Hotel101 [link], a subsidiary of DoubleDragon [DD 9.10, up 3.1%; 65% avgVol], is partnering with Jollibee [JFC 262.80, up 1.1%; 64% avgVol] to offer a free Yumburger to new users who download the Hotel101 Global App. Existing app users are able to participate through referrals. The promo runs from September 18 to October 18, and the prizes earned are redeemable in Jollibee stores until December 17 of this year. As noted by the InsiderPH article, Hotel101 Global is preparing for its IPO later this year in the US. Tony Caktiong owns JFC and is the Co-Chairman of DD with Injap Sia.
MB bottom-line: I feel like someone in the DD/JFC ecosystem took my feedback on DDMPR’s mid-August press release to heart [MB link], where I said that DDMPR should offer free food and drink to shareholders who come to visit its properties. Sure, this promotion isn’t for shareholders (it’s for app downloaders) and it’s not for visiting DDMPR’s plaza (it’s for downloading an app), but the tangible giveaway aspect is right on the money. Will this kind of promotion work? I don’t know. Why are they doing it? If I had to speculate, I’d say that this has a lot to do with boosting app usage statistics heading into its IPO. There’s going to be a lot of attention on Hotel101’s ability to court the traveling Filipino market since the concept is something like a home-away-from-home for Filipinos, so the larger the number of downloads, the larger the captive audience for direct marketing from Hotel101. Think of it like an introductory interest rate that you can eat.
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