INTRODUCTION
Rationale of thesis
In recent years, the cosmetics market has become much more vibrant with many famous brands coming from abroad Not only that, the "made in Vietnam" brands have also made significant changes to "tear apart the cake" of this lucrative market Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, while most other businesses have difficulty, cosmetics companies have made remarkable developments As customers spend more time at home, they begin to care for and learn about how to take care of their skin (VTV, 2021) Therefore, the sales of the total cosmetics industry in Vietnam increased significantly While small and medium-sized companies are competing fiercely in the mid-range and low-range market segments, in the prestige beauty segment, famous foreign companies are dominating the market like Estée Lauder Companies Inc (ELC), L'Oréal S.A., and Shiseido
According to a report from Beauté Research, a leading provider of prestige beauty market data in Asia, ELC is the third highest-grossing cosmetics group with $17.7 billion in annual sales in 2022, behind Unilever ($25 billion) and L'Oréal ($37 billion) Following ELC are two other large corporations, Procter & Gamble ($14.4 billion) and Shiseido ($9 billion) Competitors always try to launch new product lines with outstanding features At the same time, they also expand the distribution of products through different channels such as distribution through retailers (Takashimaya, Cresent, Lotte, etc.), distribution through retail chains (Hasaki, Guardian, Watsons, etc.), distribution through e-commerce channels (Lazada, Shopee, TikTok Shop, etc.), distribution through flagship stores or distribution through corporate sales channel
Corporate sales channel is a distribution channel that, although not new, ELC has not yet paid attention to The feature of this distribution channel is that it aims directly at the target audience who are employees of other corporations, communicating commercial information through the partners' internal departments such as human resources department, employee engagement department or marketing department One of the corporations that has successfully used this distribution channel is Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd when sales from this distribution channel account for about 14 - 17% of this business's revenue for 5 years 1 Realizing that the demand for prestige cosmetics by corporate employees is great, ELC decided to join the corporate sales distribution channel By September 2021, ELCVN started to build a corporate sales channel, starting with the website "The Company Store" (shop.thecompanystore.vn) The product portfolio at the time consisted mainly of several hero products from Estee Lauder, Clinique, Bobbi Brown, MAC and Jo Malone London By the end of 2023, ELCVN will officially distribute La Mer products, a high-end cosmetic brand trusted by many customers around the world La Mer products will be distributed through all distribution channels in Vietnam, including the corporate sales channel
In the kickoff meeting at the end of 2022, the country manager of ELCVN, Ms Tran Diep Lam Giang, set out strategies and goals for each department and distribution channel in 2023 For corporate sales, there are 2 strategies, and 3 main targets need to be implemented in 2023 Regarding the strategy for the corporate sales distribution channel, Ms Giang emphasized two things Firstly, corporate sales channel must approach customers in tier 2 cities with dense population and strong economic development such as Can Tho, Binh Duong, Dong Nai etc through pop-up events or clearance sales parties Next, the corporate sales channel must make La
1 Based on internal research, “Corporate Sales Channel Research, updated to 2022, EDM team”
Mer products become more popular through continuous branding through activities such as giving out samples, free gifts or organizing minigames The 3 targets that the corporate sales distribution channel needs to achieve include: (1) Net profit is within 15% of sales, (2) Revenue contribution is 15% of total company revenue and (3) Market share of La Mer is 39% and become top 1 in skincare category
Against the aforementioned backdrop, this thesis aims to develop "A marketing plan for La Mer products through the corporate sales channel" to achieve those targets.
Objective of thesis
In order to develop a marketing plan for La Mer products through the corporate sales channel, the thesis seeks to address 3 main objectives The first is to consolidate the relevant marketing knowledge as a foundation to build a marketing plan for the business Second, this thesis helps to assess the competition landscape of the prestigious cosmetics industry Third, from the knowledge of marketing and research results of La Mer brand team, this thesis proposes a complete marketing plan for La Mer products through the corporate sales distribution channel.
