BUSAN, South Korea, Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The MICE industry is one of the many contributors to environmental degradation. The air and ground travel that bring visitors to MICE events around the world contributes to carbon emissions, while the waste generated at MICE events is another major pollution factor. Recognizing these issues and understanding the need for sustainability, Busan and the BTO CVB are striving to operate MICE events in ways that align with ESG management principles. The goal of Busan's sustainable MICE approach is to prepare environmentally-responsible events, while maximizing community participation and overall impact. Fulfilling social responsibilities during MICE events and reporting the effectiveness of ESG at MICE events are also key objectives.
In 2022, the "2022 Busan Sustainable MICE Event Management Guidelines" were released, capturing the attention of the MICE industry. These guidelines offer a range of useful measures for protecting the environment while hosting successful MICE events. The guidelines provide detailed examples and recommendations to assist companies that may encounter challenges when establishing ESG strategies and goals for events, as well as assistance in preparing operational manuals. As they are presented in a checklist format, the guidelines list key considerations for sustainability practices, tailored to those involved in events, enhancing their usability. Practices include selecting eco-friendly accommodations within walking distance as the official lodging, minimizing food waste and carbon emissions, and using reusable materials in exhibition halls.
In line with agreements made with MICE businesses, government offices, and other companies, the BTO CVB held a sustainability management declaration ceremony and conducted environmental campaigns. In addition, the BTO CVB is actively conducting sessions for MICE companies in Busan on ESG management through initiatives such as MICE Alliance Day and meetings with the Busan MICE Alliance (BMA).
During COSPAR 2024, which was held from July 13 to 21, the BTO CVB set up a tourism promotion booth made of recyclable timber. This eco-friendly booth was also reused during IGC 2024 in August, promoting "paperless conferences." The IT services provided were instrumental in reducing paper usage, and also contributed to a high level of participant satisfaction. Efforts to operate a waste-free booth continued at the 27th IAVE, which was held in Busan on October 22. In this way, Busan and the BTO CVB have consistently demonstrated a proactive model for eco-friendly MICE events.
With the hope of establishing itself as a MICE city known for sustainable growth, Busan —at the forefront of the MICE industry—will continue to strive to make all visits to the marine city truly memorable. See you in Busan!
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Busan's Efforts to Protect the Earth Through MICE Sustainability
HONG KONG, Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Omnichat, an all-in-one omnichannel customer experience platform offering conversational commerce solutions, recently hosted a highly scalable conference titled "Unlocking Revenue Potential with Omnichannel Customer Experience", which featured insights on delivering exceptional customer experiences via WhatsApp, with contributions from industry experts at the global social media giant Meta, international health and beauty retailer Watsons Hong Kong, the one-stop insurance and financial service provider Hong Kong Life, and the professional optical brand OPTICAL 88.
Future Commerce Summit: â Unlocking Revenue Potential with Omnichannel Customer Experience
Omnichat, as the WhatsApp Business Solution Provider of Meta, introduced how its advanced omnichannel customer experience solutions empowered businesses to effortlessly drive customer loyalty and achieve personalisation through seamless journeys during the event. "Numerous businesses are seeking ways to streamline customer journeys, and WhatsApp Flows offers the perfect solution. Integrating WhatsApp Flows with marketing campaigns empowers businesses to design, build, and customise experiences. This provides customers a fast, simple way to complete tasks within a conversation, ultimately driving conversions and delivering better results," said Alan Chan, Founder and CEO of Omnichat. The newly launched WhatsApp membership system offers brands and their customers a user-friendly loyalty solution by leveraging WhatsApp, the most popular messaging app in Hong Kong. "When constructing end-to-end customer journeys, loyalty is a crucial element that must not be overlooked. The WhatsApp membership system is designed to strengthen customer relationships through loyalty points, coupons, and membership cards, facilitating future re-engagement and encouraging potential repurchases." Leveraging the power of Omni AI, auto-generated message content can be customised for various customer segments, enhancing efficiency in marketing and customer service while achieving personalisation.
WhatsApp has the highest social media platform penetration rate of 79% in Hong Kong, according to the survey conducted by GWI. Driving engagement and growth across the customer lifecycle, the WhatsApp Business Platform plays a pivotal role in connecting with customers from discovery, consideration, purchase to re-engagement. "Meta has continually expanded the capabilities of business messaging to empower companies across various sectors to drive awareness, boost conversions, and create meaningful customer relationships for remarketing," said Vicky Yiu, APAC Strategic Partnership Manager of Meta. "By creating a customised WhatsApp experience, WhatsApp Flows has achieved measurable results in generating more leads, appointments, and revenue directly within the platform, providing increased convenience for both businesses and their customers." Meta also offers comprehensive tracking of the entire customer journey with the Conversions API. From the initial ads that lead to WhatsApp engagement, through subsequent WhatsApp interactions, to the final conversion, businesses can now generate actionable insights and fine-tune their advertising strategies with precision.
