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2016 49th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences Did You LINE Today? Strategies for Creating LINE Online to Offline Customer Experiences Chien-I Weng Department of Information Management, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology [email protected] Hsi-Peng Lu Department of Information Management, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology [email protected] of new words. For example, the name of one of the more popular IM applications – LINE– has been repurposed as a verb, with users encouraging each other to “Please, LINE me.” LINE was developed by a Korean subsidiary of NHN Japan, allowing users to exchange text messages, voice calls or images through the Internet or mobile networks for free. LINE was launched on June 23, 2011, two years after the launch of a similar App – WhatsApp. However, WhatsApp cost US$0.99 to download from the Apple App Store, while LINE was offered completely free and included an everexpanding range of appealing emoticon-style stickers which allowed users to add emotional nuance and emphasis to their messages. This particularly appealed to users in Asia. LINE was launched in Taiwan with a large-scale marketing campaign, including celebrity endorsements and TV spots, with the intent of leveraging the close social ties between people in Taiwan and other countries and territories in Southeast Asia and the greater China region to spread the App’s visibility. More importantly, the expansion into Taiwan allowed LINE to leverage Taiwan’s expertise in marketing IT and mobile communications products to steal a march on other IM services. At the LINE Conference Tokyo 2014, CEO Akira Morikawa revealed that the application was adding new users at a rate of 70,000 per hour, and had a global user base of 560 million, of which 170 million had been active in the previous month. Every day, LINE users sent 13 billion messages, 3.4 million voice calls, and 170 million Timeline posts and messages, respectively representing annual growth of 87%, 120% and 202%. In addition, LINE Stickers had emerged as a revolutionary new communication medium, transcending international borders and languages to become a common language among people all over the world, with over 18 billion stickers sent every day [1]. Just as LINE was beginning to attract attention, additional add-ons were published to allow users to Abstract The popularity smart phones, mobile applications (Apps) have exploded in recent years creating unlimited business opportunities. Today’s customers desire to acquire not only software and products, but also memorable experiences. Using O2O (Online to Offline, Offline to Online) marketing strategies, customers interact with software and products in the real world that doing so will help them increase their imagination and enjoyment, providing them with different and memorable experiences. An exploratory qualitative study was undertaken using case study “LINE”. Data were collected from secondary documents and interviews with customers about LINE’s O2O services for creating customer experiences over the past three years. This study focuses on LINE’s integration of online App-based services and offline real-world marketing, categorizes these services into five types of experiential strategy models based on their different characteristics. We conclude with several lessons related to the integration of the virtual and physical worlds to create customer O2O experiences. 1. Introduction In recent years, with the development of mobile communication technologies and the widespread popularity of smart phones, tablet computers and other mobile devices, consumers have gradually become reliant on instant messaging (IM) applications as a primary means of communication. These applications not only provide immediate and free messaging, but can also transmit a range of other digital files including voice messages, video clips and images. These features have allowed such applications to emerge as a new trend in media communications, and their popularity among users have even contributed to the emergence 1530-1605/16 $31.00 © 2016 IEEE DOI 10.1109/HICSS.2016.270 Pei-Shan Wei Department of Information Management, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology [email protected] 2136 share games, photos, groups and music, and to handle in-app payments. While LINE’s basic services served a social function, the final goal was to create a platform which conveniently integrated the user’s social life, entertainment and consumption, creating a bridge between users, and between users and businesses. The key to this effort was a concept referred to as O2O, which stands for “Online to Offline, Offline to Online”. O2O is designed to combine online and offline activity to create an integrated marketing business model and has recently begun to attract considerable interest. O2O is narrowly defined as a means by which customers are motivated by online activity to purchase goods and services at a physical store. It is broadly defined as a means of transporting the consumer from an online environment into a physical environment, using online advertising (e.g., promotions, discounts, consumer information, and services) to transmit information from offline stores to online users. These users are then attracted to visit offline stores and venues, thus using the internet as a front-end for promoting offline sales and thus boosting offline “traffic” [2]. The goal of O2O is integrate the virtual and physical worlds, and transcend online/offline boundaries to completely satisfy consumer demand while