Australia Zoo Research Report

Transcription

1 Australia Zoo Research Report GAINING MARKET ENTRY INTO SOUTH KOREA Unit Coordinator: Shane Mathews Tutor: Sandy Sergeant Word Count: 1845 QUT AMB336

2 Table of Contents 1.0 Executive summary Market Analysis Opportunities Challenges... 6 Figure 1: Perceptual Map Evaluation and recommendations Distribution strategy Consumer insight justification Branding Modification... 9 Appendices Reference List... 16

3 1.0 Executive summary This research report aims to break down the opportunities that Australia Zoo have in targeting marketing material towards South Korea. As the medium to large business has recently experienced growth in International visitors, the opportunity to expand further has sparked many speculations. After analyzing the current market situation in South Korea, it was found that opportunities on a digital scale exists, as the market is driven by mobile consumption and is highly adaptive to new technology innovations. However, cultural barriers may prove to be a challenge as language context is established to be far from similar to English. After evaluating this research, the main recommendations were shaped into a marketing campaign that lasts initially for 6 months, utilizing popular digital platforms in Korea including KakaoTalk, Facebook and Naver. Paid ads will be used to capitalize on viewer engagement, whereas virtual reality content will aim to also help to captivate user experiences. Taking in consideration that all marketing material should be translated to Korean to avoid misunderstandings. It was also recommended that teaming up with an agent who has experience in working in South Korea will be beneficial to better apprehend the local target market.

4 2.0 Market Analysis Driven by rapid innovation and growth in technology production, South Korea was named the most innovative country of 2016 (Forbes, 2016). Market expansion through increased exports has strengthened the economy to become further globalized in many different industries (Kim, 2014). As a result, Australia is experiencing more South Korean travellers as seen in the 9% increase in the number of arrivals in the past year (Tourism Australia, 2017). These figures also originate after successful campaigns like Q pop and the Naver Competition gained large awareness in the Korean market (see appendix A), Tourism Australia saw potential in attracting more Korean tourists, and as seen in appendix B, the government funded department still has an ongoing marketing campaign that focuses on showcasing the Nature and Wildlife sector over the time frame of (Atfield, 2016). A great opportunity is therefore presented for Australia Zoo, to tap into new internet based technologies as a marketing strategy to further obtain prospective customers from this market. Pushing for a larger share of international customers. However, it must be understood that challenges exist; as Koreans are ahead with technology, not to mention the cultural differences they have in contrast to Australia. 2.1 Opportunities In South Korea, the passion for technology has changed the way people are assembling purchase decisions. Smartphone usage overrule tablets and PCs, with marketing and sales proven to produce higher returns in mobile commerce (Cho, Choi, Lee, Park and Seol, 2008). In fact, Smartphone usage is the highest in the world in South Korea, with over two thirds of the population owning a mobile device, which has led to a Mobile First consumer behaviour in recent years (Koh, Shin, 2016). It has become clearly distinct that mobile marketing is the most effective way of influencing purchases. The consumer journey is seen to be getting relatively shorter as well on mobile, where purchasers are quicker to make their decision (Cho, et. Al., 2008). These trends in mobile consumption present a great opportunity for Australia Zoo to tap into the attention spans of the South Korean audience, especially with the increase of paid advertisement possibilities on Korean social media channels (Jin, 2016).

5 The latest craze in Virtual Reality (VR) that has had industry leaders Samsung (South Korea) and Google (USA) on board to produce their own VR headsets at an affordable price is attracting a great deal of South Korean users, and based on the cultural and social practices, the costs of not having a set of the latest technology will be massive in upcoming years (Brengman, Van Kerrebroeck and Willems, 2017). Google has deemed VR advertising as the next big innovation, stating that it offers companies the chance to build a world around a brand that a consumer could step into (Luber, 2016). Further, the tech giants recently ran a study of two variations of the same ad a traditional video versus a 360-degree video, and the 360 version prevailed with 41% more earned actions including subscribes, shares, and views (Think with Google, 2016). Partaking in this virtual intermediary will allow market entry easier, especially in a market that has already adopted to this technology (Brengman et al, 2017). Hemmert, Hovav and Kim (2011), found that because the collectivistic culture has high user demand for the internet, a positive adoption of new internet based resources occur. Furthermore, K. Backman, R. Backman, Chang & Huang (2015), state that the 3D virtual world will provide opportunities for destination marketing organizations to communicate with target markets by offering a rich environment for potential visitors to explore destinations. This gives marketers the ability to target South Korean travelers on their most preferred platform when information searching about travel to Australia (Tourism Australia, 2016).