Scope of thesis
With the ambition to build La Mer into the No 1 skincare brand in Vietnam in terms of market share as well as brand awareness, corporate sales will be one of ELCVN's three main distribution channels in the next three years to realize the above ambition This thesis will build a marketing plan for the luxury cosmetics brand La Mer over the next 2 years, divided in the phase of Build- up, one of three main phases including Build-up, Accelerate and Sustain With the Build-up phase, the plan will focus on setting up the distribution system, running tests with a number of partners and optimizing operating processes for the corporate sales channel In the Accelerate phase, we
4 will focus on promotional campaigns and sales campaigns to boost sales as well as strengthen customer relationship management (CRM) programs to increase retention rate The final phase - Sustain - will focus on maintaining close relationships with customers who have made purchases, thereby building customer trust in product quality and after-sales service From there, old customers will help bring traffic to the corporate sales channel through marketing forms such as word-of-mouth or referral This thesis will focus on using data and insights from other departments within ELC, thereby building an effective marketing plan focused on taking full advantage of the power of corporate sales distribution channel as well as reputation of the La Mer brand.
Significance of thesis
Expected to contribute 15% of the company's total revenue in FY24, corporate sales channel is a strategic distribution channel alongside B&M and Online channels Therefore, leveraging most of the resources of the corporate sales channel to help deliver La Mer products to end consumers is one of the critical targets of this distribution channel This thesis will focus on carefully analyzing the factors that are affecting the performance of this distribution channel as well as proposing a marketing plan to realize the set goals.
Structure of thesis
This thesis will include 6 main parts
Chapter 2: Theoretical foundation of a marketing plan
Chapter 3: Industry and company overview
Chapter 4: Marketing plan for La Mer products through corporate sales channel
THEORETICAL FOUNDATION OF A MARKETING PLAN
Definition of marketing
Despite the fact that marketing has been around for a while, marketing principles have only been around since the turn of the twentieth century There are numerous ways to define marketing, some of which are as follows: In order to manage customer connections for the benefit of the business and its stakeholders, marketing is a function of the organization It consists of a collection of processes for producing, conveying, and providing value to customers (American Marketing Association, 2017) Marketing is a social process in which individuals and groups obtain what they need by creating, offering, and exchanging products and services of equal value with individuals and other organizations (Kotler & Keller, 2016) It is defined as the process of performing activities to achieve organizational goals by anticipating customer needs to direct the flow of goods from producer to customer (Jerome Mccarthy et al., 1960/2011) According to the definition proposed by American Marketing Association (2017), “marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large”
Forecasting, product planning, and promotion planning are examples of fundamental marketing operations based on environmental analysis marketing Environmental analysis and marketing research aid in forecasting the variables influencing a company's success so that it may make adjustments and gather the data required to address marketing issues Businesses can grow their markets by entering new ones with the aid of marketing Marketing enables companies to research
7 and assess consumer behavior, demands, and purchasing patterns in order to identify target markets and formulate effective marketing strategies Businesses will have (1) product planning more logically by generating and sustaining any products, designing images, product brands, and items that need to be deleted as a result of better knowing the market and client needs; (2) better promotion planning through advertising, public relations, and promotions; (3) better distribution planning by establishing relationships with distribution intermediaries; (4) more appropriate pricing through pricing techniques from which there is rational price adjustment and use of price as a positive or negative factor Businesses can evaluate the risks and advantages of decisions with the aid of the planning, execution, and control of marketing operations To effectively create and trade, boost the company's competitiveness, and optimize profits, businesses need to understand the wants of the consumers for the goods they manufacture or trade Each fundamental marketing plan must be based on the target audience and their demands; the company will then concentrate on actions to address those needs By developing a marketing strategy, a company can carry out its marketing efforts in a methodical manner with a clear goal that is in line with the market features of the company According to Kotler and Keller (2016) “A marketing strategy is a logical and rational system of arguments as a basis for guiding an organization, calculating how to solve its marketing tasks It includes strategies specific to target markets and levels of marketing spending”
It comprises spending amounts on marketing as well as target market-specific methods An endeavor to reach a desired position in light of the competitive landscape and the evolving business environment is represented by marketing strategy As a functional strategy, marketing strategy serves as a basis upon which other functional business strategies are built An organization's marketing activities are broken down into key components in a marketing strategy, outlining how a business unit plans to accomplish its marketing goals
