Viber, Snapchat level up PH presence
Viber is so ubiquitous in this era of smartphones that it has become both a means to communicate and a verb. Filipinos do not simply send messages or pictures: we “viber” it.
Viber’s stickiness is by design, and during a chat with Rakuten Viber CEO, Djamel Agaoua, it is clear they are just getting started.
With about 40 million registered users in the Philippines—about two of five Filipinos—there is a lot of vibering being done on a regular basis.
Current trends are pointing to further growth as services like Viber, backed by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Group, have seen their usage surge during the pandemic.
With this in mind, the company is again on the move to redefine how users connect with each other.
It recently partnered with Snap Inc., the camera company behind the popular social media platform Snapchat, to bring augmented reality lenses to Viber.
Powered by Snap’s technology, Viber Lenses will include an initial lineup of animal masks, Viber characters and even “silly cat interactions.” Hundreds of new lenses will be introduced within the year, the company announced.
“The younger audience has a very strong appetite for new ways of expressing emotions and expressing messages,” Agaoua told the Inquirer.
“It’s not only about words, its also about images, videos. It’s about mixing reality and augmented reality, and all this is something which is very important for users around the world,” he added.
Viber Lenses will be rolled out in the Philippines “beginning August” and Agaoua said this was part of a broader strategy to make Viber more sticky to users.
Under Agaoua, the company is pursuing what he calls a “meta app strategy” that will see Viber build three main pillars through content, business services and financial technology on a foundation of over a billion global users on its messaging platform.
“This is the vision of the meta app strategy. It’s to expand the service, not only to communications, but to a bunch of services,” he said.
Agaoua said partnering with Snap was a natural move given the two companies have a “very good relationship.” But there were strategic considerations as well.
“It happens that Snapchat is very popular in the US and Western Europe, but not very popular yet in countries where Viber is extremely strong like Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, including the Philippines,” he said.
Content
During the interview, Agaoua offered a quick glimpse of the content and business potential that could emerge from the launch of Viber Lenses.
For starters, Viber will roll out a contest in different countries to allow local artists and content creators to produce lenses. “The best lenses will be selected and featured by Viber and [creators] will be compensated,” Agaoua said.
Soon, the company will introduce Viber Lenses for live video calls and launch a story feature for Viber, where users can post and share content to people “outside their group of friends.” The story feature, versions of which already exists in rival social media platforms, will allow individuals to create and post content on Viber, luring advertisers, brands and celebrities.
Viber has global partners such as The World Wildlife Fund, FC Barcelona and the World Health Organization, but the company plans to tie up with Filipino brands and artists for Viber Lenses.
“At Viber, we have a philosophy, which is that we want to be closer to our users. We want to localize our product,” he said. “Our objective is not to impose a culture from the outside.”
Privacy
The data and privacy of users will also be kept safe since Viber uses end-to-end encryption, meaning messages and calls cannot be seen or accessed by a third party.
“The entire intelligence for augmented reality is done on the device,” Agaoua explained.
“The technology is embedded in the app and we have integrated this, which is something we don’t usually do,” he added.
Ultimately, Agaoua calls this strategy a “win-win” approach for both users and businesses and another component of its meta app strategy.
Filipino-based companies will also benefit as Viber’s diversification continues.
For example, Viber is in talks with local fintech players as it eyes the launch of money transfer services among users in the country as early as January next year, he said.
“We think local players bring trust to the users in the country. So, it’s very important for us to build our strategy including these local partners and not against these local partners,” he added.
Should the strategy pay off, the company sees more Filipinos vibering away while it expands revenues and market share.