6 2.2 Challenges Being the leading nation of innovation, challenges surface when exporting to the South Korean market. To enter this market, marketing efforts will require adapting to new technologies at a fast rate (Johnson, Lee, 2017). Further, cultural differences are a common barrier when going international, Australia Zoo would have to consider what the South Koreans genuinely value. Hofstede (2001) categorizes national culture into specific dimensions that affect values and social practices; uncertainty avoidance is one of the many, which South Korea scores highly upon (85/100). The score explains the beliefs on why South Koreans are more likely to favour new technologies, as they trust that it minimizes uncertainties in future decision making (Johnson, Lee, 2017). Therefore, a main consideration for Australian exporters is to also account for Language differences. Although South Koreans have become accepting to the usage of English mainly due to a growing globalized mindset, English proficiency still remains at a moderate level, particularly in communicative skills, linguacultural factors largely into this according to studies (Fayzrakhmanova, 2015). International businesses would have to consider producing content in Korean to avoid misunderstandings. The international market is highly appealing yet challenging, competitors have already been seen adopting VR technologies to attract more international customers (See appendix C). The Perceptual Map below briefly presents Australia Zoos position as an association with large digital following on social media, but it still has potential to nurture its range of audience. Large amounts of International travellers head to where they can seek the most fun, as figures show that Gold Coast, the home of Movie World and several other theme parks, attract more traffic than the Sunshine Coast where Australia Zoo reside (Roy Morgan Research, 2015).

7 Figure 1: Perceptual Map

8 3.0 Evaluation and recommendations After analyzing the current market situation in South Korea, it would be highly relevant to go forward with ceasing the opportunity to run a mobile friendly marketing campaign targeting more Korean tourists coming through the doors of Australia Zoo. The main recommended course of action will be provided in this section as a guide to how the campaign will be shaped, and essentially measured. The marketing campaign will focus on using paid ads on popular digital channels in South Korea including KakaoTalk, Facebook and Naver (Koh, Shin, 2016). Distributing an assortment of content that will involve Virtual Reality videos to enhance user engagement on mobile devices. To aid this digital marketing campaign, it will be beneficial to not only utilize networking relationships such as Austrade and KAFTA, but also partnering up with an agency who understands marketing requirements for the local market. South Korean culture is long term orientated and they like to do business with people they know (Hofstede, 2001). Therefore, actions will be initially discussed with iprospect, a global digital marketing agency who has experiences in South Korea as well as in Australia, before making a joint effort to deliver the marketing material (See appendix D). As discussed previously in section 2.2, Australia Zoo must account for the language barrier that exists within the target market. Ensuring ads are predominately in Korean, allowing easier understanding. It is likely that more South Korean users will be landing onto the Australia Zoo website, therefore necessary that the website developers allow an option for translation to Korean. The campaign will be set to run for 6 months, measuring success through digital analytics and overall ticket purchases from Korean Travelers at Australia Zoo.

9 3.1 Consumer insight justification Communicating information is only an initial step to digital marketing today, but by adding optical value to the service allows the brand to attract and retain consumer attention (Johnson, Lee, 2017). As mentioned previously in Hofstedes studies, consumers in South Korea expect higher perceived benefits when goods and services marketed seem to have newer and more features (Johnson, Lee, 2017). Therefore, due to these trends that has also increased smartphone consumption in South Korea, growing needs for new VR experiences is evolving. Frequent engaging VR content must be delivered onto the chosen social platforms. 3.2 Branding Modification It is required that Australia Zoo consider their branding strategy to the South Koreans, as different cultures have different opinions (Hofstede, 2001). As previously mentioned, South Koreans will prefer reading in their language, therefore it is essential to moderate the use of language to Korean in marketing material, especially on KakaoTalk which is predominately a Korean national platform (Jin, Yoon, 2014). In relevance, the official website must also have Korean translation developed to feed the consumer journey into making that purchasing decision. 3.3 Distribution strategy As mentioned, networking a positive relationship with iprospect will help aid distributing marketing material onto South Korean platforms. Seoul and Incheon will be the targeted locations, seeing as Seoul hosts the most populated city in South Korea, and Incheon who is the third most populated city, is also commonly recognized as the English city who are most accepting of international cultures (Finlay, 2017). The key to this campaign however, will be diving into KakaoTalk messenger, as it takes crown of the largest mobile application usage in South Korea (Jin, Yoon, 2014). With more than 90% of households having internet broadband access, KakaoTalk claims a majority of these users, taking in higher penetration than Facebook messenger and Navers LINE application mainly due to its virtual community impression which Koreans value in IT (Koh, Shin, 2016). Within