How to build a marketing plan
There are many guides on how to build a marketing plan In this thesis I will use the process proposed by Chernev (2020) because this is a process highly appreciated by ELC's marketing team for its practicality and effectiveness Generally, the 7 factors proposed by Chernev (2020), including product, service, brand, price, incentives, communication, distribution aspect, capture the traditional 4Ps, including price, product, place, and promotion For simplicity, this thesis will apply the 4Ps which allows a sufficient coverage of several elements of the marketing plan while at the same time give more space to discuss the Place element in greater details
All firm marketing initiatives are guided and coordinated by the marketing plan It's a concrete result of a company's strategic planning process that outlines the organization's ultimate objective and the methods by which it intends to attain it The marketing strategy must successfully convey the firm's aim and its suggested course of action to the appropriate stakeholders, including corporate employees, collaborators, shareholders, and investors, in order to fulfill its primary function of directing a company's operations (Kotler & Keller, 2016) The marketing plan's scope is smaller than the business plan's because it only addresses one area of a company's operations Business plans for organizations also cover the company's finances, operations, human resources, and technology issues in addition to the marketing-related aspects of their operations Other parts of the business plan may be briefly discussed in the marketing plan, but only if they are pertinent to the marketing strategy and methods The marketing strategy has three basic purposes: It outlines the company's objective and suggested course of action, notifies the pertinent parties about the objective and proposed course of action, and persuades the pertinent decision-makers of the viability of the objective and suggested course of action
A situation overview is often included after an executive summary in marketing strategy The plan then outlines the company's objectives, the value-creation strategy it has developed, the offering's tactical components, and its strategy for putting those components into action The plan is concluded with a list of pertinent exhibits after defining a series of control measures that will track the company's progress toward its objectives The major choices that underlie each of the marketing plan's constituent parts are shown in the Figure 2.1
Figure 2.1 The Organization of the Marketing Plan Source: adapted from Alexander Chernev, The Marketing Plan Handbook, 6th ed (Chicago, IL: Cerebellum Press, 2020)
As the "elevator pitch" for the marketing strategy, the executive summary might be viewed as such It gives a focused and brief review of the company's objective and suggested plan of action The executive summary typically consists of one or two pages that list the important challenges the organization is currently dealing with, such as an opportunity, a danger, or a performance gap, as well as the suggested course of action
What are the company's history, culture, resources, offerings, and ongoing activities
What are the key aspects of the markets in which the company competes?
What is the key performance metric the company aims to achieve with the offering?
What are the criteria (temporal and quantitative) for reaching the goal
Who are the target customers, competitors, and collaborators? What are the company's resources and context?
What value does the offering create for target customers, collaborators, and company stakeholders?
How is the company offering being developed? What processes will be used to bring the offering to market?
How will the company evaluate the progress toward its goal?
How will the company monitor the environment to identify new opportunities and threats?
What are the product, service, brand, price, incentives, communication and distribtuion aspect of the offering? What are the keys aspects of the company's marketing plan?
What are the details/evidence supporting the company's action plan?
The situation overview of the business' operating environment and the markets in which it currently competes or plans to participate is given in the scenario overview As a result, the situation overview is divided into two sections: the company overview, which provides an overview of the company's background, culture, resources (competencies, assets, and offerings), and the market overview, which provides an overview of the markets that the company currently manages offerings in as well as those that it may target in the future
The marketing plan's G-STIC section serves as its central component It consists of (1) the Goal the company aims to achieve; (2) the Strategy, which defines the offering’s target market and value proposition; (3) the Tactics defining the product, service, brand, price, incentives, communication, and distribution aspects of the offering; (4) the Implementation, which lays out the aspects of executing an offering’s strategy and tactics; and (5) Control procedures that evaluate the performance of the company’s offering and analyze the environment in which the company operates
By separating the less significant and/or more technical components of the plan from the crucial information, exhibits streamline the marketing strategy by keeping tables, charts, and appendices in a separate area.
