HONG KONG, July 20 /PRNewswire-Asia/ --
To promote its Weekend Through Train Travel Package, MTR has deployed novel marketing means in forwarding a personalized video (pVideo) to its registered users for trial. It is MTR's fresh initiative to run a viral marketing campaign through such a new one-to-one advertising medium which prevails in the European and the U.S. markets.
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The MTR Intercity Through Train's Personalized Video (pVideo), powered by Focus Imaging, was launched to promote its Weekend Through Train Travel Package which offers customers 40% discount on purchasing a set of round trip through train tickets + hotel and/or scenic spot tickets at 12 appointed agents. In supporting MTR, Focus Imaging produced and hosted the whole campaign, aiming to promote the pVideo across the Internet. This pVideo campaign is expected to broaden the existing customer database, enhance loyalty of customers and promote the brand image of the MTR Intercity Through Train. The campaign was an instant success and proved to be a milestone for one-to-one marketing and personalized video in Hong Kong.
Early this month, MTR has forwarded personalized eDMs to its existing customers who have made online booking for Intercity Through Train to promote the Weekend Through Train Package. Each of the eDMs includes a link of an Intercity Through Train pVideo unique to that customer. The pVideo simulates a TV news report on a special journey of the 'Intercity Through Train' inside a train carriage at the Hung Hom Railway Station. Everyone who receives the pVideo would find their names and faces shown on surrounding advertising panels, at the elevator and around the departure hall. The personalization of the pVideo conveys sincerity and a sense of belonging to the viewers and also represents the customized services offered by MTR. The pVideo is presented as a mock journey, depicting the speedy and convenient train service to through train passengers who can receive a unique personalized message while at the same time, get the latest marketing information of MTR's Weekend Through Train Travel Package offering 40% discount on through train tickets.
What makes the whole campaign special is that it involves interactive multimedia, including eDM, pVideo and pURL. Everyone who receives the pVideo can also get involved in the production of another unique pVideo. By simply entering a name and uploading a photo, the system will generate a new pVideo and send to the designated email account. The preliminary data showed that the email click-through rate of this pVideo campaign is 15 times higher than that of traditional emails. The average time each visitor spent on the pURL site is about 5 minutes 30 seconds - which is equivalent to eleven 30s-TV-Commercials. Moreover, viewers can even share the pVideo on Facebook and MSN platform. All these applications come together as one perfect solution to fully utilize the Internet and extend the power of viral marketing.
"To make a personalized flash-based video possible, it requires basically a special resource called VDP. VDP stands for Variable Data Publishing, which is able to process personalized materials like DM, eDM, micro-sites and video," said Kenny Lam, Technical Manager of Focus Imaging. "VDP technology can generate not only variable texts, but also variable graphics and videos. It is a popular one-to-one marketing tool widely used by many global enterprises in Europe and Japan. It can be incorporated into their own CRM system, achieving the maximum performance of one-to-one marketing. I believe VDP technology will soon become popular in the Hong Kong market too!"
Kenny added that the results of digital marketing campaign are traceable as the activities are all web-based. Marketers can track the campaign performance and receive analytics reports, which will be useful for future marketing campaign and business development.
Willy Lai, Business Manager of Focus Imaging, said that it is their first attempt to collaborate with MTR in this way. "Viral marketing has been very popular in foreign countries, but it was not yet very successful in Hong Kong so far. Many of the outstanding ones were actually created by Internet users. However, the MTR's pVideo campaign consists of personalized elements and involves the creativity of all Internet users. That explains why the campaign has achieved an excellent result and met our expectation. The MTR pVideo signifies a step forward for the development of digital marketing. It also proves an increased local awareness towards personalized video. I believe digital marketing is going to provoke a new wave in the local marketplace."
The MTR Intercity Through Train's pVideo is now available at http://www.pvideo.com.hk/mtr .
ABOUT pVideo
Personalized Video (pVideo) is a kind of Variable Data Publishing (VDP) products. VDP(http://www.focus-vdp.com) automates mass production of customized video with personalized elements (text, and image). It generates customized video with variable data such as name, photo, and personal message for every user. VDP pVideo can be used as a data-driven and one-to-one marketing tool. It enables effective Cross-Media campaigns together with the use of other VDP products including Direct Mailing (DM), Electronic Direct Mail (eDM), Personalized URL (pURL), and Personalized Game (pGame).
About Focus Imaging Limited
Focus Imaging Limited is a pioneer in the industry and a leading Digital Marketing expert in Asia. Since 1995, the company has grown and evolved through incessant technical investments and advancements. With more than 13 years of substantial know-how experience, Focus Imaging has been the mainstay in the industry providing services in Digital Marketing, Printing, Multimedia & Design, and IT Solutions with the elements of Variable Data Publishing (VDP).
Welcome to visit http://www.focus-global.com for more details.
About Weekend Through Train Travel Package
For enquiries, please click at http://www.it3.mtr.com.hk/b2c/CMS/Upload/Poster_Weekend_Package090627.jpg .
For Press Enquires:
Carol Lui
Marketing Communications Officer
Focus Imaging Limited
Tel: +852-3622-5233
Email: carollui@focus-global.com
