Courting Customers With Concerts, Running, and Musicals: Telecom Giants Compete Through Experiences

Competition among the three mobile carriers for customer perks is expanding from bill discounts and data giveaways to experience-based benefits such as concerts, sports, and leisure. According to an announcement from the telecom industry on the 20th, there is a growing trend away from broadly offering similar benefits and toward segmenting recipients by target group and interests.

As a result, each company is dividing its benefits by interest or usage period instead of offering the same perks to all subscribers. They are also strengthening tailored benefits for customers who enjoy running and for long-term users. According to the photo caption, runner customers Lee Hyeong-geun and Ahn Ji-yoon, who used the finisher-record engraving service at SK Telecom's "Runmate Booth," posed for a commemorative photo holding their finisher medals.

SK Telecom is expanding a program that supports customers from running preparation through race participation. KT is reorganizing its customer music festival, which has continued for 10 years, into a region-expansion event. LG Uplus is inviting customers who have used its service for more than 10 years to musicals and is also strengthening benefits tied to long-term use.

The three companies' programs differ in scale and target audience. Still, the direction is the same. Rather than immediate-use discounts or coupons during telecom service use, they are aiming to provide experiences that can be shared with family and acquaintances, while pursuing a strategy to extend customer relationships over the long term.

As an example of this trend, SK Telecom is targeting customers with a specific interest. That interest is running. SK Telecom operates Runmate, a program that integrates running-related products, race participation, and on-site benefits.

Runmate's support range runs from running preparation to finishing the race. SK Telecom said it participated on the 19th as the main sponsor of the '2026 Infinite Challenge Run in Gyeongju' held in Gyeongju.

At the event site, it ran a Runmate booth. More than 3,400 customers visited the venue. At the booth, participants who posted a hashtag or verification photo with SNS '#Runmate' were given personalized finish-time engraving on their finisher medals.

A space to try running-related smart devices was also set up inside the booth. The devices on display were the Galaxy Watch Ultra2, Galaxy Watch9, Galaxy Buds4, and Galaxy Buds4 Pro.

Along the course, water stations were operated at 6 points on the race route, offering water, glucose candy, and bananas. At the finish line, a cooling gate that sprays mist was installed. This support goes beyond telecom benefits and helps with the actual running process.

SK Telecom also said it will invite 500 customers to '2026 Garmin Run Korea,' to be held at Goyang Sports Complex on November 15. Of the invitees, 250 SK Telecom customers who enjoy running will be selected by lottery, and another 250 customers using eligible plans that include discounts on installment payments for smart devices will be selected separately. Among the winners, 20 will receive Adidas running shoes, the 'Adizero EVO SL,' as prizes.

Applications close on October 11, and entries will be accepted on the Runmate promotion page. Participants may choose between the 10 km and half courses. SK Telecom also plans to unveil follow-up programs over the next month, including running 10 km, increasing running pace, and recording running challenges.

Yoon Jae-woong, head of SK Telecom's Product & Brand Division, said the program was designed so runner customers' finishing experiences could lead to their next challenge. He also said the company plans to expand products and benefits that help throughout the running journey.

KT will hold the '2026 KT Voyage Festival (VOYAGE FESTIVAL)' on the 24th of next month at Bundang Central Park in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The photo caption reads KT.

This '2026 KT Voyage Festival (VOYAGE FESTIVAL)' is a revamped event created to mark the 10th anniversary of 'KT Voyage to Jarasum (VOYAGE to Jarasum).' The changes include the event name, venue, and customer invitation method.

'KT Voyage to Jarasum (VOYAGE to Jarasum)' has been held since 2015. Over the past 10 years, about 300,000 KT customers have taken part in the event.

KT removed 'Jarasum,' which refers to a specific venue, from the event name. Starting with Bundang Central Park this year, it is planning a traveling festival that visits customers in various regions each year.

The move to expand the operating scope is region-expansion-oriented. Through this change, KT said its goal is to move away from limiting customer benefits to one-off concerts and to make use of customer touchpoints in each region.

