Mention mobile social messaging service WeChat to any South African, and they'll probably say, 'Oh, that's the thing with Messi, isn't it?', referring to Argentine football player Lionel Messi appearing in TV ads for the service. But far from being a Whatsapp also-ran, WeChat is central to a combined push by China's Tencent and South Africa's Naspers into Africa, specifically as a second screen enhancing the consumption of other media.
Naspers has a 34-percent stake in Tencent, the internet company that is WeChat's parent. This shareholding was responsible for Naspers' record stock market results earlier this year, and the media giant has set up a dedicated WeChat team to support the service in SA and further afield, headed by managing director Brett Loubser.
In China, WeChat has acquired more than 400 million users since launch at the end of 2010. Internationally, it has added another 100 million users. According to Loubser, it took six weeks to gain the first 20 million registered accounts, and from May to July this year, the users grew from 50 million to 70 million. This is around the world, and specifically in emerging markets such as Latin America, south-east Asia and South Africa.
TV tie-ins
Key to WeChat's drive into Africa is the service's potential to act as a second screen while people consume other media, specifically TV. "Globally, we've seen a great uptake of the WeChat application, be it as a primary screen or second screen," says Loubser. "TV tie-ins with WeChat allow viewers to interact directly with what is happening on their TV sets, whether it's sending comments on-screen, voting for their favourite contestant or receiving exclusive content directly on their phones during a live show."
Bearing in mind Naspers' pay-TV holdings across the continent - including DStv, MultiChoice and SuperSport - the pieces start adding up. And, unlike Whatsapp, WeChat gives brands a structured way to communicate with customers via the official accounts feature. For instance, the official account for the Loerie Awards earlier this year allowed attendees to opt into a daily broadcast from the organisers, as well as access contact details, schedules and competitions.
"An SDK and messaging API is available for official account owners to develop applications within WeChat," says Loubser. For companies without a mobile presence, the WeChat browser is a nifty way to make their content mobile.
Encouraging sign
Analysts, however, have yet to be bowled over by the impact of the second screen on, specifically, TV viewing. A recent report from Deloitte Touche Tohamatsu Ltd, titled Survival of the fastest: TV's evolution in a connected world, was fairly lukewarm about the uptake of second screens in Europe to date.
The report concluded that so far, there's only been a minimal impact, positively or negatively, of second screens on performance indicators such as viewing hours or advertising revenue.
The biggest impact on viewing may simply result from second screen owners using their devices to send a message to their friends to recommend watching a programme.
Deloitte Touche Tohamatsu Ltd
But an encouraging sign for the Naspers-Tencent strategy is that the report dissuades broadcasters from investing in bespoke mobile apps.
"The TV industry should also consider that using second screens to drive engagement and interest in TV programming may not require bespoke apps. The biggest impact on viewing may simply result from second screen owners using their devices to send a message to their friends to recommend watching a programme, or to engage in conversation about a programme that two friends are currently watching," said the report.
This endorses the land grab for users strategy that WeChat is undertaking around the world, and in Africa: introduce broadcasters into a pre-existing conversation on WeChat, rather than trying to move viewers' conversations onto a dedicated app.
Priority
The impact this strategy will have on African messaging darlings 2go and Mxit remains to be seen. Naspers sold its stake in Mxit in 2011 and appears to be putting its eggs very firmly in the cross-platform smartphone basket with WeChat (although the service is also available on S40 devices). Both Mxit's newly appointed CEO Francois Swart, and Michael Jordaan, outgoing FNB boss and chairman of Mxit's board of directors, have named cracking the smartphone nut as a priority for the company. Does Mxit have enough time to get this right, and be a realistic player in the smartphone world? Or, when it comes to messaging and the mobile second screen, is there space for feature phone specialists and smartphone-focussed services?
First published in the Dec/Jan 2014 issue of ITWeb Brainstorm magazine.
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