The G-STIC approach to action planning
The foundation of marketing planning is the action plan, which states the company's objective and specifies a course of action to achieve it The creation of an action plan is guided by these five major processes: Setting a goal, creating a strategy, creating the tactics, creating an implementation plan, and choosing a set of control measures to gauge the effectiveness of the suggested action are some of these processes These five tasks make up the G-STIC framework, which serves as the
12 foundation for marketing planning and analysis The business model built on the offering's strategy and tactics forms the basis of the action plan
The following are the specific elements that make up the G-STIC method to marketing planning and management:
The goal identifies the end outcome that the company hopes to attain and describes the company's ultimate criterion for success The emphasis of the objective, which specifies the metric (like net income) used to measure the desired outcome of the company's actions, and the performance benchmarks, which indicate progress toward the goal and provide the timeline for reaching it, are its two main components
By identifying the company's target market and describing the offering's value proposition in this market, the strategy serves as the foundation for the business model of the company
The major components of the company's offering are defined in tactics, which implement the strategy The company's chosen market is where these seven tactics—product, service, brand, price, incentives, communication, and distribution—are leveraged to provide value
The implementation to make the company's offering ready for purchase are referred to as implementation The process of implementation involves creating the offering and introducing it to the target market
By tracking the company's performance and changes to the market environment in which the company works, control evaluates the effectiveness of the company's operations over time
Figure 2.2 lists the essential elements of the marketing plan, along with the main characteristics that best describe each element The following sections go into greater detail about each element
Figure 2.2 The G-STIC Action-Planning Flowchart Source: adapted from Alexander Chernev, Strategic Marketing Management: Theory and Practice (Chicago, IL: Cerebellum Press, 2019)
Setting the company's goal into clear terms launches the marketing strategy The objective may be thought of as the lighthouse that directs all business activity Setting a goal involves making two crucial choices: (1) Focus – deciding on the direction of the organization's operations and (2) Benchmarks – outlining the performance standards that must be met
(1) Goal focus – The emphasis of the aim establishes the intended result of company operations, which is a crucial factor in determining a company's success Goals can be either monetary or strategic depending on their focus
Monetary goals are based on things like return on investment, earnings per share, net income, and profit margins Financial targets are the key performance metric used by for- profit businesses
Strategic goals are focused on non-financial results that are crucial to the company's strategy Increasing sales volume, brand awareness, and social welfare are some of the most typical strategic aims Other common objectives include improving company culture and making it easier to hire and keep employees Strategic goals serve as the primary performance metric for nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses striving to support offerings that generate more money than the focus product
(2) Performance benchmarks – Together, quantitative, and temporal performance standards offer the measurements that chart the company's progress toward achieving its predetermined goal
Quantitative benchmarks outlined the precise benchmarks that must be met as the business advances toward its end objective These metrics quantify the company's primary objective, which can be, for instance, a 5% increase in market share, a 15% increase in retention rates, or a 10% increase in revenue Quantitative benchmarks can be expressed in absolute terms, such as wanting to reach sales of one million units annually, or in relative terms, such as intending to expand market share by 20%
Temporal benchmarks specifies a deadline for reaching a particular quantitative or qualitative goal, such as updating the corporate website by the end of the first quarter
Setting a deadline for attaining a goal is an important choice that may have an impact on the method of implementation, the number of participants, and even expenditures For instance, achieving the aim of long-term profitability is likely to involve a different approach and set of methods than maximizing profits for the upcoming quarter
This section just briefly discusses strategy in connection to the G-STIC framework because the procedures needed in creating an effective marketing strategy were previously addressed in length in this chapter The company's target market and value proposition for this market are included in the strategy, which indicates the value that the company aims to create in that market
Target market is determined by five factors: the customers whose needs the offering will satisfy, the competitors whose offerings aim to satisfy the same target customers' needs, the partners who assist the company in meeting the needs of target customers, the company managing the offering, and the environment in which the company operates
Value proposition outlines the advantages and disadvantages of the market product with which the company intends to satisfy the needs of its target market Customer value, collaborator value, and company value are the three pillars of the value proposition A positioning statement that highlights the primary advantages of the company's offering in a market context is frequently used in conjunction with the value proposition