collecting information on consumer demand preferences, thus allowing merchants to comprehensively improve their marketing efforts through precisely defining consumer groups, providing customized services, monitoring marketing effectiveness, controlling costs, and better integrating supply chains. Meyer and Schwager [3] defined customer experience as ‘the internal and subjective response that customers have to any direct or indirect contact with a company’ (p. 118). Customer experience is conceptualized as a psychological construct, which is a holistic, subjective response resulting from customer contact with the retailer and anything that allows customers to feel personally engaged with and immersed in their surroundings [4]. In terms of customer experience, this can include processes which attract individuals to various products and allow them to discover or create a personal connection with an object or brand [5]. When a brand makes a particular impact in the customer’s mind-space or life, the customer will retain a meaningful memory of the experience [6]. Today’s customers desire to acquire not only goods and products, but also memorable experiences. Digital service providers not only offer software, but also offer activities and services which integrate the real and virtual worlds to provide customers with greater opportunities to interact with products and brands, thus producing profound and moving experiences. 2137 Therefore, real-world retail design not only provides consumers an opportunity to experience the intrinsic value of goods and services, but also gives consumers access to different sensory experiences which can impart a range of messages related to the products or brands. In the past, studies of customer experience mostly treated real and virtual worlds as separate [7, 8, 9, 10], and few studies have examined the use of digital service platforms and environments to create an integrated online/offline consumer experience combining products, services and consumer interaction. This study focuses on LINE’s integration of online App-based services and offline real-world marketing, assessing the creation of strategies by the O2O customer experience. We conclude with suggestions for other service providers make good use of powerful O2O strategies to create customer experiences. 2. Theoretical background- Strategic experiential modules (SEMs) Schmitt [11, 12] noted that experiential marketing focuses on perception, behavior, interaction, emotion and cognition to create an emotional value which exceeds the functional value of the product. Experience includes the overall essence of life, normally created through direct observation or participation. Schmitt believed that the greatest difference between traditional marketing and experiential marketing lay in the fact that traditional marketing focused on product features and benefits, assumed competition among similar products, assumed that customers are rational, and adopted analytical/quantized/explicit marketing methods, whereas experiential marketing focused on the customer’s experience, attempting to compete by creating a consumer environment which creates value for the customer, assumes that customers are both rational and emotional, and adopts diverse/flexible marketing methods. Figure 1 shows the four key characteristics of experiential marketing. Customer Experience Methods are eclectic Experiential Marketing Consumption is a holistic experience Customers are rational and emotional animals Figure 1. Characteristics of experiential marketing (Source: Schmitt [12]). appeals to target customers’ convergent and divergent thinking through surprise, intrigue and provocation. On the other hand, the ‘Act’ marketing seeks to create long-term patterns of behavior and a lifestylebased customer experience, allowing customers to experience the results of changed behavior, which then drives changes in attitude, could enrich their lifestyles and behaviors. Finally, the ‘Relate’ experience refers to social experiences such as the connection with other people and group, thus helping consumers to establish a unique social recognition and achieve their desired social identity and position. RELATE marketing creates experiences by taking into account individuals’ desires to be part of a social context (e.g., to their selfesteem, being part of a subculture, or a brand community). Social-identity experiences result from relating to a reference group or culture. Besides, customers like to stay with the same brands because customers have an emotional bond with them and/or these brands express the customers’ identity and capture their aspirations [15]. (1) A Focus on Customer Experiences: Experiences provide sensory, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and relational values that replace functional values. (2) Consumption as a Holistic Experience: As customer experiences entail customer processes and responses, which are affected by (interactions between) aspects of all the retail environment, situation, and customer characteristics, the concept is holistic. We can said that: Ⱦ It is everything together that triggers a certain experience.” (3) Customers are Rational and Emotional Animals: Customers are emotionally as well as rationally driven. Furthermore, they are frequently driven by emotions because consumption experiences are often directed toward the pursuit of fantasies, feelings, and fun. (4) Methods and Tools are Eclectic: The methods and tools of an experiential marketer are diverse and multi-faceted. They may be verbal, taking the traditional format of a focus group, in-depth interview or questionnaire. Or they may be visual. There is no dogma here; it all depends on the objective. 