Digital Marketing Gets Physical — Again

The pandemic has taken digital buyer expertise (CX) to new heights. However as Hong Kong enters its post-COVID-19 stage, vacationers are again to go to, and clients are returning to the bodily shops.

The fixed shift between on-line and offline channels creates new-found challenges for entrepreneurs. With the cutback of COVID-19 restrictions and the rise of the metaverse and AI, making certain a seamless and constant CX throughout a number of touchpoints has by no means been tougher for entrepreneurs.

On the current Digital CMO Hong Kong Summit, three Hong Kong-based entrepreneurs shared their ups and downs in curating an omnichannel CX for the native and international viewers within the post-COVID and pre-metaverse new world.

The post-COVID and pre-metaverse world

Based on on-line media monitoring agency Meltwater, 89.9% of the entire inhabitants in Hong Kong adopts social media, placing town within the high 8 of social media adoption on this planet.

Based on Melvin Chng, space director for enterprise and the Higher China area at Meltwater, social media has turn out to be a vital channel within the rising cookie-less digital world. “Rising belief in social commerce is projected to account for 16.7% of all e-commerce gross sales by 2025,” stated Chng.

The current ChatGPT sensation and metaverse mania are additionally making a mark on the shopper journey of various manufacturers. Forrester’s B2C Marketing CMO Pulse Survey 2022 indicated 76% of American B2C advertising executives are desirous to discover the metaverse, and Asia has an analogous spending sample.

In the meantime, opening borders are making bodily experiences a precedence for a lot of companies. Chng added in-person experiences are additionally drawing a much bigger social media impression.

“With extra social geotargeting options and demand for in-person occasions, anticipate offline to begin to play a much bigger position with influencers,” he stated. “For entrepreneurs, tangible experiences have the potential for large social media impression.”

Construct loyalty with novelty tech

Bridging the digital and bodily channels with constant CX is rarely straightforward. However that is extremely difficult for the resort and hospitality sector.

With the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, inns in Hong Kong are refocusing from native staycation and quarantining visitors to vacationers once more. On high of steering their on-line channels in the direction of abroad guests, in addition they experience on the native staycation clients for his or her abroad places. That is exactly what Regal Hotels International is coping with.

“Omnichannel is vital,” stated Philip Chau, vp and group head of selling at Regal Motels Worldwide. “ proceed to cross-sell between on-line and offline channels?”

To drive loyalty with its native clients, Chau’s staff turned to Web3. It launched Meta Green, a inexperienced metropolis in The Sandbox. The initiative goals to drive immersive edutainment experiences for native younger, tech-savvy on-line shoppers with offline rewards to drive them again to the bodily resort experiences.

“This loyalty program is one in every of our new initiatives to raise the digital footprint of the corporate, however we additionally construct advertising automation round them to drive outcomes, not solely noise,” stated Chau.

Driving outcomes with NFT-based advertising

Client mortgage providers firm UA Finance additionally turned to Web3 for buyer acquisition however used a unique method.

Regardless of most of its market initiatives being by way of on-line channels, Elvis Yan, chief advertising officer at UA Finance, stated many shoppers nonetheless deal with their loans on the bodily branches. This implies the corporate must proceed increasing its bodily shops however make sure the credit standing and mortgage approval processes are constant throughout all of the branches and with the CX on-line.

“We use totally different on-line lead era ways,” stated Yan. “However offering a straight-through homogeneous providing throughout totally different branches with actual constant CX remains to be difficult.”

As a part of the corporate’s bodily finance middle enlargement plan final yr, Yan’s staff launched the 3D “UA Arm” NFT series. The design of the NFT collection incorporates landmarks of various Hong Kong districts aiming to focus on the corporate’s a number of bodily branches.

“We want to ensure this NFT collection aligns with our bodily presence and is engaging. In spite of everything, it’s only a QR code of digital pictures,” stated Yan.

To drive curiosity for digital-savvy younger clients, the digital NFT collection is bundled with a bodily limited-edition field set of Japanese characters. “The consequence was phenomenal; the NFT collection was absolutely subscribed in 20 minutes,” he stated.

On high of the NFT collection, Yan famous the corporate has additionally centralized the credit score evaluation course of, aiming to supply a homogenous providing for patrons making use of for loans on-line and offline throughout a number of branches.

Circle of nature and CX

For international fiber firm Lenzing Group, its challenges lie in a number of folds.

Whereas being a B2B enterprise — supplying fiber to trend manufacturers and retailers — Lenzing Group’s relationships prolong to B2C by educating the end-consumers about natural and sustainable materials. This implies the corporate manages buyer journeys for companies and shoppers, with CX spreading throughout on-line, provide chain, and shops.

Based mostly in Hong Kong, Lenzing Group’s international head of digital model advertising Vincent Leung runs the corporate’s international B2B2C advertising initiatives. To assist construct a constant CX for end-consumers, the Lenzing Group lately launched the #MakeitFeelRight initiative—a cross-brand omnichannel international marketing campaign.

Partnering with its B2B trend model and retailers, the motion goals to unfold consciousness of sustainable trend and the corporate’s signature fiber model Tencel. It motivates shoppers to search out and gown in sustainable trend gadgets, then put up and pledge on social media channels. The corporate will then plant a tree for every social media pledge.

“This motion brings the bodily experiences of the material to the net social media communities, then closing the circle by benefiting the bodily nature with planting extra bushes,” stated Leung.

The worldwide marketing campaign was activated in 9 nations internationally, generated 12 million social engagements, and achieved greater than 10,000 social pledges. It entails greater than 45 influencers worldwide, together with British mannequin Lily Cole and a number of celebrities by way of their red-carpet appearances.

“It garnered big attain and engagements with 10,100 bushes planted internationally,” noticed Leung.

Offline channels stay related

Regardless of the concentrate on digital channels, these experiences point out the bodily channels stay related and important for the success of a advertising marketing campaign and enterprise.

“From memorable in-store activations to installations and challenges geared for user-generated content material (UGC), offline digital content material presents a possibility to distinguish and strengthen your model,” concluded Chng from Meltwater.