Marketing is no longer a strange concept for managers. In a difficult economy, to build a strong position, businesses need to use marketing policies to improve their competitiveness compared to competitors in the same industry. The importance of marketing everyone knows, but to apply it effectively in the business, not all managers can do it. Marketing is both scientific and artistic. The best part of marketing is the ability to know the potential needs of consumers in the future, deeply understand the psychology of customers and meet those needs in the best way. Marketing offers policies that have been carefully and carefully planned, detailed and accurately derived from market research. Marketing follows throughout the product through policies. The combination of art and science in marketing is also most evident in the combination of four elements in marketing mix (4Ps). In Vietnam, there are many businesses that have succeeded in applying Marketing Mix to their business activities and achieved many incredible results. Therefore, it is important to first decide whether to succeed or fail in the business of businesses is to study the needs, desires and requirements as well as the buying behavior of customers, then proceed to produce appropriate products and services before being put on the market through exchange and transaction activities. Minh Danh Co., Ltd. was established in 2007, formerly known as Mai Trung Tinh mechanical workshop operating since 1996, with extensive experience in the field of metal component manufacturing. Construction steel business, consumption volume in 2021 decreased by 8.5% and reached only 2.39 million tons. Due to the reduced demand for construction steel, many factories operate only 50% of their capacity but the inventory is still very large. According to Mr. Mai Ngoc Tinh director of the company, the construction steel output is too large compared to other steel products, so when the surplus is mostly construction steel. Mr. Mai Ngoc Tinh director of the company said: 2021 Construction steel consumption has been at the lowest level in the past 5 years. In addition, companies in the steel industry have to compete with steel products imported from China at a cheaper price. Due to the reduced demand for construction steel, the operation of Minh Danh Co., Ltd. is difficult. With the current situation of the economy gradually recovering, Minh Danh Co., Ltd. must have a reasonable business strategy to be able to stand firm in the market. Construction steel is the main item of the company, so the company needs to pay attention to how to improve business efficiency in the coming time. Marketing mix activities: price policies, product policies, distribution policies, daily communication activities must be focused and enhanced to help the company achieve business results in the steel market ... Minh Danh Co., Ltd. needs to have effective marketing strategies to be able to compete with rival companies. Therefore, I chose to conduct the my research dissertation on the topic: A
TABLE OF CONTENT TABLE OF CONTENT 1 INTRODUCTION .3 1 Context and justification of research .3 1.2 Problem statement 1.3 Research objectives 1.4 Subjects and scope of study 1.5 Methodology LITERARY REVIEW .6 2.1 Overall of marketing and marketing-mix .6 2.1.1 Basic concepts and role of marketing 2.1.2 The basic concepts and role of marketing-mix 2.2 The basic components of marketing-mix .10 2.2.1 Product policy 10 2.2.2 Price policy 11 2.2.3 Place policy 11 2.2.4 Promotion policy .13 2.3 Factors affecting marketing-mix activities 15 2.3.1 Factors inside the business 15 2.3.2 Environmental factors outside the enterprise 16 OBSERVE AND DISCUSS MARKETING-MIX ACTIVITIES AT MINH DANH CO., LTD 18 3.1 Overview of Minh Danh Company 18 3.1.1 History and Development 18 3.1.2 Organizational structure .19 3.1.3 Business performance 20 3.2 Observing marketing-mix activities of Mr Minh Danh Co., Ltd 22 3.2.1 Product policy 22 3.2.2 Price policy 23 3.2.3 Place policy 28 3.2.4 Promotion policy .29 3.3 Marketing-mix review at Minh Danh Co., Ltd .30 3.3.1 Strengths 30 3.3.2 Limitations 30 3.3.3 Comments 31 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 32 4.1 Conclusion 32 4.2 Recommendations 32 4.2.1 Solution 1: Set up a website to promote the company and introduce products 32 4.2.2 Solution 2: Training the sales team 35 4.2.3 Solution 3: Open more stores and develop distribution channels (distributed through agents) 36 BIBLIOGRAPHY 38 APPENDIX 1: OFFICIAL SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE 39 APPENDIX 2: TABLE OF SURVEY RESULTS DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICAL SAMPLE .42 INTRODUCTION 1 Context and justification of research Marketing is no longer a strange concept for managers In a difficult economy, to build a strong position, businesses need to use marketing policies to improve their competitiveness compared to competitors in the same industry The importance of marketing everyone knows, but to apply it effectively in the business, not all managers can it Marketing is both scientific and artistic The best part of marketing is the ability to know the potential needs of consumers in the future, deeply understand the psychology of customers and meet those needs in the best way Marketing offers policies that have been carefully and carefully planned, detailed and accurately derived from market research Marketing follows throughout the product through policies The combination of art and science in marketing is also most evident in the combination of four elements in marketing mix (4Ps) In Vietnam, there are many businesses that have succeeded in applying Marketing Mix to their business activities and achieved many incredible results Therefore, it is important to first decide whether to succeed or fail in the business