A study on promotion strategy of an educational institution apollo education and training organization

HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ' GRADUATION PAPER study on promotion strategy of an educational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization Topic:A " Advisor : Dr NguySn Duc Rolli Anh Student : Phung R~c Thuftn Class : KD0301 Student code: 0340370 • ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank all my lecturers at the International Business Administration Department for their help and continued support, in particular, Viee Dean Tdn Tuy Nga who kept me focused at all times at what works in the university, without her great support I cannot continue with my research I am especially grateful to Ms Nguy~n Dfre Hoai Anh, DBA my advisor, for her helpful comments and thoughtful guidance on my study in progress to make my research become feasibility - In addition, I must thank Mr Nguy~n QuBe Hung - a big brother of mine - who is always be with me in this difficult journey, without his support and deep understanding none of this work would have been possible Many special thanks to Mr Vii QuBe Anh - Vice Dean International Relations who has done a great help for the first steps of my research Thanks also go to Apollo's staffs and students for the valuable information and personal ideas which help me a lot in figuring out new aspects of educational business Once again, I reserve the biggest thank to my friends and family for their great love and care They are the inspiration for me to work harder in order to accomplish this challenging project ADVISOR'S ASSESSMENT II ABSTRACT Vietnam now is the 150th member of World Trade Organization, more difficulties and challenges are ahead for domestic firms as well as foreign compames Moreover, Viet Nam now becomes one of the fastest-growing • economies in the world; it also leads to the growth of the education When English become the barrier for Vietnamese to communicate with the rest of the world, the market demand for teaching English is increasing More and more investors take part in the educational market Especially in teaching English and training solutions However, the promotional tools are not applied efficiently in this field because of the characteristics of the educational products and services The market is becoming hotter; the competition is tougher that leads to the better improvement of English centers Therefore, a research on promotion strategy is quite important for small businesses that are coming to upgrade to the professional firms in order to compete and survive in this market The research is focused on the harmonious coordination between the theory of promotion and the application of one typical firm Fundamental knowledge is base for collecting and explaining the terminology of promotion strategy in modem marketing The core information from Apollo Education and Training Organization is also used for analyzing the effective and ineffective in applying the promotional tools for educational organizations Moreover, the interviews of staffs and learners were made to get a better evaluation Finally, the suggestions were raised for this institution and the others to have the effective promotional programs for their own business III LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The Tradition Communication Process Figure 2: Basic Promotion Method and Strategy Planning Figure 3: Examples of Sales Promotion Activities 14 Figure 4: Three Kinds of Promotion Strategies 17 Figure 5: The Personnel Structure of One Center of Apollo 24 Figure 6: Apollo's respective clients 29 Figure 7: Programs of English Young Learners 37 Figure 8: Steps of English for Kindy 38 Figure 9: Steps of English for Juniors 40 Figure 10: Steps of English for Teenagers 41 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Sample Schedule of English Adventure Camp 43 Table 2: Price and Discount Policy of Apollo 63 v . - - CONTENTS A STUDY ON PROMOTION STRATEGY OF AN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION APOLLO EDUCATION AND TRAINING A CKNO WLED GEMENT i AD VISOR' SASSESSMENT ii ABSTRA CT iii LIST OF FIGURES iv Figure 1: The Tradition Communication Process Figure 2: Basic Promotion Method and Strategy Planning Figure 3: Examples of Sales Promotion Activities Figure 4: Three Kinds of Promotion Strategies Figure 5: The Personnel Structure of One Center of Apollo Figure 6: Apollo's respective clients Figure 7: Programs of English Young Learners Figure 8: Steps of English for Kindy Figure 9: Steps of English for Juniors Figure 10: Steps of English for Teenagers vi LIST OF TABLES v Table 1: Sample Schedule of English Adventure Camp Table 2: Price and Discount Policy of Apollo vi CONTENTS INTRO D UeTI ON 1 Research Paper Objectives Scope of Research Research Method Contents of Research Chapter 1: An overview on promotion in marketing : 1.1 What Is Prom otio n? 1.1.1 An Introduction to Promotion 1.1.2 The Objectives of Promotion 1.2 The Communication Process 1.3 Pro moti on Mix 1.3.1 Personal Selling 1.3.2 Mass Selling 10 • Advertising 11 • Publicity 12 1.3.3 Sales Promotion 13 1.4 Prom oti on Strategies 15 A Push Strategy 16 VII . - - - - - - - - B Pull Strategy 16 C Combined Pull- Push Strategy 16 Chapter 2: A tour to APOLLO EDUCATION & TRAINING ORGANIZATION and its promotion strategy 19 2.1 The establishment and development of Apollo 20 2.1.1 The philosophy of Apollo 20 2.1.2 Apollo's history 21 2.1.3 The facilities of Apollo 22 2.1.4 Personnel structure 24 2.1.5 Function - Mission - Authority 25 2.1.6 Who are Apollo's target customers? 