Chapter 11 : The First Step of the Reform Division (2)
The First Step of the Reform Division (2)
"First of all, you don't need to bow your head that much..."
I gazed at Kim Junho for a moment.
Wouldn't this level of sincerity be enough to pass?
Choi Hyena handed me a tablet.
She probably meant for me to check Kim Junho's HR record.
His work performance isn't top-rank, but it seems to be above average. If there's anything else noteworthy:
[The first to arrive at work, the last to leave]
[Lacks cleverness, but is more genuine than anyone]
Nice. He seems like someone who can go mad for the job. No, he already seems like a madman.
I told him what I'd discussed with Choi Hyena. Like a consultant, the plan was to solve the team's problems to increase my influence.
Kim Junho nodded. With a burning gaze that was almost intimidating, he spoke.
"I'll formally submit a proposal. The current direction of the Marketing Promotion Team's strategy is faulty. So we need the help of the Reform Division. That kind of content. That way, I'll organize a meeting with the division director attending."
"You do know what kind of consequences that could bring, right?"
"All our team members are good people. I'm the youngest in the team, so they've always treated me well. But I'll be considered a traitor by them. I'll probably be ostracized, too."
"The process will be tougher than you think. The psychological burden will... be significant as well."
"I'm prepared for that."
All of a sudden, Choi Hyena handed him a cookie.
When I looked at her, she shrugged her shoulders.
I cleared my throat and said,
"To now on, we need to come up with new ideas that the Marketing Promotion Team has never tried before. Due to Next Planet's circumstances, we can't use many resources. On top of that, whether it's sales, the number of visitors, or whatever, we have to show results in a short time."
"No way—what are you..."
It was Choi Hyena.
If I were part of the staff, I would've reacted just like her.
No support, but must deliver results. Bring in a way that's both fresh and familiar to the public.
There's no difference from saying that.
"Junho, when is our deadline?"
"If we're to cancel what the Marketing Promotion Team is working on and launch something new... about a week."
"Junho, I'd like you to submit the proposal tomorrow. Let's set the meeting for one week from now."
"Understood."
"Wa... wait a minute."
Choi Hyena hurriedly stopped us.
"Neither I nor the division director know the first thing about marketing, right? And you're saying we have to come up with an idea within a week that none of the current employees—no, that no one has figured out until now? That's impossible."
"I know it's impossible."
"And yet?"
"We just talked about it earlier. Winning the lottery."
Kim Junho looked at us with an expression full of question marks.
"If you win the lottery, you have to make that chance count. What are the odds of winning twice?"
"Pretty much zero..."
"Exactly. So, there's only one thing for us to do. Mobilize everything and pull it off, no matter what."
"What if we fail?"
"Then Hyena and I will join hands and start browsing job sites together."
"Is this right? Really? I don't know... Well, it's not like we have anything to fall back on anyway."
There's nothing to fall back on. That's the truth.
Who knows when someone like Kim Junho will appear again? If we're going to bet, it has to be now, this very moment.
The more time passes, the more unfavorable my situation will get. I came from outside, but if I end up just wasting time with no results?
I'll only be demoted from a parachute to a parachute with a hole in it.
"Junho."
"Yes, division director?"
"To now on, come here after work. Let's brainstorm the marketing promotion strategy together, starting with the ideas."
"Understood. I've been away from my desk too long, so I'll return to work now."
He bowed politely and tried to leave the office.
I spoke to his back.
"By the way, Junho, have you ever considered working at another theme park?"
"A gentleman doesn't leave when a lady needs him."
He left the room.
Choi Hyena tilted her head and said,
"What was that last comment?"
"That's a famous quote from a soccer player who was loyal to the end to his team."
So he's not only sincere,
He's a bit of a romantic, too.
***
7:00 p.m.
Our work with Kim Junho began.
Kim Junho started the briefing.
"The biggest issue with the existing marketing promotion strategy is that it focuses solely on increasing the number of visitors."
A graph of visitor trends over 36 months appeared.
Next Planet's visitor count peaked its first year, then sharply declined every year since. The daily average dropped to about 400.
But, ever since the Marketing Promotion Team changed its strategy three years ago, visitor numbers steadily increased. Currently, the daily average has recovered to about 600.
"The Marketing Promotion Team announced that it was their strategy and promotions that succeeded. It seems plausible if you only look at this data, but..."
"I'd like to see the sales trend, too."
"Since visitors increased, sales obviously increased as well. But the growth in sales is far too small."
The daily average number of visitors grew an impressive 50%. But sales grew by only 10%.
That's really odd.
Given the nature of the theme park business, any visitor must buy admission tickets or ride passes—so their entrance alone is counted as revenue.
At major theme parks, admission runs 50,000-60,000 won. Next Planet charges a cheaper 40,000 won or so.
I asked,
"It doesn't seem like you just attracted customers with low spending capacity, does it?"
"Exactly. Restaurant and gift shop revenue didn't change much either—sales just haven't grown noticeably."
"So, most of the new customers from three years ago were essentially free guests. Is that right?"
Kim Junho nodded and went to the next page.
"Most of these new customers are seniors over 65, and their revisit rate is abnormally high."
"There may not be a country for old people, but there sure is a theme park for them."
