WeChat marketing campaign increases new users by 500%

"Part of this campaign features a television commercial with football superstar Lionel Messi. It shows how he connects to his family around the globe by using the application," said Brett Loubser, MD of WeChat South Africa.

Since launching the campaign in South Africa, WeChat has achieved the number one position in the BlackBerry World and App Store as the most downloaded app in the country. In addition, WeChat promoted the Messi commercial on YouTube with it becoming not only the most viewed video in South Africa, but also the most shared one as well.

Very excited by the potential

"The success of this campaign in the short time it has been launched shows just how effective the advertising and television commercial have been. Given the extensive mobile footprint in South Africa, we are very excited by the potential that this application has in the market," said Loubser.

Users can text each other, swap voice messages with a "Hold to Talk" feature, video chat, and share images, music, and videos. WeChat supports all smartphone platforms including Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Symbian, and Windows Phone operating systems.

To get more information on Messi's chat experience, go to www.wechat.com/messi.