Great expectations: Lotte Duty Free unveils its first major post-COVID marketing campaign
SOUTH KOREA. Lotte Duty Free is to hold what it called its first major promotional and marketing event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic amid rising expectations for a rapid resumption of overseas travel.
Korea’s number one and world’s number two travel retailer said that as COVID-19 quarantine restrictions are eased around the world, the duty free industry has started to prepare to seriously welcome travelers. clients. While the Republic still registers more than 240,000 new cases of COVID-19 per day, the country is steadily progressing towards a Policy of “living with COVID” which will certainly be maintained regardless of the outcome of the presidential elections this week.
Lotte Duty Free, led by CEO Kap Lee, plans to boost its marketing to Koreans in line with the recently announced lifting of the outbound duty-free purchase limit of USD 5,000 (KRW 6 million) this month.
Lotte Duty Free will offer Korean customers who spend more than USD 5,000 at the retailer’s downtown stores after the purchase limit is abolished up to KRW 960,000 (USD 790) from LDF PAY – points of payment that can be used like cash.
‘No worries about the previous allocation limit. Shop with freedom at Lotte Duty Free’ broadcasts the message in Korean, while simultaneously the new brand icons for the travel retailer’s visual identity are revealed
Lotte Duty Free described the campaign, which runs until May 1, as its “biggest giveaway event ever”. Additionally, customers who have achieved a combined online and offline spend of $10,000 by June will have the option to upgrade their LVIP membership.
At the same time, the retailer will offer incentives in the form of boarding passes for “charter flights to nowhere” – flights that leave Korean airspace without landing overseas and that allow duty-free purchases on board.
“No landing” or “flights to nowhere” has become an original feature of South Korea’s COVID-19 era. This promotion of 2021 highlights such an initiative by Lotte Duty Free in partnership with Air Busan.
These will apply to Air Busan flights departing from Gimpo Airport in Seoul on March 19 and 26 and from Gimhae Airport in Busan on March 26. Boarding passes will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis to Korean customers who spend more than USD 550 per day at branches in Seoul and Busan.
The promotional campaign also includes a dedicated discount event. From March 7, products from several renowned international brands, including Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch, Bali and Versace, will be sold with discounts of up to -80%. Valmont and Charlotte Tilbury organize various activities such as the distribution of gifts based on purchase levels.
Fly high with a new visual identity
Along the same lines, Lotte Duty Free recently revamped its downtown Korean stores with a new visual identity.
The characteristics of each duty-free category – such as cosmetics, fashion and consumer technology devices – are graphically shaped using six types of hot air balloons adorned with the message “Free travel in the post-Corona era”.
Lotte Duty Free plans to feature these graphic images in its online and offline stores and at various customer touch points such as shopping bags, VIP cards and the official website.
Lee Sang-jin, Head of Marketing Division of Lotte Duty Free, said, “As the resumption of daily life approaches, the demand for overseas travel is gradually increasing.
