Bangkok--17 Dec--Maxima Consultants
KakaoTalk, Korea’s no. 1 chatting application is looking to strengthen user engagement activities in Thailand after gaining 3.5 million subscribers in just two months. Outstanding user-friendly features like sound stickers and a social media campaign based on the slogan “Itchy chat, Let’s KAO” have helped KakaoTalk catch on with Thai users, and the app looks to increase user base and become a major presence in the Thai social network.
Mr. John Park, Chief Global and Strategy Officer for Daum Kakao Corp., KakaoTalk’s parent company, said, “We are very happy with user response in Thailand. Since launching just 2 months ago, we have been no. 1 in both the Google Play Store and the iOS App Store and have more than 3.5 million users.”
KakaoTalk first launched in Korea in 2010. It began as free text service but soon evolved into a complete Mobile Social Platform including games, commerce, advertisements and more. This development was crucial to the growth of Korea’s telecommunications industry and helped build a mobile ecosystem, allowing relevant industries to achieve tremendous growth. KakaoTalk is the no. 1 chatting app in Korea and is used daily by more than 90% of all smartphone users in the country. KakaoTalk is offered in 15 languages and currently has more than 167 million users in 196 countries. Approximately 7 billion messages are exchanged every day through the app, in the form of text, photo, video and audio.
Park explained that Thailand’s growing telecommunications industry and familiarity with Korean culture were the main reasons for launching the application in the country. “As smartphone usage continues to grow, users in Thailand have taken quickly to chatting and social applications in the last few years. Also, the fun, cheerful lifestyle of Thai people and their interest in K-Pop and Korean culture is a great match to KakaoTalk and our various services. We believe that KakaoTalk can serve the needs of Thai users very well while helping build up the mobile ecosystem by working together with local content developers.”
KakaoTalk began service in Thailand last October with a “Itchy chat, Let’s KAO” marketing campaign, highlighting the fun and colorful chatting experience it offers. The campaign has appealed to Thai users, especially children and teenagers looking to chat and share their lives in more unique and colorful ways.
KakaoTalk offers a number of features ideal for Thai users, including:
1. Better chatting experience through animated and sound stickers. Sound and Realcon stickers are available for the first time in Thailand, and users can share the fun with up to 999 KakaoTalk friends using the group chat feature, which is great during any major events, especially holiday festivals.
2. Hilarious group calls that lets user easily choose funny voices (Avatar sound) and talk in HD quality with up to five KakaoTalk friends at the same time.
3. Join the fan club community of top stars with KakaoTalk PlusFriend. Today, many Korean artists use PlusFriend for hassle-free communication with their fanbase. It is also open to Thai artists or companies looking create an engaging and user-friendly communication channel.
Park said KakaoTalk’s goal for 2015 is to “become the main day-to-day chatting application of Thai users. We hope to reach ten million users by the end of next year. In addition to more fun and colorful stickers, which are scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2015, we will strengthen our Secret Chat feature so users can enjoy KakaoTalk’s fun and convenient features without having to worry about their privacy,”
Park concluded by saying, “The most important philosophy of KakaoTalk is to listen to user feedback and cooperate with local partners to create innovations which serve the local communities and help grow the mobile ecosystem. In 2015, we aim to work with Thai partners in games, digital content and commerce. We welcome all Thai developer and promise to give them KakaoTalk’s full support in working together to provide users with the best mobile experience possible”.