WECHAT Officially Launched in Malaysia!

Are you on WeChat? 

This is the popular query among the social tech savvy now; a change from the usual “Add me on Whatsapp“.
WeChat, as its name implies is a chat app. It is available for iOS, Android OS, Symbian, BlackBerry and Windows Phone users, though features may vary for different platforms.

And of course, it is a FREE app. Made available to Malaysians in June 2012, WeChat supports sending live chat, voice, video, photo and text messages. Response was good, and the popularity of WeChat among Malaysians has resulted in the app ranking No.1 in both the iOS Appstore social networking free category and Android Google Play communication free category for one year, and has also ranked very high in overall free category.

Just last week, the WeChat celebrated their success with an official launch; a massive party with hundreds of WeChat users, partners and media in attendance. Mr. Poshu Yeung, Vice President of Tencent International Business – the very company that bought us WeChat was all smiles and spoke proudly of its success so far.

The very same day also marks WeChat’s first ever Bahasa Malaysia television commercial starring local celebrities and the appointment of WeChat ambassadors Lisa Surihani and Shaheizy Sam.

3 versions of the Bahasa Malaysia TVC were developed to bring the fun and convenience of WeChat to a larger segment of the local Bahasa Malaysia speaking market. The 30-second TVCs will be aired in April 2013 over four channels, namely TV3, TV9, Astro Prima and Astro Ria.

As a digital marketer myself, I must applaud WeChat’s strategic move tapping into the Malay community of Malaysia. The exponential growth from such move can only be impressively massive.

WeChat has always been consistently compared to Whatsapp and for valid reasons since both are the 2 most well-known chat applications in the market now.  However, users of WeChat finds that WeChat offers better features and benefits when compared to Whatsapp. Positive feedback from some WeChat users are that they find it highly interactive and more fun to use.

Other than the usual features of allowing the users to send free text, voice messages, emoticons, picture, video, and other files, a nifty feature called ‘Shake’ helps a user to find nearest WeChat user (great for “meeting new friends”) and another the ‘Drift Bottle Function’. Users can also do video-chat, add new friends through its social features, utilize location-based services, and share their stories through the unique ‘Moments’ feature in the form of photos, and URL links – almost like Facebook.

Well, thanks WeChat for throwing us the huge party! Everyone in attendance was stuffing themselves silly and thoroughly entertained with the performances and games. Thanks too for the great gifts! 🙂

Another extra –  WeChat has partnered with some brands and with your WeChat account, you can claim some freebies or deals. For example, WeChat users who follow Domino’s official account, will, upon redeeming a coupon code at Domino’s website and iPhone app (online) be entitled to purchase a second regular pizza for RM1 with the purchase of a regular pizza at standard price.

So if you are not on WeChat yet, do browse over to www.wechatapp.com for more info and of course, to download the app!

WeChat is also available for global use by supporting up to 17 languages including English, Chinese, Indonesian, Portuguese, Thai, Vietnamese, Russian and Bahasa Malaysia.