10 KakaoTalk, a channel under the name of Plus Friends is also featured, this is where the platforms marketing activity occurs as users are given the opportunity to connect with brands from different sectors. Users have the choice to add the brand as a friend in order to receive direct messages, similar to an subscription. International companies are seen to be already using this platform to attract potential consumers (see appendix C). Australia Zoo must create a distinct profile, as well as targeting consumers directly given that KakaoTalk provides this opportunity. A mass media population will be reached in this campaign, anticipative that even a small percentage of sales leads and conversions may lead to increased brand awareness and future visitors. If successful, an extension on top of the 6 months may be advantageous for further developing this relationship.

11 Appendices Appendix A: Q Pop celebrity endorsement, successfully run by Tourism Australia. Source: Korean Safari, Nothing Like Australia campaign marketed through Naver Source: Tourism Australia, From

12 Appendix B: Tourism Australias marketing campaign and scope for is highly relevant to Australia Zoos sector. Source: Tourism Australia, 2017 From

13 Appendix C: Screenshots of competitor VR/AI usage Movie world using 360 videography on Youtube Source: Youtube, 2017 From Tourism Australia, offering VR friendly content on their website Source: Tourism Australia, 2017 From

14 Appendix D: KakaoTalks Plus Friends channel allows brands to directly engage with users, or vice versa. Source KakaoTalk application, 2017 from:

15 Appedix E: Global digital marketing agency iprospect will help aid entry into South Korea. Source: iprospect, 2017 From

16 Reference List Atfield, C. (2016). Sunshine State counts on Rain to attract Korean tourists. Retrieved from Backman, K., Backman, S., Chang, L., & Huang, Y. (2015). Exploring the Implications of Virtual Reality Technology in Tourism Marketing: An Integrated Research Framework. International Journal of Tourism Research, 18(2), doi: /jtr.2038 Brengman, M., Kerrebroeck, H., & Willems, K. (2017). When brands come to life: experimental research on the vividness effect of Virtual Reality in transformational marketing communications. Virtual Reality, doi: /s Cho, H., Choi, J., Lee, S., Park, Y., & Seol, H. (2008). Internet Research. Customer satisfaction factors of mobile commerce in Korea, 18(3), doi: Fayzrakhmanova, Y. (2016). English in South Korea: Two Sides of the Same Coin. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 236, doi: /j.sbspro Finlay, J. (2016). Biggest Cities In South Korea. Retrieved from Forbes. (2016). South Korea. Retrieved from Hemmert, M., Hovav, A., & Kim, Y. J. (2011). Determinants of Internet standards adoption: The case of South Korea. Research Policy, 40(2), doi: /j.respol

17 Hoftstede, G. (2001). South Korea - Geert Hofstede. Retrieved from Jin, D. (2016). Understanding civic engagement in the smartphone era: Corporate sphere vs. public sphere. Development and Society, 45(2), doi: Jin, D., & Yoon, K. (2014). Reimagining smartphones in a local mediascape: A cultural analysis of young KakaoTalk users in Korea. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 22(5), doi: / Johnson, Z., & Lee, S. (2017). The effect of new product design and innovation on South Korean consumer s willingness to buy. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 29(1), doi: /apjml Kim, S. (2014). Estimating Productivity Growth In The Korean Economy Without Restrictive Assumptions. Contemporary Economic Policy, 32(2), doi: /coep Koh, J., & Shin, S. (2016). Analysis of mobile broadband service penetration in south korea. The Journal of Computer Information Systems, 57(1), doi: Luber, A. (2016). What Virtual Reality Will Mean for Advertising Think With Google. Retrieved from Roy Morgan research. (2015). Theme park travellers head to where the fun is. Retrieved from

18 Think with Google. (2017). Lessons Learned From Experiments in Creating VR Content. Retrieved from Tourism Australia. (2016). South Korea Market Profile. Retrieved from th_korea_final_copy.pdf Tourism Australia. (2017). Visitor Arrivals Data. Retrieved from