Where authentic connections can lead to actual currency
Credit to Author: Cora Llamas| Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 16:30:21 +0000
Social media app Kumu’s intriguing business model is changing the way people view content creation
If user experience is the one element that can engage a customer into patronizing a brand, then authenticity may very well be the factor that can keep them loyal in the long run. Millennial consumers, in particular, want to know that the company or entrepreneur they are buying from or investing in are not just competent and efficient, but are trustworthy, reliable, and real.
According to one study by Brand Marketing, 91 percent of US customers look for honesty and transparency in brands before transacting with them. While perhaps inevitable in a time that has given birth to reality TV and internet reporting, the advent of fake news and photoshopped images can make it a tall order.
One Filipino-invented social media app, however, just might have the answer. Kumu (www.kumu.ph), which is a play on the Filipino word “kumusta” which means “how are you,” can leverage authenticity into very real connections that can give birth to or promote a business, let people show off their skills or teach others about it, or simply just tell their stories.
Launched in August 2018, it has since been downloaded by 120,000 user-members and still growing. What makes it stand out from all the other messenger groups and social media platforms — aside from the Filipino ownership — is that its use of live video streaming can actually develop loyal followers and communities who can express their support by sending currency.
A user can spend as little as P50 to buy 1,000 of Kumu’s virtual coins or diamonds; accumulate 50,000 diamonds, which translate to P1,000. If he happens to view live a fellow Filipino teaching how to do presentation skills or maybe even doing standup comedy acts in his own makeshift stage, the user can easily send diamonds to the artist or professional in real-time.
It may not sound much, but multiply P50 or a thousand-coin currency by hundreds of happy users, and the content generator or provider doing live stream just might find himself earning a few thousands pesos a month. To date, Kumu’s highest top-earning live content-provider-cum-performer — a magician who brought in a few celebrity friends to do a song-and-dance — received P20,000 in one live show.
“Kumu is democratizing content creation,” says Kumu CEO and co-founder Roland Ros. “While platforms like Facebook also do live-streaming video and try to capitalize on it, there’s a 20-to-30-second delay. You really can’t have that conversation. But our livestreaming allows people to connect on a deeper level. You really can’t fake yourself. You have to be yourself when you are going live.” Ros believes that this approach presents business people, entrepreneurs, consultants, and potential customers alike an alternative platform to sites like Instagram “where members try to present to others that life is perfect.”
Kumu also avoids the criticism of too much negativity suffered by sites like Facebook by implementing a very strict no-spamming, no-trolling policy. Negative or bad words are automatically filtered out by a smart software. And if they do manage to get in, human moderators take care of them and manage the situation. At the foundation of Kumu’s social media network building is one non-negotiable core value, which Ros describes as “love is acceptance of who you are without changing you.”
Many of Kumu’s users do leverage on their skills by teaching them online. One is doing a live cooking show, while another is a Certified Public Accountant who advises Pinoys how to do their taxes. Others who may not even be money-minded just tell stories about their personal lives or crack corny jokes and still get diamonds from appreciative audiences. On a more serious note, Kumu members have used the site to raise money for calamity victims or whose homes had been devastated by storms and fires.
Most of the gift-giving or money-sending users are Pinoy millennials and Gen-Z’ers who are based in the United States, Canada, and Europe, at an average of $100 per user per month. Other countries where Kumu has garnered a huge following from Filipino communities are Malaysia, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, the United Kingdom, Italy and Saudi Arabia. In the Philippines, the highest growth areas of membership are in Quezon City, Makati, Cagayan de Oro, Baguio, Iloilo, and Naga City.
Ros, a Filipino-American techpreneuer who literally sold his belongings and home in Los Angeles to root himself back in the country of his parents, emphasizes that Kumu is about “younger global Filipinos connecting with fellow Filipinos.”
Social media networks which are region-based and specifically designed to reach out to dwellers and citizens in that particular location are growing. Some of the country-specific apps that are making waves are We Chat, China, 846 million users, net worth $500 billion; Line, Japan, 217 million users, $9 billion; Hike, India, 100 million users, $1.4 billion; and Zalo, Vietnam, 70 million users, $1 billion.
Ros also takes heart in some of the spectacular success stories that have happened in these sites. One rice grower in China earns $2,000 to $3,000 a month from members who learn rice planting from him. Another, a taho vendor, received $11 million partly because the members found his jokes and pranks funnier than the highly-paid professional comedians on TV.
His goal in 2019 is to create similar independent financially successful content creators, to as many as 10,000. Kumu will also focus on developing its ecommerce capabilities next year.
Ros and his team do have solid financial backers to ensure their sustainability in the long run. Tech guru and philanthropist Dado Banatao is a mentor and close friend. Media powerhouse Summit Media, which draws in more than 20 million monthly visitors to their websites and has over 33 million social media followers, is one of their significant investors.
Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, president and CEO of Summit Media, elaborates on the reason behind their alignment: “Summit is always on the lookout for investment opportunities, particularly when it comes to the future of media.
Because the core audiences of Kumu are millennials and Gen Z, it aligns well with Summit’s portfolio of brands. With our investment in Kumu, we’ll be able to offer more engaging online experiences to these audiences. We’ve been doing live-streaming for about a couple of years now but Kumu’s new platform, with its robust infrastructure and interactive features, gives us better and more meaningful interaction.”
Gokongwei-Cheng also gives her forecast on video live-streaming in the Philippines, “There’s no doubt that the consumption of video, particularly on mobile, will continue to grow. For the younger generation, this is second nature. As for the live-streaming format, it is once again shifting behaviors from passive viewing to an increasingly interactive experience. With this, the revenue potential extends beyond the usual advertising model and into transactional models like gifting and online shopping. We’ve seen this happen in a big way in other countries and we are betting that this can also happen in the Philippines in the next couple of years.”
Ros says of the authenticity that has made his app unique and appealing: “We have made Kumu a safe space where people can tell their stories and share their passion, where they can express themselves without being judged. People are tired of negativity as well as the plastic life. We want to build the largest authentic social media network in the world.”
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