27 2.1.7 Wide range of products 30 2.1.8 Value Added Services 50 2.2 Promotion strategies of APOLLO EDUCATION & TRAINING 2.2.1 Personal Selling 56 56 A Sales Technology 56 B Selection and Training Procedure 56 2.2.2 Mass Sell ing 57 A Advertising 57 B Publicity 61 2.2.3 Sales Promotion 63 A Consumers Promotion 63 B Employees Promotion 68 viii Chapter 3: Analysis and suggestions to enforce APOLLO's promotion strategy 71 3.1 Gen eral remarks 71 3.2 Competito rs 73 3.3 SWOT analysis 79 3.4 Suggesti ons 83 3.4.1 Personal Selling 83 3.4.2 Mass Sell ing • 84 3.4.3 Sales Promotion 85 Conclusion Referen ces 86 87 IX A study on promotion strategy of an educational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization 3.2.2 ILA VIETNAM iI avietnam ILA Vietnam is a wholly foreign owned education and training company They offer a broad range of high quality training programs and services to individuals and organizations throughout Vietnam, including: English language programs (for children, teenagers and adults) University pathway programs (in co-operation with Martin College, Australia) Corporate training Teacher training (CELTA, DELTA, CELTYL) Overseas study consultancy and placement services Each year over 15,000 people undertake training programs at ILA, from pre-school children to professional working adults ILA VIETNAM is a part of Study Group, global leaders in international education and training, providing a complete range of educational opportunities for students from over 120 countries Study Group has centers in Australia, The United Kingdom, The United States, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and Vietnam (Source: www.ilavietnam.com) ILA VIETNAM was founded in October, 2000 in Ho Chi Minh City The history of establishing ILA VIETNAM is still a mystery We just can know it is a brand battle between the founders to have the developed ILA VIETNAM as • today Though it is has been developed for more than years but what ILA VIETNAM did was very incredible ILA VIETNAM becomes one of leaders in English education in H6ChiMinh City, after British Council And become the fastest growing English organization when they not stop expand from only one center in Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street to four more centers in Ho Chi Minh, Ha Noi City, Da Nang and Vung Tau provinces Phung H~c Thuin - 75- A study on promotion strategy of an educational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization Therefore, it is quite easy to understand why ILA VIETNAM becomes the biggest competitor of Apollo in Ho Chi Minh City In my opinion, the success of ILA VIETNAM can be explained by the effective working system and the efficient managing system Using the managing and serving system as a 5-star hotel, ILA VIETNAM make the customers feel a completely satisfaction The sales promotion and policy is planned very detailed and carefully with the specific guidelines and procedures which helps the sales people a lot in the way selling out the products Plus the student soft - the software of managing the student information - which is designed by ILA VIETNAM and works really well ILA VIETNAM is now famous in Ho Chi Minh City by the best quality teachers' team All ILA teachers are native English speakers 4th floo.r, 155 Nguyen Thal Hoc Street, Willd 7, Vuog Tau ClIy, Vietnam Tel: +8464 572347 F • E They are professionals in the field of English language teaching, holding internationally recognized teaching qualifications and many years of teaching experience with students from across the world Source: www.ilavietnam.com Phung H~c Thu~n -76 - A study on promotion strategy of an educational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization 3.2.3 Cleverlearn Vietnam Source: www.cleverlear.com.vn Founded in the U.S in 1999, Cleverlearn Inc has expanded into Germany, Belgium, The Philippines, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Thailand, Korea and Vietnam Cleverlearn Inc combines modem educational methods with cuttingedge technology to make understanding and learning English easy, fun and efficient Cleverlearn Inc participates and contributes to the development of the world, bridging distances and breaking barriers between countries, cultures and people by providing superior English learning services to individuals worldwide Cleverlearn Inc is aggressively penetrating into the Asian market by rolling out branches and Cleverlearn acquiring local businesses, incorporating completely method of learning and putting into practical use Cleverlearn technology-based learning tools and services The schools provide a veritable ground to prove and improve the effectiveness and practicability Cleverlearn Cleverlearn the of the method IS now III Vietnam with two main schools in Building 3, 2C Diplomatic Compound, Van Phuc, Van Bao, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi and 186 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District in Ho Chi Minh City Cleverlearn Vietnam (Hanoi) is the only English Language Center Authorized in Vietnam to be a TOEIC and TOEFL test) Test Site by ETS (Educational iBT (internet-based Testing Service), USA (Source: www.cleverlearnvietnam.vn) Phung H~c Thu~n -77 - A study on promotion strategy of an educational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization Cleverlearn Vietnam is popular about teaching English by American voice and American style which is totally different from Apollo, Language Link Vietnam and ILA Vietnam With the unique Communicative Approach optimizes class hours to teach the students how to "use" the language; to maximize opportunities for learners to use language for communication purposes with meaningful activities and an English learning environment inside and outside the classroom