WhatsApp pose ses yeux sur les États-Unis
With more than 2 billion users, WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world. But its biggest market is all outside the United States. Facebook, the parent company of the recently rebranded...
Meta is launching the first U.S. marketing campaign for WhatsApp, focusing on the privacy provided by the app's encryption.
The first TV ad that aired Sunday during the AFC championship game compares unencrypted messages to a stranger opening your mail.
Similar ads promoting WhatsApp privacy also begin soon with billboards across the country and online.
With the marketing campaign, Meta aims to entice more people in the U.S. to come to its messaging platform by highlighting the app's security over other texting methods such as SMS.
According to a 2019 CTIA study, more than 5 billion unencrypted text messages are sent every day in the United States.
Much of this volume is likely spam and promotional messages, but SMS is also the default method of sending text messages for many Android phones, or is used when someone sends iMessage text messages using an Android device.
WhatsApp wants to be popular in the U.S.
Google has begun pushing for adoption of RCS, the long-awaited SMS upgrade that adds features such as read confirmations and, in some cases, encryption. But Apple has shown no indication that it wants to add RCS compatibility to iMessage.
Meta believes that the availability of WhatsApp on iOS and Android is a big deal for people frustrated with the messaging experience on all platforms.
The platform allows you to easily sync your chat history from your iOS device to any Android phone and vice versa.
And last year, WhatsApp introduced fully encrypted backups, something Apple has yet to introduce with iMessage.
Meta acknowledges that moving SMS traffic to encryption through RCS is a good thing. But it says WhatsApp has no plans to add RCS compatibility.
Since RCS is an open standard, Meta's argument is that adding support would slow down the development of the messaging platform.
In addition to competing with iMessage. The biggest challenge for WhatsApp to enter the US market will probably be the relationship with the parent company.
A privacy policy update last year regarding the storage of chats with businesses via WhatsApp on Facebook's servers prompted a backlash.
