Tencent-backed Kuaishou Tech coming to Pakistan

Entry comes within year of Bigo entering $1.75bn advertising market, TikTok signing on Jack of Digital as channel partner

KARACHI: With Sensor Tower ranking SnackVideo in the top ten Google Play Store apps in the “Video Players & Editors” for Pakistan since mid-December 2020, parent company Kuaishou Technology is actively recruiting content moderators in the country. 

The internet media services company is looking to rope in talent agencies such as Alchemist, Citrus Talent, and the BodyBeat Group in order to lock in social media content creators (SMCCs) that are brand safe. The company hopes that by directly dealing with talent agencies, it can enforce content guidelines and avoid the app bans faced by the likes of TikTok and Bigo in Pakistan. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

The company hopes to hire a team in Pakistan to coordinate influencer marketing campaigns between advertisers and talent agencies registered with the Chinese video-sharing mobile app.

Speaking to Profit, executive recruitment firms said that the company is looking for seasoned digital campaign strategists to conceptualise help registered SMCCs increase their stickiness, contribution, and loyalty to ensure advertiser campaign success.

Sources at executive recruitment firms said that Kuaishou Technology is considering launching a reseller programme aimed at a multi-channel network (MCN). While there is no MCN in the country, the closest equivalents are Amplifyd, Digital Engagement Network, (DEN) and Walee which collectively represent over ten thousand SMCCs in the country.

As predicted by Profit, as the SMCC market in Pakistan heats up, the ecosystem will need an MCN. Advertising agencies that are considering doing so would need to replicate the business model of CastingAsia while behaving as both the training academy for aspiring SMCCs – think of how the government of South Korea manufactures Kpop stars – and will lock in those SMCCs as their employees, taking a large slice of any and all earnings off the top.

According to Sensor Tower, the SnackVideo app went from being in the top 350 in mid-October 2020 to being in the top 15 by the end of the month. By December 2020, the app will be in the top ten and is currently in the top five in the “Video Players & Editors” category. The app went from top 300 across all categories in December 2020 to being in the top 15 in January 2021.

Data from the leading provider of market intelligence for the global app economy shows that the Chinese video-sharing mobile app has gained traction in the Indonesian market at the same rapid pace, suggesting that it plans to set up similar teams in the world’s 4th-most populous country.

Babar Khan Javed
Babar Khan Javed
Babar Khan Javed covers the advertising industry and marketing function in Pakistan for Profit. He can be reached on [email protected] with details about media, creative, and digital briefs, future projects, management changes, client wins or losses, and everything in between.

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