‘Live Broadcasting’ Marketing Frenzy Set on Fire in the Hotel and Resort Industry
All-stay sold 1,000 hocances in just 4 hours
Interpark Tour Phoenix joins Pyeongchang-do’Labang’ competition
‘Popularity’ added to the Naver Kakao platform competition
Low production cost and high cost performance’win-win’ for both hotels and customers
Accommodation reservation startup’All Stay’ has sold about 1,000 hocance packages and 300 million won worth of 4 luxury hotels through live broadcasting since November last year in just 4 hours. The picture is a capture image of a live broadcast screen at Grand Chosun Hotel in Busan (left) and Lahan Select Hotel in Gyeongju.
“The Deluxe Twin Room has a 1m40cm wide double bed and two 1m10cm single beds that can be used by 3 people. Some rooms have only a shower booth without a bathtub, so those who need a bathtub are advised to talk in advance when making a reservation.”
When the manager of the Gyeongju Lahan Select Hotel Lee Dong-geol introduced the interior of the room, comments such as “The room is spacious and nice” “I have to go to Gyeongju for a holiday” began filling the comment window. Next, the manager showed amenities such as shampoo, shower gel, and conditioner arranged neatly on the bathroom sink, and introduced, “Because razors are not provided, you can prepare them separately or purchase them separately from the vending machine in front of the sauna in the hotel.”
This is a part of a live commerce video that Allstay, a startup (new venture) reservation for accommodation, unveiled through Naver Shopping Live last month. The number of visitors who reached 8,000 from the start of the broadcast at 7 PM soared to 18,000 by the end of the broadcast. On this day, Lahan Select Hotel received 250 reservations for spring hocance (hotel + vacation) products through 1-hour live broadcasting, and achieved a’surprise’ performance worth 50 million won.
Online live broadcasting, aka’Labang’, is emerging as a new sales channel in the lodging industry such as hotels and resorts. This is because a’limited edition’ marketing strategy that adds benefits such as price discounts and service upgrades to real-time two-way communication that transcends the limitations of space and raw realism without processing (editing) hits. The non-face-to-face consumption fever ignited by the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) is leading to a marketing boom in’Labang’ in the accommodation market such as hotels and resorts.
○’Labang marketing’ craze in the lodging market
All-stay started selling luxury hotel hocance packages through live broadcasting from last November. All-stay, which started live broadcasting with Naver Shopping Live last year, plans to broadcast live with Kakao Shopping Live from April. As the live broadcast, which was started as a test, produced more reactions and results than expected, the number of broadcasts that were conducted once a month was also increased to twice a month.
All-Stay broadcasted the hocance products of four luxury hotels, including Itaewon Mondrian, Busan Grand Chosun, and Gyeongju Lahan Select, starting with the Westin Chosun in November last year, and achieved close to 300 million won. It means selling 4-6 packages per minute for luxury hotel hocance packages that cost 200,000-300,000 won. The Busan Grand Chosun Hotel, which sold 500 hocance packages, received 30 reservations within 7 minutes of the start of the broadcast. Gyeongju Lahan Select Hotel has 100 family twin rooms in 20 minutes.
Online travel agency Interpark Tour also entered the Labang marketing competition. Interpark Tour, which recently sold luxury hotels and resorts in Vietnam and the Philippines in advance on TV home shopping, earned a jackpot of 30 billion won. On the 18th, Interpark Tour sold Vietnam Vinpearl Resort (3 nights) accommodation products through its own live commerce broadcast, Interpark TV. Airline tickets for 21 short-distance routes such as N Guam and Saipan on the 22nd, and a live broadcast of a special Saipan Resort on the 7th of next month are also preparing.
Phoenix Hotel & Resort is the first major resort in the country to directly broadcast live. From 7:30 pm on the 20th, the Phoenix Pyeongchang all-inclusive package including breakfast and a water park will be sold through Kakao Shopping Live’s live commerce platform.
Gyeongju Lahan Select Hotel, which was renovated in April last year, sold 250 spring holiday packages in an hour through live broadcasting last month. In the one-hour broadcast, 100 rooms were sold out within 20 minutes of the start of the broadcast for the limited-sold Family Twin Room by adding a room upgrade service to a special price of 199,000 won.
○The hotel is a broadcasting studio… “Promotional effect perfect score”
The reason why hotels and resorts are rushing to sell rooms through live broadcasting is not only promoting promotion, but also securing room reservations for a short period of time. This is because live broadcasting is considered to be effective in terms of the reach rate and conversion rate, which are criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of advertisements. Reach rate refers to the frequency at which ads are exposed to consumers, and conversion rate refers to the rate at which ads lead to actual purchases.
All-stay’s four broadcasts have an average of 18,000 subscribers per broadcast. During the 1-hour broadcast, the average number of likes (hearts) left by visitors is over 20,000, and the average number of comments is over 10,000. This is the result of online live broadcasting becoming a popular medium as two domestic portal sites Naver and Kakao operate live commerce platforms.
Another advantage is that if you have a smartphone, you can easily broadcast anytime, anywhere without putting a lot of money and manpower into production costs. The commission charged when using the Naver and Kakao platforms is 3% of the sales, which is cheaper than TV home shopping. It is an excellent opportunity to sell many rooms in a short period while reducing PR and marketing costs.
Baek Sang-seok, executive director of sales and marketing at Lahan Hotel Group, said, “Live broadcasting, in which the hotel becomes a broadcasting studio, has a much greater effect of publicizing the advantages of the rooms, auxiliary facilities and services provided by the hotel. We plan to expand it to hotels nationwide,” he said.
○ Special price and service upgrade’Limited Edition’ benefits
Live broadcasting is also advantageous to consumers in that they can check facilities and services such as hotel rooms and lounges in advance. All-Stay conducted all of the last 4 broadcasts, focusing on the recently opened’Shinsang’ hotel. Itaewon Mondrian, which aired in December of last year, is a five-star hotel that the global hotel group Accor unveiled in the world in August last year and the first in the Asia-Pacific region. Gyeongju Lahan Select, which aired last month, reopened in April last year after remodeling. Busan Grand Chosun opened the Haeundae Beach in October last year. The Intercontinental Parnas Hotel in Samseong-dong, which is scheduled to be broadcast next month, reopened in December last year after a major renovation last year.
Another advantage is that it enables two-way communication, which is the biggest feature of live commerce. You can ask and answer your questions through comments in real time during the broadcast. In the live broadcast conducted by All-Stay, the host asked the hotel manager directly and provided the answer to the viewer’s question about the operating hours of the swimming pool. Consumers can check detailed information as if they are receiving personal counseling, and hotels and resorts can enjoy the effect of improving the quality of service.
Cost-effectiveness can also be increased through so-called’limited edition’ marketing benefits such as price discounts and service upgrades. Itaewon Mondrian, Gyeongju Lahan Select, and Busan Grand Chosun have added a room and view upgrade benefit that raises the 1st to 2nd class of the Hocance Package room during live broadcasting. Exclusive lounges and restaurants, which are included only in premium rooms, were also provided to those who made reservations during live broadcasts.
“The biggest advantage of live broadcasting is that consumers can enjoy various benefits and the hotel can achieve high performance in a short period of time while watching customer reactions in real time,” said Hyun-soo Cho, CEO of All Stay. We plan to expand Labang marketing, which emphasizes performance and cost performance,” he said.
Reporter Lee Sun-woo [email protected]