MARKETING BRIEFING
‘MeWe migration’ is set to impact HK marketers amidst privacy concerns Social media platform MeWe has been gaining popularity in Hong Kong since late last year.
T
he recent controversies on privacy policy changes in platforms like Facebook-owned WhatsApp, as well as mounting geopolitical tensions in Hong Kong, have led to a new trend of Hong Kong users migrating to newer, more privacyfocused apps. For instance, social media app MeWe has been steadily gaining popularity in Hong Kong for most of the past year. Since late 2020, the app has been one of the most downloaded in the region, on both on iOS and Android operating systems, and has amassed over 16 million users worldwide. MeWe, which was launched in 2016, describes itself as “anti-Facebook”. It features a similar user interface but focuses on data privacy, reduced moderation, and simple news feeds in its algorithm. The app also uses a subscription model, with users having to pay around $38 monthly to unlock all of the premium features. Moreover, the app’s business model does not rely on advertising. Rather, its revenue comes from its subscription feature, and the selling of custom emojis. “It is clear that the world wants a better social network that treats its members as customers to serve, not data to sell,” MeWe founder Mark Weinstein says. “We’ve built a social networking experience that has a remarkable suite of features people love.” Whilst Facebook remains relevant to this day amidst its huge reach worldwide, the newfound popularity of MeWe and other similar privacy-focused apps has led marketers to focus their strategies on keeping up with the “user migration” and marketing trends. Facebook might have a large customer base, but the decreasing organic reach makes marketing more expensive. Meanwhile, MeWe enjoys a higher interaction rate and a more organic reach on its pages despite having fewer active users compared to other social media platforms.
We’ve built a social networking experience that has a remarkable suite of features people love But that may be slowly changing, particularly in Hong Kong. More businesses have recently established their MeWe pages as a way of anticipating the surge in new users of the app, including tabloid-style newspaper Apple Daily, and free TV station ViuTV. The rising number of users of MeWe and similar apps presents various opportunities for marketers, as 16
HONG KONG BUSINESS | APRIL 2021
MeWe has gained popularity in Hong Kong over the last 12 months
its organic reach ensures that more consumers are seeing the target ads and able to interact with them and take advantage of personalised offers. An opportunity for brands Many brands have gotten into the practice republishing similar marketing content across different social media platforms to widen their reach. This is also possible with MeWe, which enjoys a higher level of audience interaction and engagement, given the authenticity of its users. At the same time, brands do not need to pay to boost promotions for an online ad, since the users are reached organically. However, a recent webinar by marketing agency Fimmick discussed that whilst the number of users of MeWe and similar apps has increased, brands should remain skeptical about the value they offer. Fimmick CEO Willy Lai said marketers should consider that building a brand presence on, and generating returns on advertising investment from a new platform will always take time and effort. MeWe is also facing the challenge of keeping up with the hardware needed to scale the platform as it copes with the increase in new users. MeWe will likely needto incorporate a scalable infrastructure as more and more citizens and brands use the app to conduct business. Marketers still need to weigh the benefits of riding on a new platform over its sustainability amids the app’s exponential growth. Whilst MeWe presents new opportunities for the digital marketing landscape, brands would have to examine whether the spike in new users is expected to carry on over the long run.