of businesses is to study the needs, desires and requirements as well as the buying behavior of customers, then proceed to produce appropriate products and services before being put on the market through exchange and transaction activities Minh Danh Co., Ltd was established in 2007, formerly known as Mai Trung Tinh mechanical workshop operating since 1996, with extensive experience in the field of metal component manufacturing Construction steel business, consumption volume in 2021 decreased by 8.5% and reached only 2.39 million tons Due to the reduced demand for construction steel, many factories operate only 50% of their capacity but the inventory is still very large According to Mr Mai Ngoc Tinh director of the company, the construction steel output is too large compared to other steel products, so when the surplus is mostly construction steel Mr Mai Ngoc Tinh director of the company said: 2021 Construction steel consumption has been at the lowest level in the past years In addition, companies in the steel industry have to compete with steel products imported from China at a cheaper price Due to the reduced demand for construction steel, the operation of Minh Danh Co., Ltd is difficult With the current situation of the economy gradually recovering, Minh Danh Co., Ltd must have a reasonable business strategy to be able to stand firm in the market Construction steel is the main item of the company, so the company needs to pay attention to how to improve business efficiency in the coming time Marketing mix activities: price policies, product policies, distribution policies, daily communication activities must be focused and enhanced to help the company achieve business results in the steel market Minh Danh Co., Ltd needs to have effective marketing strategies to be able to compete with rival companies Therefore, I chose to conduct the my research dissertation on the topic: "A study of marketing-mix of Minh Danh company limited” 1.2 Problem statement In addition, in the trend of integrating the development of production and business strategies of construction products, metal components coupled with the application of reasonable marketing policies are one of the key strategies of production and business enterprises The author chose the topic A study of marketing-mix of Minh Danh company limited to provide anobjective view of the company's leaders with an objective view of the importance of applying marketing mix for the long-term development strategy of Minh Danh Co., Ltd., thereby making appropriate adjustments, making reasonable business policies, making Minh Danh Co., Ltd become the leading metal component products production and trading enterprise in Vietnam in the earliest time The research questions of the topic are as follows: 1) How internal and external environmental factors affect the company's business? 2) What are the current situations? 3) What are the limitations and reasons for them? What solutions can be done? 1.3 Research objectives General objective: The goal of the topic is to study and analyze the situation of construction and implementation of marketing mix strategy of Minh Danh Co., Ltd in the past time, thereby proposing solutions to complete the company's marketing mix activities to attract customers, Expand market share and business effectively Specific objectives: The first is the basis of basic reasoning about marketing mix activities, the second observes and discusses and analyzes the successes and problems that still exist, pointing out the causes that lead to the existence in the marketing mix strategy for construction steel products at Minh Danh Co., Ltd Thirdly, on the basis of analyzing the status of marketing mix activities of Minh Danh Co., Ltd in recent years to propose some specific and practical solutions to complete the marketing mix strategy of Minh Danh Co., Ltd 1.4 Subjects and scope of study Research subjects: Focus on researching the company's marketing mix strategy Due to the limitations of a student's internship time and research capacity, the author only focuses on researching the basic contents of the topic and coming up with common solutions to help the company perfect its marketing mix strategy - Scope of research space: Research space: the thesis the study is carried out at Minh Danh Co., Ltd., which is applicable at the unit Research time limit: Secondary data collected from 2019-2021 (Audited financial statements, number of business, facilities, quality standards from departments of Minh Danh Co., Ltd.) The primary data used for analysis in the research project is expected to be collected by the organization from March 2022 to June 2022 The duration of the research topic from 03/2022 to 06/2022 1.5 Methodology Statistical analysis methods describe, collate, compare based on the data, collected from the reports at Minh Danh Co., Ltd aims to point out the weaknesses, strengths, existence and causes from which to improve marketing activities at the company Primary data: the author conducted a survey of 200 customers who have or are using services at Minh Danh Co., Ltd The number of customers who are outside the province using the service at Minh Danh Co., Ltd accounts for a low proportion Primary data sources Primarydata collected by the author throughinterview methods and questionnaire surveys with customers in order to collectdata appropriate to the purpose and content of the study Questionnaire survey method The author outlines a questionnaire forrespondents on a 5-level scale: Very disagree Disagree Normal Agree Very agree Study sample description Thesample selected to answer the questionnaire will most likely be the customers of Minh Danh Co., Ltd (including company, organizational and individual customers) and part of the random selection sample maybe a customer of the company For samples