The Pyeongchang Organising Committee (POCOG) has launched the second phase of its multi-platform 2018 Winter Olympic ticket campaign – opening up online sales to next year’s Games.
The online and mobile sales strand – which operates on a first-come, first-served basis – began on Tuesday, 5 September in South Korea with a relatively aggressive publicity and marketing work.
The dual domestic and international campaign is spearheaded by a re-released version of the ticket campaign’s hero film (the first version of which debuted back in January during the first ‘ballot’ sale phase) which is running across traditional channels such as television,
as well as online channels (such as Twitter).
Online general sales for the #PyeongChang2018 have opened today in Korea!#올림픽 입장권 실시간 판매 시작!
경기 일정 확인하고 입장권 구입하려면
https://t.co/nE6i4B0mOJ pic.twitter.com/xpIwq2SLDs— PyeongChang 2018 (@pyeongchang2018) September 5, 2017
This spearhead spot is supported by additional ‘direct ticket sales’ digital and social executions on Weibo, Instagram,
and Twitter.
#2018평창 동계올림픽 입장권 실시간 판매가 시작되었다! 열심히 훈련 중인 선수들에게 응원 메시지 남겨주시면 추첨을 통해 푸짐한 선물을 드려요.
지금 응원댓글 남기러 가기: https://t.co/h02x1JGK2F pic.twitter.com/hrVLuSaGvv— PyeongChang 2018 (@pyeongchang2018) September 5, 2017
What are some verbs that can express the Olympic Winter Games?#feel #enjoy #scream
평창올림픽 & 패럴림픽 입장권 절찬리 판매 중!
https://t.co/Ii2AVAVzbO pic.twitter.com/qlKAAkqKyX— PyeongChang 2018 (@pyeongchang2018) September 6, 2017
"9월 5일 오후 2시 평창올림픽 입장권 실시간 판매 개시, 대통령 홍보대사도 광클에 뛰어들다!" 입장권 구매 사이트 ☞ https://t.co/ypKnqT4afJ@moonriver365 #문재인 #대통령 #든든한응원 #입장권 #실시간 #판매 pic.twitter.com/y2N9atQRDE
— PyeongChang 2018 (@pyeongchang2018) September 5, 2017
Plus there is also a fresh wave of parallel non ticket-specific, engagement focused content ranging from emotional film,
and the Games’ ‘Let Everyone Shine’ anthem video,
to spots following the ongoing adventures of the Pyeongchang 2018 mascot Soohorang.
The online ticket sales phase also coincided with the launch of the torch design,
The design of the #PyeongChang2018 Paralympic torch has been released!
인간의 무한한 잠재력으로 세계인의 화합을 가져올 #2018평창 동계패럴림픽대회 성화봉이 공개되었어요! @Paralympics pic.twitter.com/rzWFgEfW9T— PyeongChang 2018 (@pyeongchang2018) September 8, 2017
while an additional, ongoing Games’ support marketing strand featuring athletes and celebrities also continues to run in parallel with the specific ticket sales activity.
Comment:
Early, unconfirmed reports suggest that locals bought a further 17,000 tickets on the first two days of resumed online sales.
But organisers have admitted that it has sold fewer tickets than it had previously hoped during the first ‘application lottery’ sales phase.
This initial wave earlier this year saw organisers offer 162,000 tickets in an application lottery, but they have thus far only sold 52,000 of those tickets (plus a further 177,000 to overseas fans).
In total there are 1.18 million tickets for the two-week event held in February 2018: 70% of these are being allotted to South Korean residents and 30% to overseas fans and sponsors.
Thus far, only 20% of the total tickets have been sold with only five months to go to the opening ceremony.
“It’s true that the first-phase sale was rather disappointing,” said POCOG media spokeperson Song Hun-Seok.
“But we will make efforts to create a greater Olympic buzz with various build-up events” including performances and street campaigns, he said.
There is plenty of speculation surrounding these slow sales: not least because the 2018 Pyeongchang Games is hosted in a nation with a limited winter sports tradition that is a long distance from the Winter Games’ traditional core markets of Europe and North America.
But the media have also cited other issues, from South Korea’s biggest political scandal in years, to the concern around recent North Korean nuclear weapons testing.
A third ticket sales phase will commence in November, when POCOG plans to start selling tickets offline at airports and train stations and a further integrated ad campaigns are planned for television, newspapers, cinemas and online.
Links:
Pyeongchang 2018:
https://www.pyeongchang2018.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/PyeongChang201
https://twitter.com/PyeongChang2018
https://www.facebook.com/PyeongChang2018
https://www.instagram.com/pyeongchang2018/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pyeongchang2018_kr
http://www.weibo.com/pyeongchang2018