3. Research Method Exploratory research often relies on secondary research such as reviewing available literature and/or data, or qualitative approaches such as informal discussions with customers. Using secondary data enables us to conduct studies of high-impact and highinteresting research questions then give more insight on the future works or potential research. An exploratory qualitative study was undertaken using case study “LINE”. Data were collected from secondary documents include news offered in articles, LINE official website and interviews with customers about LINE’s O2O services for creating customer experiences over the past three years. This study focuses on LINE’s integration of online App-based services and offline real-world marketing. We used RSS feeds to receive timely updates from related websites including: Business Next, Chinatimes, The Next Web, TechNode, which are online publications that delivers an international perspective on the latest news about Internet technology and business. These more than 100 “LINE” related newspaper articles and documents were analyzed using a comparative, thematic approach focusing on the detection of “experiences” themes and the online/ offline marketing strategies. On the other hand, we interview 10 LINE users to gain an understanding of LINE’s O2O services for creating customer experiences. Interviewees were asked questions including: (1) describe how they experienced using LINE multiple Apps, (2) talk Schmitt [12] applied personal psychology and social behavior models and concepts to propose a framework of strategic experiential modules (SEMs) in which experiential marketing strategy designs can be categorized as being based on five different forms of interaction: sense, feel, think, act and relate. The ‘Sense’ experience channels the consumer’s sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell functions to create inner joy, excitement and beauty, thus increasing customer motivation, along with product recognition and value. Sensory experience directly creates a vivid and realistic experience of aesthetics [13]. Physical sense perception varies with the individual’s surroundings to produce different messages which elicit different results. “Theme” is one of the most powerful tools for creating and maintaining a brand’s aesthetic identity [14]. The ‘Feel’ experience focuses more on its affective side such as moods and emotions. Marketers need to understand how various stimuli can drive consumer sentiment, encourage active participation on the part of the consumer, and create positive associations of joy and pride. The ‘Think’ experiential marketing seeks to create surprise and excitement, encouraging customers to engage in creative thinking to re-evaluate the value conferred by new products and services. THINK 2138 anything about their attitudes toward LINE FRIENDS characters (3) how they experience about LINE diverse arrangement of real-world experiential activities and marketing strategies. The data analysis has been executed using the approach of structured content analysis for semistructured interviews. Two researchers were involved in the coding process, which helped to safeguard against the criticism of subjectivity, hermeneutics and value-load. The interview texts were analyzed line by line, and pertinent excerpts were assigned provisional conceptual experiences codes (i.e., Sense, Feel, Think, Act and Relate) when at least two interviewees spoke of a similar concept. LINE stickers can be broadly categorized as free or paid, with the free sticker series including the basic LINE FRIENDS character sets such as Brown, Cony, Moon and James. In addition, merchants were offered the option to register official accounts by which they could provide branded sticker sets for free download, thus using stickers to publicize their brands, products, services or events. Users then use these stickers in messages sent to their LINE friends, thus helping the merchants achieve favorable brand exposure. LINE’s paid sticker series were released in collaboration with the publishers and illustrators of popular cartoon characters in response to customer demand. Topical and timely Sticker sets were also released to create topics of conversation, such as the global “Gangam Style” craze in 2012, or the 2014 World Cup. According to official reports, Stickers earned the company US$25.7 million in 4Q13, accounting for between 20-30% of total revenues [16]. In addition in April 2014, LINE opened the Creators Market platform allowing independent content creators to generate their own sticker sets. Once the stickers are approved by LINE, they are offered for sale, with revenue split evenly between LINE and the content creator. After six months, personalized stickers had been created by over 270,000 registered creators in 145 countries, generating a total of US$30 million from 35.95 million sales [17]. In fact, LINE stickers are not the main feature of the LINE communications software, but have emerged as a new form of interaction as users transmit them with their friends. 