"Starting three years ago, Next Planet switched to a local-friendly strategy. If you're a Nonsan citizen, you get 30% off. If you're over 65, you get another 20% off. Those promotions were the main focus."
It seemed a bit much, but nothing totally out of line so far.
"Taking it a step further, we're currently running a promotion that hands out tickets to seniors living in Nonsan and neighboring areas. If you have one of these tickets, you get a third discount."
A shocking number appeared on the screen.
[Nonsan senior day pass: 1,000 won / Neighboring area senior day pass: 2,000 won]
Choi Hyena pouted. Her trademark biting words poured out.
"Next Planet has become famous as a walking course or place for seniors to kill time. The Marketing Promotion Team even bragged about its public value, and got awards for it from Chungcheongnam Province and Nonsan. But a company is only a company if it makes money!"
Kim Junho and I nodded at the same time.
Welfare for the elderly is good. No one's against the company doing public good initiatives.
But it should only do so after taking care of itself.
"So, according to your presentation, the more the Marketing Promotion Team runs these promotions, the more the deficit grows—since all you're doing is ramping up operational costs like senior shuttle bus service and so on?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"The problem is, there's no alternative way to increase visitor numbers except this."
"Sadly... that's right."
Kim Junho went on to describe the Marketing Promotion Team's other weaknesses and shortcomings in detail.
Choi Hyena added in her outside perspective.
The two stared at me.
Because it was up to me to set our direction.
"We need to keep the local-friendly approach. You can't draw visitors from other cities with just the marketing promotion strategy unless you address fundamental issues. Instead, we'll make the most of Nonsan's unique character and resources."
Of course, I planned to tweak the senior discount.
Both of them nodded.
Kim Junho spoke up.
"Division director, if we want to capitalize on Nonsan's local features, there are five main things. First, the strawberry festival. Second, the salted seafood festival held nearby in Ganggyeong."
That explanation was likely for me, being an outsider.
"Ugh..."
Choi Hyena frowned.
"We do strawberry events every spring. But they have almost no effect. There's no synergy, and the strawberry festival isn't as powerful as the Jinhae cherry blossom or Boryeong mud festivals. As for the salted seafood festival..."
I didn't even know such a festival existed. Korea must really have some unique festivals.
Fascinating.
"Every year Ganggyeong proposes collaborations, but the planning team always rejects them. Sorry to say, but who wants to visit a theme park that smells like fermented seafood?"
"Hyena's right. Division director, the third is the reservoir called Tapjeongho. You can see Tapjeongho from the ferris wheel or other tall attractions at the theme park. So we once tried marketing it as a date spot with beautiful night views, like 'W World' in Daegu."
That actually sounded like a decent idea.
Daegu's 'W World' is the third or fourth largest theme park in the country.
It has the advantage of being located in the populous heart of Daegu, but lacks distinctive features.
That's probably why it chose the image of a good date spot, which worked relatively well.
"Why did the date spot strategy fail?"
"Frankly, the Nonsan night view isn't all that beautiful. Tapjeongho isn't even that well-known. And, honestly, dating and Nonsan just don't match."
I nodded.
Apparently, there's a drama set nearby, but it's hard to tie in as well.
"Finally, Nonsan has the army training center. There's good synergy between soldiers and our parent company's IP, battle Fire, so we ran promotions targeting draftees and their families, but..."
"Why did you stop right there?"
"We were confident, but it ended up being the biggest failure of all. That's why promotions related to the training center or the military are now taboo in the marketing and PR team."
I asked why.
It turns out they gave a 50% admission discount to draftees and their visiting families, then took family photos as keepsakes and handed out souvenirs.
If families posted the photos on social media, they also got hotel, motel, and restaurant vouchers—so it was a huge promotion.
They must have expected major advertising impact, even if they lost money on the deal.
Given that over 100,000 draftees enter the Nonsan training center every year, the logic made sense.
"How did that fail? It actually sounds pretty decent."
"Parents liked it, but the actual draftees absolutely hated it."
"Ah..."
Of course.
What draftee wants to go to a theme park with their parents before enlisting?
"Plus, with shaved heads and stern faces wandering the park, all we got was ridicule that our park was one without dreams or hope. Comments on social media events were all about being sad, depressed, or bleak about the future."
So it was a complete fiasco.
This kind of thing happens often in the game industry, too. I guess you'd call it an experience design fail.
Like that time we did a surprise event on December 31 under the slogan "everyone's happy on New Year's Eve" and handed out lucky boxes.
But most users only got trivial items, and only those who'd spent lots of money got anything decent.
Instead of happiness, it only created frustration—and we got tons of criticism.
The draftee promotion tried to force happy memories on soon-to-enlist trainees without considering their feelings, so of course it backfired.
Still, draftees are a valuable, naturally incoming resource for Nonsan. I definitely want to make use of that somehow.
Let's think on it more.
Draftees are usually aged 20 to 22—an age when almost anything is fun and beautiful.
Not that I mean military service itself.
Back in 〈Super Theme Park Tycoon〉, I created a theme park around the idea of "a beautiful time that will never come again."
There was a unique feature that time.
Right, if I use that...
"Let's try a marketing promotion strategy targeting the trainees."
Both of them looked shocked.
Pulling off the Marketing Promotion Team's greatest failure? That would give us a solid story.