There is no denying that the marketing mix is a useful tool for helping to transition between marketing objectives A lot of articles discuss concepts from the marketing mix, like the 4Ps, 7Ps, or 4Cs Still, a lot of academics agree that the 4Ps are the theory that is used the most frequently
Borden (1965) asserts that he coined the phrase "marketing mix," citing Culliton's (1948) suggestion as his source McCarthy (1964) proposed the marketing mix, sometimes known as the 4Ps, as a way to put marketing strategy into reality (Bennett, 1997) The single P (price) of microeconomic theory is the source of the marketing mix (Chong, 2003)
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Overview of ELCVN
The Estee Lauder Companies Inc is one of the top producers and marketers of high-quality skin care, cosmetics, fragrance, and most recently, hair care products worldwide More than 120 nations and territories sell the company's goods under well-known brand names like jane, Donna Karan, Aveda, Stila, Jo Malone London, Bumble and bumble, Estee Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Prescriptives, Origins, MAC, La Mer, Bobbi Brown, Tommy Hilfiger, and Bumble and Bumble
ELC officially established ELCVN on March 5, 2009 with the mission of spreading ELC's core values, "every woman can be beautiful", to all Vietnamese women Up to now, ELCVN is distributing genuine products under the following brand names: Estee Lauder, Clinique, Jo Malone London, MAC and Bobbi Brown It is expected that in November 2023, ELCVN will continue to introduce La Mer brand to the Vietnamese market After 5 generations of country managers, ELCVN is currently led by Ms TRAN DIEP LAM GIANG for 5 years, a Vietnamese who graduated with a major in Marketing from the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh and has worked for more than 15 years at Unilever with many positions related to Marketing
According to results of Beauté Research, the high-end cosmetics market in Vietnam reached about
8 billion USD in 2022 More than 60% of customers use skin care products on a daily basis, making them the most well-liked category in particular In a similar vein, Statista's study demonstrates that the growth rate of cosmetics stores in Vietnam has grown by 40%, from 87% in 2021 to 124% in
2022 Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, two significant commercial centers, are home to the majority of the stores
Nielsen claims that Vietnamese consumers do not spend much money on makeup In reality, Vietnamese women spend between VND 300,000 and VND 500,000 on makeup per month, more than they do on skin care The most recent trend in skin care is multi-step washing to address issues including acne, clogged pores, and under-eye dark circles Consumers spend more on skin care services (spa, dermatology clinic) and beauty items as appearance becomes more important to them Lipstick makes up the greatest portion of the Vietnamese cosmetics market, according to the Insight Handbook 2021 analysis from Kantar Worldpanel
Vietnamese consumers' buying habits have been impacted by the proliferation of e-commerce platforms In particular, compared to 2018, sales of personal care items have risen by 63%, those of skin care and makeup by 55% and 25%, respectively Vietnamese cosmetic companies are attempting to recapture this lucrative market, however they now only retain 10% of the industry Vietnamese cosmetic companies can only currently operate in the low-end market and export to a few nearby markets In addition, 90% of Vietnamese cosmetic companies work as distributors for foreign cosmetics producers Vietnamese business districts are dominated by cosmetics from abroad
At ELCVN there will be 6 main departments including Finance, Marketing, Corporate Sales, B&M, Online and Human Resources At the head of each department there will be a manager Below Manager there will be other positions such as Lead or Executive All Managers will report directly to the Country Manager, Ms Tran Diep Lam Giang Organization chart will be shown in the figure below
Figure 3.4 Organizational chart of ELCVN
Under Ms GIANG’ leadership, ELCVN has achieved many proud milestones, and 2022-2023 is a boom year for ELCVN after a long period of gloom due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic
Currently, ELCVN is contributing in 3 main categories of beauty market including Skincare,
Make-up and Fragrances The following pictures will show the market share of ELCVN from
FY20 Q3 (January 2020) to FY23 Q3 (March 2023)
Figure 3.5 The market share of ELCVN from FY20 Q3 (January 2020) to FY23 Q3 (March 2023)
It can be seen that from FY20 Q3 ELCVN ranks 5 th in the market with a contribution rate of 12% while ELC's biggest competitor in the international market, L'Oreal, leads the market with 22% market share However, with the leadership of Ms Giang, ELC rose to market leader for the first time in FY23 Q3 with 21% market share, 2% more than L'Oreal It is worth noting here that at the time of the Covid-19 epidemic, while other competitors such as Chanel, Coty Luxury and Clarins all saw a serious decline in sales, ELCVN experienced sudden growth, accounting for 2 nd place in the market just behind L'Oreal
The following picture will show the contribution of each category for ELCVN market share from FY20 Q3 (January 2020) to FY23 Q3 (March 2023)
Figure 3.6 Contribution of each category for ELCVN market share from FY20 Q3 (January 2020) to FY23 Q3 (March 2023)
From the figure above it can be seen that skincare products are contributing more than 50% of total sales for ELCVN with day and night intensive skin care products from the Estee Lauder brand Make-up products account for 20-31% of ELCVN's total sales with matte lipstick and cream lipstick lines from MAC Sales of fragrances are currently being largely contributed by the Jo Malone London label and are expected to increase further as Jo Malone London develops more stores in other regions.