4. Research Results- How does LINE create O2O experiences? Experiential marketing creates marketing strategies centered around human interests, giving brands a emotional “human taste” in addition to their rational, functional benefits. This creates an opportunity for the customer to experience products as part of their life, both online and offline. It can also use high technology to enhance interaction and communication, thus creating unique and innovative experiences. Based on these definitions, this study examines the development of LINE’s O2O services for creating customer experiences. According to the results of the data analysis, we find out LINE’s online and offline strategies, summarized in the below sections. Over time, these strategies will help LINE influence customer habits and lead to the development of a unique lifestyle. LINE differentiated itself from other IM services through unique characteristics and strategies to grow operating revenue to US$200 million in 3Q14, with 170 million active users each month [16]. 4.2 Entertaining interactive social games In addition to communication services, LINE also offers games. Starting with the July 2012 launch of LINE Brizzle, LINE now offers about 60 different games. LINE games have been downloaded 440 million times, and generated US$143 million in revenue in 1Q14, accounting for 60% of total revenue [18]. The company’s game development philosophy is to let players share LINE Games with their LINE friends, and to interact through game rankings, invitations and interactive rewards, thus enhancing the game’s entertainment value and achieving viral dissemination. Furthermore, LINE games are designed around social interaction and to encourage users to invite their friends to participate, thus achieving viral dissemination. In addition, LINE Games are designed to be as simple as possible to use, feature simple intuitive user interfaces and LINE FRIENDS characters, with beautiful graphics and highly aesthetic design, providing the user with a rich and engaging visual and auditory experience, making them attractive 4.1 Stickers created a break from past communication modes Today’s internet users suffer from data overload and are easily distracted. It is in this context that images have emerged as one of the most popular forms of content on the internet and a new mode of interpersonal communication. The stickers craze began in Asia, where simply selecting a “You’re the best!” sticker is much easier than writing out a message in stroke-based languages. Where users previously had to type out their messages, now they can express their thoughts and emotions more efficiently through stickers, thus speeding up the rate of communication while simultaneously increasing interaction. 2139 to casual gamers of all ages attracting many users who do not otherwise frequently play digital games. In addition, to ensure the continuous development of new and high quality games, LINE regularly reviews and retires games that have peaked in popularity, thus concentrating resources to provide users with a more interactive gaming experience, thus developing LINE Games into a global gaming platform. services, including those from LINE’s partner merchants and applications from other internet service providers. LINE Maps for Indoor-help users find specific merchants inside department stores, malls and other large buildings while providing additional information such as opening hours and telephone numbers. LINE@ID- used in a more public, open platform on which users can communicate with a wider audience. 4.3 Gift economy – get them hooked and then charge 4.5 Real-world experiential activities: In the offline world, LINE has developed a diverse arrangement of real-world experiential activities and marketing strategies around the popular LINE FRIENDS characters, thus creating a series of new business opportunities as follows: z Peripheral product boutiques: LINE FRIENDS Pop-Up Store: These shops sell a range of LINE FRIENDS products including dolls, figurines, household items and stationery, rolling out new products and activities on an irregular basis. The first store opened in Myeongdong, Korea in 2014, followed by stores in Taipei and New York, with future plans for stores in Thailand, Indonesia and elsewhere. z Cross-industry applications: TV advertisements: LINE has many users in Asia, and the company has released multiple campaigns of creative television commercials to introduce the public to new and existing LINE services. In Thailand, the ȾCloserȿ campaign won the Silver Medal at the 2014 International Asia Pacific AdFest [21]. In Taiwan, the “LINE Pokopang” campaign featured bright colors and fast-paced action to introduce the game to local audiences. Highlighting the game’s simple presentation, engaging features and rich audiovisual elements, the advertisement made a deep impression with Taiwan casual gamers and met with high acclaim. z Real-world activities and exhibitions: LINE Games Experience House: A showcase for new LINE games, providing users with game demos, downloads and competitions. The venue includes displays of various LINE characters complete with QR codes which players can scan with their smart phones to download and install the various games. This kind of activity not only brings users directly into the game play experience, but also helps LINE game designers learn more about the preferences and tastes of users in different regions, allowing them to further improve products and services to better suit specific needs. z Merchandise licensing: LINE Stickers were instrumental in the successful popularization of The market features many similar Apps, and most such Apps are offered free of charge in an attempt to accumulate a large user base. However, free Apps have revenue generating potential among certain user groups and, in the past year, free Apps have actually generated more revenue than paid Apps through advertising or in-app upgrades or other purchases to unlock additional features. Although LINE Games are free to download, some players become heavily invested in their performance. When they find themselves unable to advance through a particularly difficult level, they can purchase a cheat code or other means of advancing from LINE Games. While more rational players would not make such purchases, players who are more completely immersed in the experience may be motivated if it allows them to continue advancing through the game. Therefore, in addition to their entertainment value, free games also feature many “purchase points”, providing users with added value in exchange for in-game payments. 