Moreover, Cleverlearn also has the competitive advantage of Unique Online Learning Tools which means the students are provided free of charge their unique online learning tools The students can combine the classroom hours with our online courses and other most advanced Cleverlearn English learning tools such as Clever course, TOEIC preparation, Clicktionary, and Word Reminder TOEIC@ Preparation @ Clicktionary ~ (Source: www.cleverlearnvietnam.vn) Cleverlearn Vietnam is also a place for people are getting busy for coming to class and want to learn by themselves at home Cleverlearn has designed many English learning programs which are very helpful to those learners Consequently, producing English learning program is their differential with the other English organizations In the recent years, Cleverlearn has used the special sales promotion program to stimulate of selling their products which are designed for children By cooperating with primary schools in District 1, District and Phu Nhuan District, Cleverlearn teaching has sent their English teachers to these schools for English with the reasonable Phung H~c Thu~n price Some special discounts and -78 - A study on promotion strategy of an educational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization entertainment programs in summer also are applied for these schools The program is very successful which is good enough to bring to Cleverlearn Vietnam the better reputation Since the relationship of Cleverlearn Vietnam and many primary schools is good, they are going to expand the program in many places throughout Ho Chi Minh City 3.3 SWOT analysis 3.3.1 Strengths Apollo Education and Training Organization has had the competitive advantages of being leader in Ha Noi market Being leader is one of top influences to customers when they choose to buy a product It also makes a great help for Apollo build up the brand name English learners in Ha Noi have known Apollo from very soon as the trusted centers for learning English Now Apollo has expanded to Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City where its reputation in Vietnamese minds as a leading Education and Training Organization Another strong point that makes Apollo trusted is its conscientious native English speakers with their own special teaching method Teaching quality is managed by Apollo's Academic Management Team Moreover, the learning and teaching materials, the student care services, and the best facilities of Apollo that make Apollo become a best place for learners One of the successful promotion campaigns of Apollo is being a sponsor for a game show Of course the game show Apollo chooses is focusing about knowledge such as: The way to Olympia, and Ring the Golden Bell With the appearance of the Apollo's general director - Mr Kalid Muhmood, the program has brought the big success to Apollo In my opinion, this kind of promotion is the strongest point of Apollo since it becomes a leader in this field With the money is not much as advertising on TV, Apollo is still very skillful to advertise for itself Apollo's working policy is satisfYing their customers and their employees Phung H~c ThuAn -79 - A study on promotion strategy of an educational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization as well Mr Kalid Muhmood believes that people are the most valuable property of Apollo This policy makes Apollo become differential in employees' mind when they are respectful to contribute their work Apollo is not afraid of paying much to get the satisfaction of employees And I think Apollo can be strong as today because it has competent staffs that help m delivering successfully the Apollo's message to customers Apollo strength is also shown at its unique value added services though it bases on the "learning by doing" program The value added services which are carefully designed for each group of Apollo's target customers Colorful and attractive programs for young learners, useful and practical programs for adult learners and powerful and economical programs for corporate learners which help Apollo satisfY the right group of customers 3.3.2 Weaknesses The major weakness of Apollo is the limited usmg of sales program Because of the huge amount of students, the sales force is really strenuous to record and manage all the information without the student software In fact, the Apollo's student soft is not working well and efficiently in order to compete with other competitors Moreover, without like ILA VIETNAM using intranet, Apollo and Cleverlearn finds many Vietnam difficulties to communicate within the centers Although employees are Apollo's valuable property, there is still not a clearly procedure or guideline for each policy All the policies are made by Human Resource Department of each center which were approved and applied for this center only Therefore, we can easily see the weakness in unity of ~ Apollo Another Apollo's weakness lies in the weak training program for employees The new applicant can be trained everything from one employees in this department Although Apollo is famous in designing the training skills Phung Hl;lcThuh - 80- A study on promotion strategy of an educational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization for corporate customers, their employees are still lack of that Finally, the combination of customer services and sales force for one position is the last weakness As we can see in the Personnel structure of one center of Apollo as the example, the sales department has just managed only corporate training courses, all the public English courses must be covered by customer service center It means the employees who work for customer service center have to