For much of the globe, WhatsApp is not just a way to send messages, it’s the only way. But here in the US, that is not the case. High rates of iPhone ownership combined with increased efforts from Apple to associate themselves with privacy has left Americans complacent with text messages that are often far from secure.

In order to win new users in the US, we needed to first show that WhatsApp’s message privacy was superior to other platforms, led by the fundamental privacy feature End-to-End-Encryption.

Our objectives were to shift our brand perception of having superior message privacy, and ultimately, shift our brand preference in a market dominated by Apple.

We see a series of real customers walking into a real shipping store.

To their surprise, the clerk begins attaching their personal packages and correspondence to old fashioned messenger pigeons, as if it’s the middle ages, explaining that this method is “fairly secure.”

When customers object, the clerk notes that sending correspondence via messenger pigeon is no crazier than sending un-encrpyted text messages via SMS.

Despite the customers vehement protestations, the clerk tosses the messenger pigeons, with the customers personal packages and correspondence attached, out the window to presumably fly to their intended destinations.

Over shots of the pigeons flying away, on-screen supers sum up the message:

5.5 billion unencrypted texts are sent every day.

With WhatsApp, your message won’t be one of them.

We close on a logo: Message privately with end-to-end encryption. WhatsApp.

Our first goal was to make American users believe that WhatsApp was a more private way to send messages – in fact, the most private. In this we succeeded. We saw statistically significant uplifts for audience perception of WhatsApp privacy. But not only that, we also saw statistically significant lifts in how they rated us against our competition in privacy.

But would they consider using us as a result? We saw statistically significant uplift in brand preference quarter-on-quarter, and even among the users who were aware WhatsApp was owned by Meta, which often added a brand-tax on privacy matters. The campaign also translated quickly into new user acquisitions, evidence that privacy really does matter.