4.4 Building brand loyalty and a holistic experience through a family of Apps Since launching as a free instant message platform in June 2011, LINE has continue to add new services, leveraging its growing user base and high active user rate to expand the LINE family of Apps to provide communications services, digital content, tools, media, payment gateways and other services. Currently LINE offers over 60 different Apps, each of which is completely integrated into the LINE communications platform, thus providing the user and his/her friends with a cohesive and comprehensive set of diverse services. As of June 2014, LINE and its associated family of Apps had been downloaded more than one billion times [19]. The rollout of these Apps shows that users are highly receptive to other LINE app products, and that they help LINE to build brand trust, relevance and loyalty. In October 2014, LINE introduced three new large-scale O2O services [20]: LINE Payallowing smart phone users to purchase a wide range of 2140 LINE FRIENDS character. As a result of the active commercialization of Stickers, LINE FRIENDS character merchandise can be found everywhere in Japan today. The success of LINE FRIENDS character has increased the visibility of the LINE brand. The rollout of this brand concept and these characters overseas has brought new revenue sources, such as the licensing of LINE FRIENDS character to UNIQLO for use on LINE-themed T-shirts. that “they have trouble passing up the LINE FRIENDS characters products because they are super cute.” LINE has successfully combined network services with realworld activities to play an important role in the customer’s daily life, gradually moving towards building a comprehensive platform for life and work. 5. Discussion- LINE O2O strategic experiential modules Figure 2 summarizes the findings of this study, showing that LINE has developed a universal environment for today’s mobile networks and devices to satisfy the public’s desire for social interaction and entertainment. Most interviewees stated that the development of a variety of LINE applications satisfied different daily needs in their life, while providing means for creating topics of interest, social influence and network externalities. Thus, driving a rapid increase in the number of users and creating a unique social phenomenon around the LINE platform. In addition to function, modern customers demand that goods and services meet their emotional needs as well. Experiential marketing approaches focus on the customer’s experience in interacting with a product or service, and stress communication with the customer to ensure that the merchandise can connect with the customer’s inner feelings and emotions. Schmitt [12] defined experience as being composed of five elements: Sense, Feel, Think, Act and Relate. According to the results of the data analysis , we find out these elements are treated as follows in the present study: (1) Sense is defined as the customer’s aesthetic experience manifested online through LINE Stickers and LINE Friends, and offline through licensed LINE Friends merchandise. (2) Feel is defined as the customer’s sense of interactive entertainment, manifested online through various interactive games and content, and offline through activities and exhibitions. (3) Think is defined as the customer’s interaction with technology, manifested online through applications which exist on multiple screens, integrating cell phones, PCs and televisions in a seamless interactive experience. For example, LINE Games played on television or PC feature ads which drive game downloads to smart phones or table computers. Offline, Think is experienced through physical interactions with technologies applications, such as through QRcodes used to purchase/install games, or through activities based on augmented reality Apps in which users scan real-world artifacts to engage in online exploration and play. (4) Act is defined as long-term behavior and product loyalty through the continuous release of new Apps to provide users with added convenience. Offline, Act takes the form of cross-industry alliances which create new experiences in customers’ lives and maintain constant exposure to the LINE brand, such as through the development of television content to expand to a younger market. In addition, LINE creates advertisements to introduce new services and games, and also has teamed up with established department stores, restaurants, and taxi services to introduce new O2O Apps. (5) Relate is defined as one’s connections with others through LINE’s communication and community Apps, along with LINE’s official website Environment z Development of mobile technology and internet z Widespread use of personal mobile devices z Social influence/Network externalities Life Platform Human needs Online services Offline services Figure 2. LINE O2O services to fit environment and fulfill human needs. The remarkable popularity of LINE FRIENDS characters and LINE Games has allowed for the successful development of peripheral offline products, including LINE FRIENDS character merchandise and interactive exhibitions. Some interviewees indicated 