We’ve all heard of B2B, B2C even C2C as the basic business model. Recently, when I was browsing my ” Chinese twitter” account Sina Weibo I saw my friend’s post about her Starbucks Xmas Wish, I starting to know the this new term O2O. O2O, Online To Offline, is a new business mode combining the online shopping and the front line transactions.
Starbucks integrates online with offline to drive store traffic
This year, Starbucks China prepares the Christmas season with a strong marketing push that often integrates an O2O (online to offline) dimension. The brand was amongst the first to use JiePang (the Chinese Foursquare) and then WeChat to drive store traffic.
Starbucks has created a promotional mini site around the idea of sharing wishes ahead of the Christmas season. Visitors must first log-in through Sina Weibo. They are then brought to a map tool showing the Starbucks shops closest to them as the map shown above. After choosing their shop, visitors must send out a virtual wish, choose the gift that they want and share it with their friends on Sina Weibo. The first persons to send out a wish for each location become the “Mayor” of that particular store and must then try to get as many of their friends to virtually join them in that store as possible. Most successful mayors will win Starbucks branded goodies and coffee coupons.
Starbuck’s example shows how indispensable O2O has become in modern online campaigns and how important it is to give “virtual face” to campaign participants.
Sources:
http://president-starbucks.com.cn/xmas.html
http://www.damndigital.com/zh-tw/archives/106390
http://blog.reallifeconnect.com/best-practice-concept-for-an-o2o-marketing-strategy-by-providing-an-infinite-brand-experience/