information and advertisement via their mobile phone.
Even when watching television, viewers will pay attention to their mobile phone for more than half of the time.
- People ages 18–24 looked at their smartphones 60 percent of the time
- People ages 45 and over looked at their smartphones 41 percent of the time
Source: Make A Website Hub
Are you still looking at traditional media? It is time to invest in your mobile marketing!
Will you foresee a similar application to compete against WeChat? Do share with me your opinions in the comments box down below!
WEEKLY CHO-CHO-TRAIN 
Recently I have encountered this application call Google Pay, it does serve similar function as WeChat Pay. All you have to do is to add your debit or credit card and you will be able to convert your phone into a e-wallet to make any payment. Most merchants in Singapore accept e-payment, but there are still a good amount of merchants that does not accept e-payment. Hence causing Singaporean to always ensure that they still have a few dollar notes in their wallet.
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Thanks for sharing! I have also seen their advertisement recently, it would think that it is a pretty good move made by Google with the attempt to take over the Singapore market especially with the recent withdraw of Wirecard from the local market.
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I do agree that WeChat is a giant payment in China but maybe as much in Singapore. This is mainly due to the lack of local user in Singapore. Marketer may actually want to explore other application in Singapore instead. However, I do agree that WeChat did a very smart move by incorporating marketing opportunity into the platform, bring in a huge sum of revenue from advertisement.
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Yes! This is a new demand that is needed in Singapore, relevant companies should invest on it so that we, marketer can benefit from it in Singapore as well.
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