Lionel Messi connects with fans on WeChat, as platforms reaches 70m users

By Victoria Ige

They’re gradually making their presence felt in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. But WeChat continues to play big globally; as their new TV campaign featuring football legend Lionel Messi shows.

The football superstar who’s the reigning FIFA World Player of the year and Fc Barcelona star joins a glittering cast of musicians, artists, fashion icons and VIP celebs, to share their WeChat experience with fans and followers on multiple platforms.

As part of the new global initiative, fans can follow Messi’s official WeChat account,  MessiOfficial, which will include videos, voice messages and photos from Messi.

In addition, a global TV commercial with his WeChat experience launched last week. The commercial features WeChat’s latest slogan ‘We Love, We Share, WeChat’ and showcases how Messi connects with people he cares for and loves on WeChat.

Meanwhile, the company says it has surpassed the 70M registered users mark. Poshu Yeung, Vice President of International Business Group at Tencent, the company behind WeChat says ‘We are thrilled to have reached the 70 million registered user accounts mark in such a short space of time. We are listening to our users’ needs and delivering an application that keeps them connected through voice, video, and sharing of pictures and important moments.’

‘As a football superstar and a WeChat user, Lionel is an ideal personality to help us continue to raise awareness and communicate the benefits of WeChat. We are excited to be working with Lionel to bring WeChat to people who value the intimate connections with those closest to their hearts.’ Yeung adds.

Key WeChat features

· Voice and Video Chatting – ‘Hold-To-Talk’ enables users to send voice messages at the touch of a button. Quality of video chat is another added value experience. You can talk to your friends face to face in an easy-to-use way.
· Moments – Sharing photos, texts and URL links with trusted friends and contacts.
· Group Chatting – Group chat on WeChat allows users to chat with as many as 40 people at the same time, making the group chatting experience better than ever before.
· Location Based Features – With innovative features like ‘Shake’ and ‘Look Around’, it has never been easier to find friends around you. Shake enables users to contact people around the world by shaking their devices. Look around is another innovative feature that enables users to find like-minded people around them.
· Official Accounts – A feature that can be utilized by brands, celebrities and merchants to build interactivity with their followers. Free SDK and API are available for “Official Accounts” owners and developers to develop applications on WeChat.
· Web WeChat – Chat with someone using a PC Browser.
· Security Setting -WeChat comes with comprehensive privacy setting functions, which enables users to limit who they share their information with.