We Are Social Asia Tuesday Tuneup #144

Line announces slew of new services 
After news last week that Line will offer a personal finance app by Spring 2015, the company’s COO has announced at the Line Conference Tokyo 2014 that it is offering even more services. Driven by the company’s vision to become “the smartphone gateway for your life”, Line is offering a new payment application (Line Pay), a taxi-booking service (Line Taxi) and a delivery service (Line Wow).

Line Pay will allow users to purchase items on their mobile devices or PCs, but also includes the ability to transfer cash to each other without providing their bank account information. Line Pay, Line Taxi and Line Wow will be rolled out in Japan first, with global rollout expected as early as next year.

In addition, the company also revealed that it currently has 170 million monthly active users, out of 560 million registered users. Based on the number of registered users, its top 5 regions are Japan (54M), Thailand (33M), Indonesia (30M), Spain (18M) and Taiwan (17M).

Luxury brands using WhatsApp to reach consumers in India
Cartier, Armani, Diesel and other luxury brands are now using WhatsApp to promote, sell and offer aftersales services to its consumers in India. The instant messaging app allows these brands to offer personalised services by sending pictures, videos and other promotional materials, resulting in conversion rates that reach as high as 80%. In August 2014, WhatsApp was reported to have 60 million monthly active users in India.

Facebook provides most social logins
Facebook was the Q3 leader for social logins at 46%, followed by closest rival Google at 34%, according to reports by Janrain. Twitter comes a distant third place with 7% – this seems to be a two horse race for now.

Facebook considers adding money transfer option to Messenger app
Facebook is apparently considering adding a money transfer service to its standalone mobile Messenger app. The screenshot below shows how sending money will work (basically like sending a photo). Users can either add a card for Messenger, or use one they’ve stored in Facebook. Finally, notifications worth waiting for.

Facebook to launch new anonymous app?
As you may well know, Facebook has struggled with some users who don’t want to use their real names, amongst other privacy issues. The network’s answer seems to be a separate ‘anonymous’ mobile app.

Facebook’s targeting to get even more specific
Facebook is set to launch ‘hyper local’ ads, with which advertisers can target users within an area as small as a mile. This could be useful for businesses that have, you know, actual locations that they want people to go to. Like in the olden days.

Facebook opens its Audience network
Thanks to Facebook, you can now get rich the same way as Kim Kardashian. No, not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter. Facebook’s mobile ad network, named ‘Audience Network’, which helped fuel the success of the Kim Kardashian game and brought Shazam a 37% increase in ad revenue, is now open to all.

Facebook and WhatsApp are, like, officially together
Facebook’s $19bn acquisition of WhatsApp is now official. The pair released a joint statement:

We are looking forward to connecting even more people around the world, and continuing to create value for the people who use WhatsApp.

All that remains is to change their relationship status.

Transfer money on Twitter
There must be something in the water – it’s not just Facebook that’s getting into the money transfer game. Twitter is going to enable users to transfer cash through tweets, as part of a deal with French bank Groupe BPCE. The feature is available regardless of your bank, and there’s no need to know the recipient’s details.

Snapchat ads are coming soon
Do you like Snapchat? Do you like advertisements? Well have we got news for you!Snapchat ads are on the way, according to CEO, Evan Spiegel. They’ll be optional to view, and focussed around the ‘stories’ section of the app:

We’re cutting through the new technology around ads to the core of it, which is telling a story.

In the same way that everything is ‘telling a story’ these days.

Dove, Snapchat and self-esteem
Unilever brand, Dove, has taken to Snapchat for ‘Self-Esteem Weekend’, sending out snaps on the theme of, errr, self-esteem, and asking for replies. The idea is inspired by the difficulty of having such conversations in public – Dove hopes that the campaign will promote at least a few important chats.

Google+ adds polls
If you’ve wanted to ask your friends a question with up to five pre-ordained possible answers, but only have access to them through Google+, you’ve probably been pretty frustrated up until now. Breathe easy, kids, G+ has just added polls.

Gillette capitalises on #beardgate
First there was #bendgate, now #beardgate. The iPhone 6 is supposedly catching on beards, which led to the following reactive piece from Gillette:

Your phone may be smarter than ever, but leave the shaving to the experts. #beardgate pic.twitter.com/eEbH96bdS3

— Gillette (@Gillette) October 6, 2014

Very nice. The real solution to #beardgate, though, is to be unable to grow a beard/afford an iPhone 6. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.