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South Africa’s first ever drama series distributed entirely on WhatsApp launched in June 2017. Using SMS, photos, voice notes, and video, Uk’shona Kwelanga follows the interactions of a family through the sudden death of a family member and the subsequent funeral preparations. Created by South African insurance company Sanlam to highlight the cost of funeral expenses, subscription to the seven-part drama series is free.

Of course branded content is nothing new. But in a world of media disruption, where over 1.8 billion people use mobile messaging apps (eMarketer, July 2017), brands need to speak to customers as they speak to each other: fast, informal, and seamlessly merging text, voice and media. Time for you to get serious about how messaging apps will shape how you tell your brand stories.

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