2141 First, this study contributes to the value literature by explain a wide range of App-related usage behaviors. Previous customer experience literature has focused on online experience-centric services. However, the present study results show that the customers experience is holistic in nature in other kind of real-world experiential activities. It also supports research evidence showing that providing well consumption experience service would contribute to increase consumer’s perceived values and directly affect the behavioral intentions of consumers [22, 23]. Second, our results empirically evidenced that contextual factor especially entertainment factor was play an important role affecting mobile technology use. “Playfulness” always has been important part to humankind no matter in virtual or real world. This finding demonstrates that consumption values are not absolutely independent in mobile technology product function; the correlations between consumption values and the related service of products need more attention. This study also makes several practical contributions. Our findings can help practitioners apply the results to their marketing strategies. First, technology is used to improve the quality of human life, the purpose of the development of mobile technology and related service are to enhance and enrich consumers’ lives and satisfy their needs. Developers should consider the element of usage context into the mobile App and service design. Second, practitioners besides enrich the functions of Apps also need to keep Apps eye-catching, highlight the social aspect of their Apps and fascinatingly appealing to stimulate consumers increasing and intense epistemic curiosity to use Apps. Furthermore, the social element makes a App “sticky” [24]; therefore, administrators should provide ways for users to help grow the user base. With the raise of experiencing economy, marketers have paid more attention to rethink their marketing strategy in order to fulfill consumer’s experience and improve their perceived value. We summarize our finding and give some lesson learned for App developers and marketing managers. and Facebook fan pages. Offline, LINE users Relate with each other through real-world activities organized based on shared interests, thus generating social recognition and a sense of belonging. This study examined Online and Offline services offered by LINE and categorized these services into five types of experiential strategy models based on their different characteristics (See Table 1). Table 1. LINE O2O strategic experience model Experience Sense (Aesthetic) Online Roles LINE FRIENDS characters Feel (Entertainment) Games, Content Offline Peripheral merchandise Derivative products based on LINE FRIENDS characters Social games Content Experiential activities LINE Games Experience House, Themed Interactive Exhibits Think (Technology) Multi-screen services Smart phone , Tablet computer, Personal computer, Television Technical innovation QR codes Augmented Reality 3D Technical Act (Long-term behavior) Continuous rollout of new Apps, enhancing customer convenience Continuing to roll out new games and enhance the convenience of new services Cross-industry applications embedded in daily life TV cartoons and advertising to introduce new services and games. Department stores, restaurants, taxis Relate (Connections) Online communities Sense of belonging Official website, fan pages and inter-user communication. Interaction between LINE communication, community services Linking people with common hobbies and interests to generate a sense of social ownership 6.1 The power of 厴 (Moe) or “adorableness” Over the past few years, LINE’s performance has been impressive in comparison with that of Facebook and Google. LINE stickers were an immediate success with users, and emerged as an aspect of Japan’s Moe (厴̉) culture. Moe is a Japanese slang word and is also a well-known loan word used in greater China. The word has come to be used to mean "adorable" or "cute", mainly as applied to fictional characters [25]. 6. Conclusions- Lessons learned In terms of research contribution, this study contributes to both theory and practice. From the theoretical standpoint, this study improves on prior research effort to understand the virtual and physical strategies to create customer O2O experiences and consumer behavior regarding mobile technology. 2142 This is reflected in one of the original series of LINE FRIENDS character – Brown and Cony. These cartoon characters were immediately popular among young women in Asia. Today, LINE has strong footholds in Japan, Taiwan and other Asian markets, and has excellent potential in the Middle East and Latin America. By using the power of 厴 (Moe), LINE has pioneered a new way of generating revenue from customers. LINE first successfully deployed the concept of 厴 (Moe) in its LINE Stickers products then used to develop innovative new revenue models. First, rather than seeking to maximize small B2C payments from retail users for Stickers, LINE wisely realized that it would be easier to drive revenue from corporations through a B2B2C model. The company thus introduced official LINE accounts for enterprises to attract customers. These On-Air interactive approaches provided enterprises with new means of reaching customers and increasing brand exposure. Second, the LINE Creator Market allowing users from around the world to create and sell their own Sticker sets. This new internet business model gives individual creators the opportunity to earn global recognition for their work. Stickers aren’t just cute, but also have strategic importance and are a