Kwai, Brazil’s most downloaded app, focuses on musical content in battle for market share

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Beijing-based Chinese Kwai came with force to fight for audience on the web, where TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and other networks already dispute the preference of Internet users.

According to the App Annie Intelligence Report, the application was the most downloaded in Brazil in the first quarter of this year. It should continue on the road to success, using strategies that have proven successful with its competitors. These include focusing on musical projects.

Founded 10 years ago as an application to create and share GIFs, Kuaishou Technology, the company that developed Kwai, changed its business model to short videos just a year after its creation.

To become popular in Brazil, where it only arrived in 2019, it decided to adopt the strategy of offering cash prizes to users who attract loyal newcomers to the platform, as TikTok did at the beginning of its activity in the country, giving the nod to the musical universe in the country.

In addition to partnerships with events such as São João de Todos, this month the company announced the hiring of Fabrício Nobre, creator of the Bananada Festival, the main event of the independent musical scene of Goiás, and former partner and director of Monstro Discos, which has released more than 130 albums.

He will become the new senior manager of musical content at Kwai in Brazil, managing the app’s musical content projects.

Speaking to Metrópoles newspaper, Mariana Sensini, director of Kwai in Brazil, explained the company’s intention. “We want to increase content creation and have a great impact on culture, especially on music. We already have partnerships with major companies in the sector, such as Som Livre and Sua Música,” she said.

Fabrício – who, in addition to his past at Bananada and Monstro Discos, has signed projects for music events such as Primavera Sound, Mimo SP, Natura Musical, Petrobras Cultural, and the Twitch platform – is coming to help the company understand local trends.

ALGORITHM

Kwai has also developed an algorithm to attract new artists to the platform – a very smart strategy, considering that, according to a survey by Winnin Insights, seven out of ten songs that had success on the Internet in 2020 were created on TikTok.

In practice, the network promises to distribute well-produced content better than content created by users who already have many followers. “Our algorithm is inclusive, as it allows for better distribution of such content without having to be a large production or a user with a large number of followers to reach more people. Kwai focuses on delivering content to users that are relevant and fun for them,” Mariana said.

Among the network’s success stories is singer Bruno Atyla (27) from Brasilia, one of the masters of engagement and popularity in the evangelical field. He has over 125,000 followers on Kwai alone. His most successful video, Praise in the Street 1, has already reached the 540 thousand views mark. “It’s the only platform that offers me a real opportunity for growth and allows me to share the Word of God with a much larger audience,” says Atyla, who has nearly 50,000 followers on Instagram.

OTHER PRIORITIES

In addition to music, which is essential for a video-sharing social network, Kwai also wants to invest in sports. The idea is to “provide a complementary experience for the sports fan, offering users exclusive content and allowing them to join the community in special promotions.”

“For example, the Brazilian men’s soccer team ran a promotion on the app called #FalaSeleção, where users could send questions to the players to answer. We also announced a partnership with Brasileirão until 2022, with exclusive promotions and content on Kwai. We also had teams from Serie A, such as Flamengo, Botafogo Bahia, Santos, and São Paulo.”

“We also focus on different sports, such as Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB), which uses the platform to communicate more directly with its fans. Over the next year, Kwai will also invest $10 million in Latin America to support sports creators with a monetization program, workshops, and a dedicated team to guide them on their journey to becoming professional creators,” Mariana explained.

Humorous, motivational, and topical content will also be given special consideration by the network. “We want to encourage creators and users to visit our platform so that artists, storytellers, educators, and performers can showcase their talents. Our focus is on inclusion and sharing a wider range of content than other apps, so that people of all income levels, tastes, and cultures can find what they like best,” she concluded.

KWAI BACKGROUND

Kuaishou (Kwai) is a video-sharing mobile app developed by Beijing Kuaishou Technology Co., Ltd, with a solid user base among users outside of China’s Tier 1 cities.

Outside mainland China, it has also gained considerable popularity in other markets, topping the Google Play and Apple App Store’s “Most Downloaded” lists in eight countries, such as Brazil. In Pakistan and Indonesia, this app is known as Snack Video. It is often referred to as “Kwai” in overseas markets. Its main competitor is Douyin, which is known as TikTok outside of China.

Kuaishou’s overseas team is led by the former CEO of 99, the biggest Brazilian ride-hailing company, and talent from Google, Facebook, Netflix, and Tiktok was recruited to lead the company’s international expansion.

Kuaishou is a short video social platform for all users to record and share their lives, with the core mission to “Capture the World, Share Your Story”.

Kuaishou topped Google Play and Apple App Store’s Most Downloaded lists in eight countries in 2020. In 2021, it had an average of 1 billion monthly average users (MAU), and it facilitated more than US$59 billion of e-commerce transactions on its platform. Active users on the platform spent an average of more than 85 minutes daily on its main app.