MANILA, PHILIPPINES – To celebrate its 10th anniversary as one of the world’s leading apps for free and easy communication, Viber brings their users to the spotlight by launching Heroes of Viber, a mini-video series that features 14 unique stories of how the app impacted people’s lives around the world. Among the featured Viber heroes are Filipino superadmins KG Sison and Celina Payawal, whose Communities became two of the most popular ones amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sison is the founder of Homebaking Community, which was initially dedicated to bakers who were looking for supplies before evolving into a support group for baking enthusiasts during quarantine. Payawal, meanwhile, is the creator of Gym & Fitness Marketplace MM, which helps sellers of workout equipment connect with potential buyers who want to stay fit and healthy especially in a pandemic.
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“I’m really honored that Viber has chosen me to share my story to a bigger audience. More importantly, I’m grateful to them for providing me with the tools to create the Homebaking Community. By simply connecting bakers, suppliers, and enthusiasts, the Community has served as a safe and happy space for thousands of people who needed company during quarantine,” says Sison.
“As an avid user of Viber, it feels unreal to have been selected to be part of Viber’s 10th anniversary video series. I’m just thankful that Viber has the Community feature because it really helped small business owners like those selling gym equipment earn a living and also help people maintain their healthy habits. What’s even more amazing is that Viber allowed us to do all of these at such a challenging time,” says Payawal.
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Other heroes featured in the video campaign are Russia’ s Alena, a mom who started a gardening Community all while taking care of a disabled child; Iraq’s Shelan, a kindergarten teacher who created a Community to share her lessons with her students during the pandemic; Bulgaria’s Dr. Stilyana Tomova who used Viber to allow parents to see their premature babies through video calls; Ukraine’s Dr. Yaroslav Kureza who launched the Take the Medic Community to connect medical frontliners to volunteers who’d give them a ride to the hospital while the public transportation services were put to halt; and Sri Lanka’s Gayan and Gavindi whose love story all started with a simple Viber sticker. Heroes from Algeria, Greece, Serbia, and Nepal complete the short video series.
#HeroesOfViber | View all videos
The video campaign marks Viber’s 10th year anniversary and celebrates the company’s growth into one of the world’s most widely used messaging apps. And this wouldn’t be possible without the people who have used Viber to make meaningful connections all throughout the years. Since its debut 10 years ago, Viber has offered breakthrough features such as free VoIP calls, group video chats, fun stickers, and top-notch security protocols by default to preserve user data privacy.
“Viber has always been committed in its mission to connect anyone, no matter who they are or where they’re from, in the safest way possible. We’re honored to celebrate the past decade and ring in another one by giving the spotlight to our users, who are ultimately Viber’s own heroes too. We’re more than happy to hear their personal stories of how the app changed their lives and by extension, how Viber empowers them to make the world a better place,” says Anna Znamenskaya, Chief Growth Officer at Rakuten Viber.
Watch all the Heroes of Viber videos here, including KG’s and Celina’s.