source of huge marketing opportunities and profitability. While China’s WeChat and Korea’s Kakao Talk Apps have also actively promoted their own Stickers features, LINE has the advantages of being the first mover and high penetration rates, and has maintained its market dominance. In addition to operating the community platform, LINE also is actively developing cross-industry alliances and branching out into new areas, including e-commerce services, film and television, and other cultural and creative industries. For example, to take advantage of huge opportunities to be had from timesensitive and impulsive mobile shoppers, in 2014 the company launched LINE MALL and LINE Pay, suggesting a future showdown between LINE and the likes of Rakuten and Amazon. Integration of realworld channels and cross-industry partnerships act to combine the communications software with enterprise marketing, encouraging more users to converge on the platform. Disseminating messages and marketing information across a single, unified platform allows merchants to leverage Big Data resources and thus open further opportunities. Its O2O tactics and product introductions are ways of enlarging the ecosystem and strengthening the links to its consumers. 6.3 Emerged as a lifestyle phenomena and created an ecosystem With the development of mobile internet communications technology and devices such as smart phones and tablet computers, mobile applications have been developed to provide users with anywhere/anytime access to information, entertainment. The popularity of such Apps has exploded in recent years, greatly enhancing user convenience and creating unlimited business opportunities. LINE began by providing a highly popular mobile instant messaging App and quickly developed a huge and growing user base as mobile instant messaging began to rapidly supplant traditional newsletters and email-based text transmission services. These Apps have emerged as a key communications tool for time-sensitive users, and are likely to drive the next wave of business opportunities in communications as they become a new and important marketing medium, evolving in step with peoples’ online lives. Today it is no longer sufficient for marketers to simply emphasize a brand or product quality. Beyond a simple product or service, customers want to know: how can this purchase help me achieve my ideal life? What kind of experience will it give me? How will this connect me with other people? Will this bring me happiness? In the “experience economy” brand marketing is a lifestyle and art, with people cultivating their taste and lifestyle through their experience of consuming. Experiential marketing creates interactive stories between people and businesses. LINE has successfully created user stickiness through its communication, gaming and other Apps, engaging the 6.2 Diverse application and Generating buzz In practice, experiential marketing establishes relevance with the customer, embedding the brand in the customer’s mind. Thus, when buying similar items, the customer will naturally seek out a brand with which he/she already feels familiar. LINE’s high rates of user activity are driven by the company’s continually expanding range of services. These services further enrich the variety of content and increase usability, indicating that LINE is continuously increasing the integration of digital data and technical resources to enhance its economies of scale in the App market. New technology serves to deepen the interactivity of these Apps, thus improving communication between people and their devices, among people, and among communities. 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Backman, “An examination of golf travelers satisfaction, perceived value, loyalty, and intentions to revisit”, Tourism Analysis, 2002, 6, pp. 223-237. user’s attention and then using real-world activities and exhibits to creatively enrich the customer’s consuming context, thus giving the customer a memorable experience that cannot be achieved in a virtual environment. In its current form, LINE has developed from a simple communications tool to take on cultural significance, exerting a profound impact on the lifestyles of its users. Today, LINE has strong footholds in Japan, Taiwan and other Asian markets, and has excellent potential in the Middle East and Latin America. It is difficult to categorize LINE as a simple social networking service (SNS), as it has emerged as a social phenomena and “lifestyle platform” in its own right and has created an ecosystem for its customers to live in. What’s next for LINE? We’ll have to wait and see. 7. Limitations and directions for future research Although our study highlights some new and interesting results and implications, this study is not without limitations and questions that warrant future research. First, the topic researched is LINE, other social networking services/ Apps such as WeChat and Facebook could be investigated to extend this work. Second, although this is one of the first studies to examine LINE O2O marketing strategies influences on implicit customers’ experience, it is limited because we used only a secondary data analysis and few users’ interview data. Future research might address different kinds of data collection methods to support such research. Third, we used a convenience interview in Taiwan. The results of this study cannot be generalized to different geographic locations. It would be interesting for future researchers to investigate whether different cultures may have different value structures and different behavior patterns. 8. 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