Unbox: How Lotte World Crafted Digital Experiences for Global Engagement
Lotte World is a staple of South Korean entertainment. The comprehensive entertainment company opened a theme park in 1989 and has since expanded to include aquariums, water parks, and the Seoul Sky Observatory. Now, it has expanded into The Sandbox, bringing its unique blend of fun and entertainment into the digital world.
As part of our Unbox series, we sat down with Hanvit Seo from the Contents Production team to discuss their strategic move into The Sandbox and how Lotte World bridged the gap between their offline and online offerings, attracting new visitors to their theme park using The Sandbox and generating over 30K+ visits with an average of 50+ minutes of playtime!
Digital Innovation Meets Traditional Charm: Lotte World’s Online Expansion
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lotte World had to shut down, leading to a significant decrease in visitors. In response, the entertainment destination started thinking about how to utilize Lotte World to continue our business and provide content for users to enjoy. Recognizing the potential for growth through digital immersive activities, they began researching the online/offline business and Web3 markets. This led them to explore a collaboration with The Sandbox.
As they expanded their business online and opened up to global markets, they launched “Metaverse,” an online service to actively explore how to utilize Lotte World’s various intellectual properties (IPs) to create engaging content.
Like many amusement parks, Lotte World’s primary focus is on the number of visitors, both domestically and globally. They’re keen on gauging their brand’s recognition among users who are discovering Lotte World for the first time on a global scale, a possibility the metaverse offers as it transcends geographical and cultural boundaries.
“Our main business goal is to take steps to make the digital Lotte World experience accessible to those who can’t visit in person and to introduce our IPs to a global audience,” says Seo. “With the Lotte World Experience on The Sandbox, players can explore the amusement park from anywhere in the world, increasing brand awareness.”
To enhance player involvement and increase traffic, Lotte World established a reward pool of 102,600 SAND. The experience was met with a positive reception and continues to attract new users.
Building New Activation Within the Sandbox to Uplift Creators and Drive More Engagement.
Lotte World places a strong emphasis on user-generated content (UGC), inspired by a VoxEdit Contest within The Sandbox.
Lotte World quickly grasped that the core audience of The Sandbox consists of creators. In an effort to attract this audience, they initiated an exciting voxel art contest within The Sandbox, focusing on voxel-based creations.They invited artists and Korean culture enthusiasts to demonstrate their talents by designing the park’s mascot, Lotty, in voxel form. This unique opportunity allowed participants to express their creativity and contribute to the magical world of Lotte.
“Discovering the diverse Lotty designs in The Sandbox’s VoxEdit Contest was a game-changer for us,” says Seo. “It inspired our traditional company to embrace user-generated contests, valuing interactive content creation.”
Beyond Boundaries: Global Engagement and Cutting-Edge Web3 Utilities in Lotte World
Lotte World places a strong emphasis on user-generated content (UGC), inspired by a VoxEdit Contest within The Sandbox.
Lotte World quickly grasped that the core audience of The Sandbox consists of creators. In an effort to attract this audience, they initiated an exciting voxel art contest within The Sandbox, focusing on voxel-based creations. They invited artists and Korean culture enthusiasts to demonstrate their talents by designing the park’s mascot, Lotty, in voxel form. This unique opportunity allowed participants to express their creativity and contribute to the magical world of Lotte.
“Discovering the diverse Lotty designs in The Sandbox’s VoxEdit Contest was a game-changer for us,” says Seo. “It inspired our traditional company to embrace user-generated contests, valuing interactive content creation. When we correlated the M2O event with the basic KPI information provided by The Sandbox upon launch, we found that the number of users playing the experience increased by approximately 170%.”
Conclusion
Lotte World’s leap into The Sandbox showcases a groundbreaking merger of traditional entertainment with digital innovation, offering a roadmap for others in the industry. Embracing digital realms like The Sandbox can significantly amplify visitor engagement, both virtually and in reality. Their successful blend of NFT integration, immersive virtual experiences, and strategic social media campaigns has not only boosted their brand presence but has also led to tangible results — a sharp increase in visitor numbers and enhanced global brand recognition.
Lotte World’s Web3 strategy showcases the power of digital transformation in expanding brand reach and creating new, dynamic ways to engage with audiences worldwide.