two jobs: salesperson and customer care It seems too much for one person to cover and manage well that Therefore, the selling revenue of public course is not high as expected 3.3.3 Opportunities Vietnam now has just become a 150th member of WTO; the door of opportunities is now opened for every enterprise And Apollo Education and Training Organization is not an exception Moreover, GDP per capita increases from US$ 200 in 1995 to US$ 637.56 in 2005, real growth of GDP in 2005 8.4% and the annual average GDP growth rate from 1994 to 2005 is 6.81 % Because the income is risen up, the Vietnamese living standard is better, and they are willing pay more to get the quality products It is a good opportunity for Apollo in the way of development their products to meet the requirement of the demanding customers Not only the demand of learning English increase, but also the demand of training skills has been risen up Consequently, the trend of the combination of English and training course to make the training course by English is becoming " more popular Moreover, the number of professional international companies come to Vietnam also increases It leads to the well-preparation of the needed - skills for domestic employees to adapt to the social trend Domestic companies also need to prepare for their employees the good skill to be ready to compete with the other rivals Therefore, many English organizations have built their own training programs to meet the demand of market Phung H~c ThuAn - 81 - A study on promotion strategy of an educational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization Finally not yet importantly, the educational market is still a new and hot one in Vietnam Since the potentiality for this field is still in the beginning stage, it can be a big opportunity for Apollo 3.3.4 Threats The only threat that Apollo has to face now is the fast growth of the educational market Day by day, many international language organizations • start to come to Ho Chi Minh and Ha Noi market to share the big cake of this field Even they are just new comers, but with the strong capital source and new teaching methods They are becoming the equal rivals Now Viet Nam joins WTO, the investment environment competition to be tougher Phung Hl;lC Thu~n - 82- is more attractive, causing the A study on promotion strategy of an educational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization 3.4 Suggestions With the slogan: "Where the best becomes better", Apollo now has a certain place in Vietnam market by the strong brand name However, looking inside the working system of Apollo, I can see clearly the inefficiency of sales departments by lacking of information technology supports Hence, my suggestion will be focused on that part 3.4.1 , Personal Selling Sales technology support As I mentioned above, the student soft of Apollo only works well III Ha Noi center because the other centers not have the IT department to fix the problem when it occurs Therefore, it is extremely difficult for sales force to manage the database of customers Without the software, all the information of customer are managed by hard copy which is hard to search and easy to mislay Moreover, the information is arranged and managed by the salespeople's own way so the risk of losing customers' data is really high I suggest Apollo using a fix form for storing customers' information to protect them and to manage the system efficiently The student software should be upgraded and installed for all the three centers; it also should be connected throughout the three for the easier control for the management The intranet also needs to be used for updated information through the system Personal selling techniques The weakest point of Apollo is dividing two teams of sales force into two different departments Sales department is responsible for customers of corporate training courses while Customers service center is in charge of customers of public courses The activities of two departments are completely independent of each other All the sales Phung H~c Thu~n - 83- A study on promotion strategy of an educational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization promotion programs are also different because of the characteristics of the two groups of target customers Thus, only staffs in sales department have trained carefully about personal selling techniques, whereas the other sales team in customer care center is lack of those Reallocating the duties and functions between the two departments is needed for better service Moreover, sales department should be united for the sales programs and sales promotion Personal selling techniques are requires for staffs who are directly contact to customers 3.4.2 - Mass Selling Advertising Apollo has done very well on adverting especially on newspapers and magazines Since the updated information is necessary for both new and current customers, the monthly news-letter should be considered to be a new type of advertising of Apollo It contains the current courses of Apollo, the current extra - activities the updated sales promotion, and the upcoming programs In addition, the cost for publishing the news-letter is low, as it would generate a stronger influence Another effective way to reach a large numbers of viewer is ads on website Beside the information supply on its own website, Apollo can make some ads on the other websites that include the English learning , information with a large viewed numbers such as www.globaledu.com, www.tuoitre.com.vn, www.elearning.com Publicity Instead of cooperating with another firm to organize the English " contests for learners, now Apollo should make them its own Apollo can be