that are customers of Minh Danh Co., Ltd., the questionnaire will be sent to the companies forthe person responsible for answering directly or via email According to statistics from the company's accounting department, on average, Minh Danh supplies steel to about 500 to 600 companies a year and the number ofindividual customers is very large Therefore, the author will proceed to select 200 samples in which: + Customers are companies and organizations: 50 samples (10% of customers are organizations, companies) + Individual customer: 150 samples Forrandomly selected samples, the author will choose in crowded placesandpeople with high frequency of use of protective gear (Workers, technically priority is under construction in the works, urban areas under construction) The numberof samples emitted will be 50 samples The location for selecting the survey sample is in the Thai Binh city area Sample unit: customers who are 25 years of age or older, this is a group of customers who are aware enough to evaluate the service in a relatively objective way The method of data analysis isto use the method of data analysis to analyze the evaluation of the marketing activities performed by the company Using the descriptive statistical analysis method to analyze the primary data of customer reviews about the company, it provides solutions to complete the appropriate marketing activities for Minh Danh Co., Ltd LITERARY REVIEW 2.1 Overall of marketing and marketing-mix 2.1.1 Basic concepts and role of marketing a Basic concepts of marketing According to the AMA (American Marketing Association, 1985): "Marketing is the process of planning and implementing the creation, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges and meet the objectives of individuals and organizations." (Philip Kotler and Mary Armstrong, 2014, 37-38) According to Philip Kotler and Mary Armstrong (1994): "Marketing is a process through which both individuals and teams can achieve their needs and desires by creating and exchanging valuable products between parties."(Philip Kotler and Mary Armstrong, 2014, 37-38) "Marketing is the process of working with the market to conduct exchanges to meet people's needs and desires It is understandable that marketing is a form of human activity (including organization) that meets needs and desires through exchange (Philip R Cateora and John L Graham, 2015, 123-134) In short, "Marketing is the overall activity of the business towards meeting, evoking the needs of consumers in the market to achieve profitability goals" (Philip R Cateora and John L Graham, 2017, 123-134) In fact, many of the above concepts have many authors or business administrators who all think that marketing is sales, advertising and market research, but the content of marketing is much broader It includes activities that add a lot of value to the product Activities that must be performed before production, during production, during sales, and after sales, all of which are part of marketing From separate concepts, the author uses the concepts of Philip R.Cateora and John L Graham Because the authors Philip R.Cateora and John L Graham have an overview of marketing that is the overall activity of the business towards meeting and eliciting the needs of consumers in the market to achieve profit goals profit There are two main ideas in the concept of authors Philip R.Cateora and John L Graham: The most widely recognized, popular and complete is that marketing is the science of exchange, it studies and solves all exchange relations between an organization or individual with the external environment, helps for that organization (individual) to achieve the intended goals with the highest results and efficiency b The role of marketing - Marketing has been and is an important and indispensable field in the context of the open economy and increasing competition among businesses today The role of marketing is not only important in the activities of businesses but at the same time has a great influence on consumers Not only that, Marketing also plays an indispensable role in society (Warren J Keegan, 2002) - For enterprises, apart from production activities, all business activities in the market are marketing activities from forming ideas to produce goods to researching and creating products products, packaging, brands and activities until the product is marketed Advertising, promotion, pricing and distribution are the basic functions of Marketing Thanks to Marketing, businesses can get customers from which to sell products for revenue and profit Marketing helps the business to be able to survive in the long term and firmly in the market because it provides the ability to adapt to the changes of the external market through the process of market research and adapting to it The success of businesses depends on whether they can provide the market with products that the market needs, in accordance with the wants and ability of consumers to buy or not (Warren J.Keegan, 2002) Marketing activities not only benefit businesses but also benefit consumers A business organization or a social organization cannot last long if it only benefits them but does not bring benefits to consumers For consumers, Marketing also plays an important role in helping consumers reflect their wants and needs to businesses and organizations that will provide products to solve those needs Marketing also helps create a variety of goods to satisfy the needs and wants of each customer or a specific group of customers Marketing research, identify consumer needs about specific characteristics of the product for production planners to implement (Warren J.Keegan, 2002) From the social point of view, Marketing is considered as the whole marketing activities in an economy or a marketing system in society Marketing's role in society can