Prolog Leung, Online Business Director of Watsons Hong Kong also shared in the seminar, "Watsons Hong Kong has successfully integrated WhatsApp commerce into its innovative O+O (Offline plus Online) retail strategy by seamlessly implementing Omnichat's conversational commerce solution, streamlining the checkout process and delivering an unparalleled shopping experience. It bridges the gap between digital convenience and personalised service. We are now handling tremendous customer enquiries monthly via WhatsApp, minimizing the waiting time of customers to answer their enquiries. Our 'Watsons Here For You' service offers one-on-one consultations with pharmacists, Chinese medicine practitioners, and dietitians via WhatsApp. This seamless integration of digital and physical retail spaces allows our customers to engage with our brand at their convenience, not only boosting online engagement and sales but also driving foot traffic to our physical stores."
Hong Kong Life has revolutionised its marketing and customer service strategies by leveraging WhatsApp and Omnichat's advanced messaging solutions. Initially implemented to manage multi-channel enquiries on social media platforms, Hong Kong Life had quickly realised the transformative potential of WhatsApp for business growth and customer experience enhancement. "We have uncovered the limitless potential of WhatsApp in our marketing and customer service. The automated chatbot can now efficiently handle over 90% of simple enquiries, allowing our team to focus on marketing and nurturing deeper customer relationships," said Jonathan Ko, Chief Marketing Officer of Hong Kong Life. "We have strategically implemented interactive Q&A games via WhatsApp chatbots, incentivising participation with exclusive coupons. This not only enhances customer engagement but also significantly expands our WhatsApp database. Leveraging this growing database to deliver targeted marketing broadcasts, our campaigns have recorded a remarkable 70% read rate, substantially boosting business conversions."
OPTICAL 88 has further solidified its reputation for exceptional customer service by leveraging the WhatsApp Business Platform. This strategic move has not only enhanced communication efficiency but also instilled a greater sense of trust and convenience among customers, thanks to the platform's authorised blue tick verification. Andrea Chan, Digital Marketing Manager of OPTICAL 88 emphasised the significance of this digital transformation, "Maintaining a close, personal connection between our sales team and customers is a cornerstone of our brand values. We have observed that regardless of demographic, our customers overwhelmingly prefer the immediacy and interactivity of WhatsApp over traditional email communications, resulting in up to 26% click-through rate on our messages." OPTICAL 88 has also broadened its tactical approach beyond one-to-one communications. Andrea further explained, "By integrating omnichannel chatbots with our social media strategy, particularly for Facebook comment auto-replies, we have facilitated engaging social media campaigns while effectively driving online traffic to our physical stores."
By seamlessly integrating automated systems with personalised human interactions, the comprehensive chat commerce solutions are revolutionising the way businesses interact with their customers across WhatsApp Business Platform, Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct, and setting new industry standards for customer experience excellence.
About Omnichat:
Founded in 2017 with its headquarter in Hong Kong, Omnichat is an omnichannel chat commerce solution provider that centralises customers' conversations from WhatsApp Business Platform, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, LINE, WeChat and website live chat into a single platform to enhance efficiency and productivity.
With a strong presence in the Asia Pacific region, the company has established a solid reputation for serving local and international retail and e-commerce brands. By offering an omnichannel social customer data platform, online-merge-offline(OMO) sales integration, marketing automation, chatbots as well as customer service platform, Omnichat strives to empower brands to deliver personalised customer journeys and drive digital transformation, ultimately converting visitors into customers through chats.
Website: https://www.omnichat.ai/
WhatsApp: https://wa.me/85291925071/?text=EnquiryForWhatsApp
LinkedIn: https://hk.linkedin.com/company/omnichat-easychat
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OmnichatAI
For media enquiries, please contact:
Omnichat Limited
Lily Yeung
Associate Director of Communications
Tel: (852) 9803 5977
Email: lily.yeung@omnichat.ai
Macy Chun
Communications Manager
Tel: (852) 6234 9555
Email: macy.chun@omnichat.ai
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Meta, Watsons Hong Kong, Hong Kong Life and OPTICAL 88 unlocked WhatsApp potential with Omnichat