Market research
At ELC, the Enterprise Marketing and Data (EM&D) team will be in charge of market analysis
At ELCVN, the full function of the EM&D department has not yet been established and is being built based on the current marketing department Therefore, ELCVN's marketing team will work with ELC APAC's EM&D team to carry out market research campaigns, providing necessary information for distribution channel teams and brand teams Every quarter, they will synthesize, research, and analyze data from many different sources to provide market insights, shopping trends or predictions about competitors' strategies The information they analyze will be uploaded publicly to Tableau, an American interactive data visualization software that can help anyone see and understand their data Only levels from Lead and above have access to Tableau because this is the company's data warehouse, very in-depth and confidential Tableau will be linked directly to the SAP system, this helps sales performance, campaign performance and marketing performance to be continuously updated All information about historical performance is updated
28 and visualized on Tableau In addition, users can view the predicted data that the EM&D team has analyzed to have reasonable strategies for their work This is also where the La Mer brand team updates necessary information about the market, customers, products, strategies, etc so that distribution channel leads can learn and adapt to the strategies of each channel In general, with the channel lead's scope of work, they will be interested in metrics such as: average annual spend for each customer segmentation, average order value of La Mer's customer, expected spent for La Mer product, conversion rate from traffic to reach , conversion rate from reach to lead, etc
A MARKETING PLAN FOR LA MER PRODUCTS THROUGH
Executive summary
In recent years, many important events have occurred that directly affect the fluctuations of the consumer market in particular and especially the high-end cosmetics market During nearly 3 years affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the high-end cosmetics market was almost frozen and fell behind On the contrary, more affordable cosmetic brands from Asian countries such as Korea and China are popular because consumers tend to tighten their spending compared to previous periods Furthermore, consumers increasingly favor products derived from nature and boycott products with plastic packaging The wave of anti-plastic packaging is so severe that many brands have had to completely switch to using glass or recycled plastic for their products Most serious of all is the outcry against testing cosmetics on animals such as rats, dogs, cats or rabbits in 2021 The most famous cosmetic brands in the world such as Chanel, L'oreal, Lancôme, Dior, Estee Lauder etc are all involved in this scandal, forcing them to stop testing on animals and make speeches aimed at immediately reassuring public opinion
With the above disadvantages and advantages, ELC decided to bring the high-end cosmetics brand
La Mer to Vietnam in early 2024 In addition to this being a high-end cosmetics brand, which will make La Mer difficult in reaching customers because the price is too high, this is a brand that uses natural ingredients - fermented seaweed, does not use plastic packaging and does not test products on animals With the above factors suitable for market tastes, ELC believes that La Mer will become the number one cosmetics brand in Vietnam within the next 3-5 years with at least 39% market share of high-end cosmetics market
In the high-end cosmetics market in Vietnam, the market share is led by Christian Dior (20.78%), YSL (11.96%), Estee Lauder (9.40%), Kiehl's (9.11%), Lancôme (8.26%), Shiseido (6.69%), Cle
De Peau (5.13%) etc 2 To be able to win against the above competitors, La Mer needs to differentiate itself The marketing plan for La Mer will include dimensions such as product, price, promotion and place (distribution) In particular, optimizing the strengths of the distribution through the corporate sales channel will be the top priority of the marketing plan presented in this thesis
Firstly, the corporate sales channel will focus on promoting the worldwide best-selling products and derived from fermented seaweed such as creams and serums These will be the two key products of the corporate sales distribution channel In addition, other products will also be on sale to create more choices for customers such as cleansing foam, treatment lotion and eye concentrate