be described as providing a standard of living to society When we consider the entire marketing activities of businesses, especially the transport and distribution activities that bring goods to consumers, it can affect social welfare As society develops, the importance of Marketing becomes more and more important Marketing is the bridge between customers and businesses, promoting competition and socioeconomic development (Kotler, P and Armstrong, G 2017) 2.1.2 The basic concepts and role of marketing-mix a The basic concepts of marketing mix Marketing-mix activities are one of the basic activities of any business in the world and this is also an issue that researchers have studied diligently: Marketing-mix is a very common concept in business, is a set of marketing tools used by businesses that have been achieved instead of marketing-mix is a set of controllable marketing variables that used by the business to try to get the desired response from the target market A famous marketer, E Jerome McCarthy, suggested the 4P classification in 1960, which is now widely used Marketing mix (4Ps) is one of the key concepts of modern marketing (Kotler, P and Armstrong, G 2017) According to Kotler, P and Armstrong (2017), the author analyzes the marketing mix, which is also the coordination or arrangement of marketing components to suit the actual business situation of each enterprise in order to strengthen its position firmness of the enterprise in the market If the Marketing components are coordinated and synchronized to adapt to the ongoing market situation, the business will be smooth, the risks will be limited, and therefore, the target will be satisfied customers and thereby achieve maximum profit, sustainable business development The elements in the Marketing-mix include four elements: (1) Product policy (2) Price policy (3) Place policy (4) Promotion policy From the analyzed concepts, the author chooses the concept of Kotler, P and Armstrong (2017) to apply and analyze the report The difference compared to other concepts, the author points out that the marketing mix, which is classified according to the 4P model, includes: Product (product), Price (price), Place (distribution), Promotion (promotion) used in marketing activities Over time, this model evolved into 7Ps according to the complexity and innovation of modern marketing Marketing experts have come up with other 3Ps, namely Process, People, and Physical Evidence to strengthen Marketing activities when the product is no longer in the queue tangible goods but also intangible services b The role of marketing mix Marketing-mix is a scientific discipline that studies business activities directly related to the movement of goods and services from the place of production to the consumer, in order to find effective measures to protect, maintain and develop the market (Kotler, P and Armstrong, G 2017, 112) All business activities of an enterprise are marketing activities, from forming an idea to produce a commodity to implementing production and consumption so that the goods are actually sold on the market Marketing-mix helps businesses to survive in the long term and firmly in the market because it provides the ability to adapt to changes in the market and the external environment And shows businesses the need to know provide the market with exactly what the market needs, in accordance with the wants and purchasing power of consumers The marketing mix creates the connection between the firm's production activities and the market in all stages of the reproduction process Marketing provides activities of finding information from the market and communicating information from businesses to the market, researching and developing new products, consuming products, providing services Not only bringing benefits to businesses, Marketing Mix also plays a role in bringing benefits and satisfaction to consumers Marketing-mix helps to find and discover the needs and wants of consumers now and in the future To create a variety of goods and improve the quality of services to bring benefits to satisfy those needs and desires of consumers (Kotler, P and Armstrong, G 2017) According to Frederick E Webster (2018) Marketing-mix is known not only for providing and promoting business and production activities of enterprises It is also known for its important roles in society It acts as the provision of a standard of living for society When considering the entire marketing activities of businesses, especially those that produce and trade in consumer goods, in addition to the economic efficiency factor Information about products, advertisements and communications reflects the true nature and truthfulness of product and service quality so that consumers are not blinded or blinded to products and services of the enterprise like in the past Besides production and business factors, there are issues of environmental protection and social welfare To enhance the image and position of the business to new heights 2.2 The basic components of marketing-mix 2.2.1 Product policy According to Frederick E Webster (2018) A product is anything offered in the market that can satisfy the needs of the general customer Products can be tangible goods, services, people, organizations, places, ideas Products here can be tangible or intangible products Product strategy focuses on designing and creating products that meet the needs of customers, can help customers solve problems or satisfy certain needs In addition, they must launch products that are unique and different from those of competitors in the market To that, Marketers must conduct thorough customer, consumer, market, and customer research Then proceed to implement the product strategy through activities such as product naming, packaging design, production and product launch planning 10