AsiaXPAT.com
Dominant internet portal AsiaXPAT, which caters to professionals, expats and executives in 14 major cities in Asia is throwing its weight around in an effort to keep business humming at many of Hong Kong’s top eateries.
The site, with 24,000 registered members and over 200,000 unique visitors in Hong Kong launched its Super Mondays 2 for 1 dinner promotion 7 years ago. Since inception the program has grown incredibly and it has actually changed the dining habits in the city.
In the words of Sandeep Sekri, who’s group Dining Concepts operates multiple restaurants in the Soho and Lan Kwai Fong districts of Hong Kong ‘this is the most successful F&B promotion we have ever participated in. Mondays, normally the slowest nights for the industry, are often as busy as weekends as customers jam our outlets taking advantage of the Super Mondays offer.’
Initially the offer was promoted through printable online coupons but in 2008, AsiaXPAT distributed over 400,000 Super Mondays cards in Hong Kong. ‘We decided to extend offline primarily because having a plastic card instead of a printed coupon made it easier for our members to participate in the promotion,’ commented AsiaXPAT Managing Director Paul Luciw.
Recently however AsiaXPAT has revived the online distribution component for the promotion by sending printable Super Mondays e-cards directly to their 24,000 members by email.
Luciw indicates that, ‘As the economy falters we decided that we would add fuel to the promotion by adding the option of downloading e-cards. The viral nature of the internet allows recipients of the virtual card to forward the Super Mondays card to friends dramatically increasing penetration beyond our 24,000 Hong Kong members.’
Restaurants participating in the Super Mondays promotion have been quick to embrace this new distribution method.
Linda Kwan, marketing manager of Igor’s Group, one of Hong Kong’s largest bar and restaurant operators, welcomed the additional push stating, ‘With Hong Kong in recession we need to focus on targeted, measurable advertising opportunities. With AsiaXPAT’s Super Mondays promotion we see direct results in the form of significantly more customers at our outlets on Mondays. Additionally, if they try a restaurant because of this offer and have a good experience they will likely be back on other days of the week.’
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