leader in organize more contests for corporate training learners in Vietnam market Phung Hl;\c Thuin - 84- A study on promotion strategy of an educational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization 3.4.3 Sales Promotion Consumers Promotion It seems Apollo IS doing well with the promotion for the consumers The only suggestion of mine for the promotion program is the fee of the course It should be covered all the fee of books and supplies like Apollo's hat, pack back and T-shirt The customers will feel more comfortable when they have to pay a high fee with all the books included The more services they receive the happier they get Moreover, the free products of Apollo's hats, pack backs and T-shirts will be an freely effective "road-show" when they use these products after finishing class Employees Promotion The training classes about make-up skill, handle stress skill, and ", interpersonal skill should be used as one of employees promotional program Furthermore, the guidelines and procedures should be updated frequently so the new applicants can know more about the company's regulations Phung H~c Thuin - 85- A study on promotion strategy of an edncational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization CONCLUSION In general, the success of Apollo Education and Training Organization is based on the passion of the owner and the effective promotion program By choosing the right products to serve the right target customers, Apollo has achieved the certain place in the Vietnam's market The novel and multiform promotion programs which also make Apollo become best in the customers' selection Therefore, I can see that the success comes to Apollo that does not depend only on the way the market their brand name, but also the way they work seriously and the way they respect people The key to success of Apollo is the friendly policy of Apollo which makes both customers and employees feel comfortable Though, the market of educational products is still unstable, lots of opportunities and challenges are ahead It will be more are more difficult to be leading in this field Seeing the potential growth and incredible effort of Apollo's team, I strongly believe in the near future Apollo will make a big move in the Vietnam's educational market With the slogan "Where the best becomes better" and the philosophy of respect people, Apollo is worthy for Vietnamese learners to put their integral belief Time is the biggest difficult for me to accomplish this research The lack of Apollo's data also makes my research become infeasibility Although it is not good as expected, I still hope it can bring some useful information for those who are interested in implementing promotion in educational field •• Phung H~c Thuftn - 86- A study on promotion strategy of an educational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization REFERENCES Textbook William D Perreault and E Jerome McCarthy Basic Marketing McGraw Hill International Edition (p.378) William D Perreault and E Jerome McCarthy Basic Marketing McGraw Hill International Edition (p.384) Phillip Kotler and Gary Amstrong, Principles of Marketing, 2nd European Ed (Prentice Hall Inc., 1999) P.759 George E Belch and Michael A Belch, Advertising and Promotion, An Integrated Marketing (Communication Perspective) P.518 William D Perreault and E Jerome McCarthy Basic Marketing McGraw Hill International Edition (PA07) McGraw Hill International Edition, (p.379) William D Perreault and E Jerome McCarthy Basic Marketing McGraw Hill International Edition (PA07) George E Belch and Michael A Belch, Advertising and Promotion, An Integrated Marketing (Communication Perspective) (p 513) Phillip Kotler and Gary Amstrong, Principles of Marketing, 2nd European Ed (Prentice Hall Inc., 1999) P 517 10 consolidated from www.apolloedutrain.com Websites •• www.apolloedutrain.com www.languagelink.edu.vn www.ilavietnam.com www.cleverlearn.com.vn Phung H~c ThuAn - 87- A study on promotion strategy of an educational institution - Apollo Education and Training Organization www.globaledu.com ? www.undp.com.vn • http://www.undp.org.vn/undpLive/ContentlUNDP /About -Viet- N amNiet- N am-at-a-Glance- fact-page#EDUCA TI ON • ; " www.tuoitre.com.vn www.elearning.com 10 http://www.cartoonstock.com/I owres/ gth009 51.jpg 11 www.swtafe.vic.edu.au • 12 http://www.doitwithimpact.com/images/splashpage.gif Other sources 13 Apollo's employees 14 Apollo's learners • • ' ' •• Phung Hl;lC Thuin - 88- e • ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank all my lecturers at the International Business Administration Department for their help and continued support; in particular, Vice Dean Tdn Tuy Nga who kept me focused at all times at what works in the university, without her great support I cannot continue with my research I am especially grateful to Ms Nguy~n Drrc Hoai Anh, DBA my advisor, for her helpful comments and thoughtful guidance on my study in progress to make my research become feasibility •• • In addition, I must thank Mr Nguy~n Quac Hung - a big brother of mine - who is always be with me in this difficult journey, without his support and deep understanding none of this work would have been possible Many special thanks to Mr Vii Quac Anh - Vice Dean International Relations who has done a great help for the first steps of my research Thanks also go to Apollo's staffs and students for the valuable information and personal ideas which help me a lot in figuring out new aspects of educational business , , • Once again, I reserve the biggest thank to my friends and family for their great love and care They are the inspiration for me to work harder in order to accomplish this challenging project