“When we look Nepal in terms of per capita usage, it stands in the top five countries. This makes Nepal a promising market for Viber”
Anubhav Nayyar is the Regional Head of Viber South Asia, a part of Viber Media, a pioneering mobile messaging and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) company. Nayyar is responsible for business strategy, marketing and overall brand development for Viber Media for South Asia since the last two and a half years. He has rich and diverse experience in the field of marketing across different industries like personal care, food, confectionary, retail, and now digital.
An Economics Honors Graduate, Nayyar completed his Post Graduation in Management from the Indian Institute of Management. With the growing popularity of Viber, not only in Nepal but also in the entire South Asian region, Nayyar is all set to tap on the benefits. He was in Nepal when Nikeeta Gautam from Business 360º talked to him about Viber’s market plans and growth strategy.
Excerpts:
An Economics Honors Graduate, Nayyar completed his Post Graduation in Management from the Indian Institute of Management. With the growing popularity of Viber, not only in Nepal but also in the entire South Asian region, Nayyar is all set to tap on the benefits. He was in Nepal when Nikeeta Gautam from Business 360º talked to him about Viber’s market plans and growth strategy.
Excerpts:
It has been said that Viber is planning to develop localised stickers for the Nepali market. What’s the purpose?
It is only recently that we launched the localised stickers and it is showing very good results. Stickers help users give a personal touch to their conversations and help them express better. We have already few stickers and the first few days are showing good results. We met a lot of youngsters who told us that they loved the stickers which got more Nepali flavour in the social media.
Localised stickers mean stickers with local language. Also, it can mean the customs or clothing attire. Localised stickers give more reliability to the particular culture and that is the reason we have launched the stickers for this market.
It is only recently that we launched the localised stickers and it is showing very good results. Stickers help users give a personal touch to their conversations and help them express better. We have already few stickers and the first few days are showing good results. We met a lot of youngsters who told us that they loved the stickers which got more Nepali flavour in the social media.
Localised stickers mean stickers with local language. Also, it can mean the customs or clothing attire. Localised stickers give more reliability to the particular culture and that is the reason we have launched the stickers for this market.
Where does Nepal as a market stand viz-a-viz other countries for Viber?
Viber globally has close to 750 million users of whom as much as four and a half million belong to Nepal where the total population is around 27 million. So the viber-using population here is big if compared with the country’s small population. Moreover, Nepal is also competing with other countries which are 10 to 30 times bigger in population, and when we look at it in terms of per capita usage, Nepal stands in the top five countries. This makes Nepal a promising market for Viber.
Viber globally has close to 750 million users of whom as much as four and a half million belong to Nepal where the total population is around 27 million. So the viber-using population here is big if compared with the country’s small population. Moreover, Nepal is also competing with other countries which are 10 to 30 times bigger in population, and when we look at it in terms of per capita usage, Nepal stands in the top five countries. This makes Nepal a promising market for Viber.
What do you think is the reason behind Viber’s popularity in Nepal?
The main reason is that some 4-5 years back people started following us as a calling app. Viber actually got launched as a calling app but over a period of time we added the messaging facility as well. We have succeeded in proving that Viber is a great service and it operates (despite the hassles in Internet service) really well in Nepal. People also enjoy stickers, varieties of content and other features we recently introduced, for instance, public chats. Group messaging is also very popular in Nepal. Similarly, we have a feature called Viber Out which basically allows you to call any number in the world at a subsidised rate and that number does not need to be on Viber. For example: you can sit anywhere and call a number in the Gulf even though the number is not in the internet. This feature which has helped widely to connect Nepali labour migrants with their respective families, friends and relatives is very popular in that niche group. These services and unique facilities have placed our product higher in position.
The main reason is that some 4-5 years back people started following us as a calling app. Viber actually got launched as a calling app but over a period of time we added the messaging facility as well. We have succeeded in proving that Viber is a great service and it operates (despite the hassles in Internet service) really well in Nepal. People also enjoy stickers, varieties of content and other features we recently introduced, for instance, public chats. Group messaging is also very popular in Nepal. Similarly, we have a feature called Viber Out which basically allows you to call any number in the world at a subsidised rate and that number does not need to be on Viber. For example: you can sit anywhere and call a number in the Gulf even though the number is not in the internet. This feature which has helped widely to connect Nepali labour migrants with their respective families, friends and relatives is very popular in that niche group. These services and unique facilities have placed our product higher in position.
What is Viber’s policy to stand out in the competition?
We look at our end users first and always experiment with what is beneficial for them. The competition is important too but it is more about building new and innovative features. If you typically look at competition, you will just end up trying to copy them or trying to do something which is already done.
Actually, we are in the process of trying something new and different on the basis of what we have learnt. We are also fairly unique in terms of localised stickers. We did it for the users. So, you will see more and more interesting features that we will be extending to our users.
We look at our end users first and always experiment with what is beneficial for them. The competition is important too but it is more about building new and innovative features. If you typically look at competition, you will just end up trying to copy them or trying to do something which is already done.
Actually, we are in the process of trying something new and different on the basis of what we have learnt. We are also fairly unique in terms of localised stickers. We did it for the users. So, you will see more and more interesting features that we will be extending to our users.
Any special plans for Nepal in the near future…
We are looking at opportunities to grow in this market more. Localisation is definitely happening and will happen more. We are also looking for a lot of partnerships with companies and businesses of all sorts. It could be banks or industrial groups and even brands. We are in that process and you as a user will start seeing a lot of them very soon.
Published Date: August 21, 2016, 12:00 am
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