KT is changing the invitation process from the existing first-come, first-served booking and ticket application method to a post-application lottery system, and applications will be accepted from 10 a.m. on the 22nd until 11:59 p.m. on the 5th of next month on the KT website and My KT app. Eligible participants are KT membership customers, long-term customers, and Y customers aged 19 to 34, and the total invitation size is 9,000 people.

Performers include god, Heize, and HYNN. On-site, there will also be a 10th-anniversary experience space for the youth brand 'Y,' the long-term customer invitation benefit 'Invite Dream,' and content showcasing the company's products and services.

Kim Dong-hoon, head of KT's public relations office and executive vice president, said that to mark the 10th anniversary of 'Y,' the company wanted to turn it into a new type of festival where more customers can step away from daily life and enjoy themselves together. He added that the company will continue to visit places where customers are and provide special cultural experiences and enjoyment.

LG Uplus has structured its long-term customer reward program based on the length of service rather than customer preferences, and has offered rewards that customers can feel directly. For long-term use rewards, it chose to provide cultural experiences.

Accordingly, LG Uplus organized a full-house invitation event for customers who have used the service for more than 10 years. On the 18th, it held an event inviting 1,100 long-term customers.

The venue was the Grand Theater of Chungmu Art Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. LG Uplus customers gathered at the Grand Theater of Chungmu Art Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 18th to watch the musical 'Dear Evan Hansen.'

The event featured a viewing of the musical 'Dear Evan Hansen,' and all seats in the Grand Theater were secured for the occasion. Customers were selected by lottery from among pre-registered applicants, and companion viewing was also supported so that customers could attend with family or acquaintances.

In addition to providing tickets, LG Uplus included on-site experiences before and after the performance in the benefits. After the show, it held a prize event, and for some customers it also ran a photo session program with the lead actor. The photo credit is LG Uplus.

While all three mobile carriers are operating experience-based benefits, the criteria for distinguishing customers differ. LG Uplus is continuously running experience programs this year for long-term customers.

LG Uplus sequentially held long-term customer experience events in the first half of the year. In March, it held an invitation event for the musical 'Rempicka' for 1,000 customers who had used the service for at least 5 years, and in April it rented out Whadam Forest in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province in full and invited 3,000 people. In August, it held the 'Legoland Waterful Party' at Legoland Water Park.

LG Uplus plans to continue similar invitation and viewing programs in the second half as well. It is planning an invitation event for Whadam Forest in October in the second half of the year, and a movie-watching event in December in the second half.

The company said its policy is to organize long-term customer benefits around concerts, travel, and leisure. The programs are operated so that customers can bring family or acquaintances. Jang Jun-young, head of LG Uplus's Marketing Group and managing director, said the company will expand differentiated customer experiences across culture, leisure, and everyday life so long-term customers can feel special respect.

The three mobile carriers all have in common that they are putting experience-based benefits at the forefront, but the criteria for segmenting customers differ by company. KT took an approach that encompassed membership, younger customers, and long-term customers, and operated a festival on the scale of 9,000 people to secure broad customer touchpoints. SK Telecom built its program around the running interest, linking smart devices, plans, and race participation. LG Uplus focused its benefits on customers who have used the service for at least 5 or 10 years, making rewards by subscription period more explicit.

It has become increasingly difficult for telecom products to differentiate themselves on quality and price alone. As a result, the role of customer benefits has also changed. In the past, customer benefits were closer to extra rewards for using telecom services, but today they have expanded into a way to connect customers' tastes and lifestyles with telecom brands.

However, experience-based benefits have limitations as well. Because the number of available seats is limited, not all customers can use them. The three mobile carriers mostly apply a lottery system, precisely because the number of available participants is limited.

Variables in future competition for customer benefits were identified as the scale of events, the extent to which actual participation opportunities are expanded, and the way specific event experiences are linked to everyday service use. Not only the size of the event itself, but also how many customers can participate and how event experiences are connected to later service use were cited as factors that will determine competitiveness.

Source: IT DAILY · Lee Jae-young
Original: https://www.itdaily.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=241740

References

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