MOONP :
So Hwang bro, what do you think is required for a successful platform business?
Hwang Bro :
Platform has already been defined as a place to catch rides from.
Platform business needs a station, tracks, and a platform.
MOONP :
According to Mr. Heung, you need people.
Mr. Heung :
It’s so obvious, but people keep forgetting.
Hwang Bro :
Let me talk about the three elements.
The station should be able to bring people in.
I can go to my destinations from there,
but the station in and of itself should offer something to see and have its own value.
That’s what I meant by bringing people in and people are a must.
As a consumer, you need to have a trust
that you’ll definitely gain something when you go in there.
That’s what constitutes properly built tracks.
Now, as for platforms, we need to catch our ride comfortably
when going to our destinations, right?
Then there are three scenarios.
Whether or not you are going to your destinations or not,
a platform should be able to bring a lot of people in,
and it should have well-built tracks
to clearly satisfy varying needs of various people,
and it should offer convenience
so people can easily reach the tracks and catch their rides comfortably.
This could be called UI or UX.
I think these three are the basic elements of a successful platform business.
Mr. Heung :
Let me weigh in on it.
With the three axes, it should lead to more new comers,
and a higher number of people.
New people on top of the existing people.
Next is frequency.
They need to come more often.
Those who used to come once should come twice and three times.
For most platforms, that’s a big difficulty, although drawing new visitors is also hard.
Third is volume.
If the service is for a fee,
then you should make them use the service more by bundling something with it
or offering a packaged deal.
Hwang Bro :
That applies to all businesses, though.
Mr. Heung :
Newcomers, attracting new customers, acquisition, these are all the same.
Making someone who hasn’t come to you come to you.
Second, making your regular customers come to you more often.
Making those who came to you twice come to you five times.
Then making those who spent 10,000 won spend 50,000 won.
These apply to all businesses,
but for platform businesses, frequency matters very much in some sense.
That’s why we keep talking about fandom marketing.
It means nothing if 10,000 people know me or like me halfway.
Rather, I need 100 people who are crazy about me.
They act as evangelists for my brand.
I believe we need to approach platforms from a brand perspective, too.
Hwang Bro :
It will be a great cue to approach this from the brand perspective, I think.
There are only two things to brand.
You either want to be like that brand, or you want to have that brand.
Otherwise, you can’t call a brand a success.
It may sound like pun but I can say ‘three Gongs’ for this.
Mr. Heung :
Are you talking about the old time again, like the 3rd Republic?
Hwang Bro :
So-called gonggam (appreciation), gongyu (sharing), and gongmyeong (resonance),
we need to keep these three gongs in mind.
We adopt a certain platform because we appreciate the value the platform offers.
MOONP :
That’s why we ask around whether people we know have seen the platform, too.
Hwang Bro :
And the outcome we get out of the platform is very fun, so we ‘share.’
Such a behavior itself is meaningful to ourselves.
That’s how we resonate.
Three gongs are necessary for all brand-centric businesses,
but are particularly essential for platform businesses.
Appreciation, sharing, and resonance.
Appreciation of the values, sharing if the outcomes are fun,
and resonating with many others as I expose what I like in the social context.
With these, you pretty much meet all the requirements for successful platform business.
