Franchises Risk Spending 10 Billion Won on Marketing... Fighting for Survival

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] The dining industry, pushed to the brink by the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), is putting its life on the line with marketing efforts for survival.

According to the dining industry on the 10th, the large chicken franchise BBQ recently held a sensational discount event offering a 7,000 won discount when ordering chicken through its official app for one month, reportedly spending about 10 billion won on marketing costs. This event was launched following the web entertainment show "Nego King," released on the YouTube channel "Dalla Studio" on the 7th of last month. Singer Hwang Kwang-hee and Yoon Hong-geun, chairman of Genesis BBQ, negotiated chicken prices, resulting in a contract to provide customers with a 7,000 won discount for one month when ordering through the BBQ app. The discounted 7,000 won was fully borne by the headquarters without any burden on franchise stores.

During this period, the number of official app members of BBQ surged from about 300,000 on the 3rd of last month to 2.16 million as of the 7th, a sevenfold increase. This can be seen as a "discount carpet bombing" spending nearly 10 billion won at once to defend sales amid COVID-19. A BBQ official said, "Since the dining industry is stagnant due to COVID-19, this is an effort to inject vitality and also a gesture of customer appreciation," adding, "Franchise owners are very grateful, saying it has helped them a lot."

As competition intensifies in the food delivery market in the COVID-19 era, such "cutthroat competition" in the dining industry is becoming full-fledged. Coffee specialty store Coffee Bean is running a "1+1" event where customers who purchase one drink receive another free. Hollys Coffee offers a free cold brew coffee when ordering an egg mayo menu. Individual restaurants are also conducting various events, such as giving free side menus like drinks, side dishes, or cheese balls to delivery customers who leave good reviews on delivery apps like Baedal Minjok.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.