Asia messaging apps seek to upend rivals with marketing might

TOKYO: In the battle to become the global messaging app of choice, China's WeChat and Japan-based Line have brought out some large marketing guns — TV ads featuring soccer star Lionel Messi, for instance — that have powered promising bursts of overseas growth. 

The big bucks strategy stands in stark contrast to other messaging apps, or even apps in general, which spend little on marketing. US rival WhatsApp eschews advertising altogether and has instead relied on word of mouth to become the dominant chat app in many Western countries.