Secondly, the selling price will be based on instructions from brand team La Mer Vietnam, which has been aligned by regional and global brand teams The distribution channel team will not determine the selling price for La Mer products as this will be researched and proposed by the regional and global brand team However, the distribution channel team will make specific promotional decision to for each customer group For corporate sales channels, promotions will be designed based on factors such as: marketing calendar for special events (Christmas, Tet, Black Friday, Women’s Day etc.), total number of partners' employees, average income and ad hoc requests from partners
Thirdly, the distribution system for customers of the corporate sales channel will be designed and adjusted based on the existing process This helps customers' shopping experience to be upgraded
2 Data from Beauté Research, “YTD Net Sales, CY 2023”
31 to a higher level, worthy of the money they spend on La Mer's high-end products The basic characteristics of corporate sales distribution channels such as using partners' communication channels to communicate with their employees and then directly deliver goods to end users will remain the same In addition, the corporate sales channel will work closely with partners to organize workshops, sampling, and events at partners' offices to help customers experience products directly and make purchase decisions right at the event This will help directly deliver the brand's core values to end customers and help increase sales immediately.
Situation overview
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc – is a global custodian of luxury and prestige brands and one of the top producers, marketers, and retailers of high-quality skin care, cosmetics, fragrance, and hair care products The company's goods are offered in about 150 nations and territories under a variety of brand names, such as: Estộe Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Lab Series, Origins, MãAãC, La Mer, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Aveda, Jo Malone London, Bumble and bumble, Darphin Paris, TOM FORD, Smashbox, AERIN Beauty, Le Labo, Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, GLAMGLOW, KILIAN PARIS, Too Faced, Dr.Jart+, and the DECIEM family of brands, including The Ordinary and NIOD The Estée Lauder Companies Inc is currently led by William
P Lauder, son of Leonard and Evelyn Lauder, and grandson of Estée and Joseph Lauder, Executive Chairman, and Fabrizio Freda, President and Chief Executive Officer Under their leadership, ELC has become the world's No 2 largest cosmetics group after L'Oréal with $15.9 billions net sales and $1.5 billions operating income in 2022 Furthermore, there are about 150 countries and territories sell items made by ELC The three main geographical areas are the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia/Pacific There are one or more affiliates in each region The company
32 currently has affiliates in more than 50 nations and territories, including Vietnam The company currently owns more than 1,600 freestanding stores with more than 60,000 employees around the world The company is also proud to own 80% female workforce worldwide and 59% females in vice president positions and above ELC is currently manufacturing and distributing products in 4 major categories including skincare (moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, body care, exfoliators, acne and oil correctors, facial masks, and sun care products), makeup (lipsticks, lip glosses, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, nail polishes and powders compacts, brushes and other makeup tools), fragrance (eau de parfum sprays and colognes, as well as lotions, powders, creams, candles and soaps that are based on a particular fragrance) and hair care (shampoos, conditioners, styling products, treatment, finishing sprays and hair color products) 3
Figure 4.7 Brand portfolio of ELC in 2022 Source: THE ESTÉE LAUDER COMPANIES FISCAL 2023 FORM 10-K
The Estée Lauder Companies Vietnam – Since 2005, ELC products had been officially distributed in Vietnam through a distribution company called Bich Thuy Company, headquartered in Hanoi By the end of 2009, ELC decided to establish an official branch of ELC in Vietnam
3 Source: THE ESTÉE LAUDER COMPANIES FISCAL 2023 FORM 10-K
(ELCVN) with the company name ESTEE LAUDER (VIETNAM) LLC Through many different generations of leaders, currently, ELCVN is led by Ms Tran Diep Lam Giang She joined the company in 2019 as Country Manager At this position, Ms Giang is responsible for the company’s overall vision and strategy, financial objectives, and investment priorities Under her leadership, the company’s multiple engines of growth have delivered record sales and enabled profitable growth She is a strategically-focused, financially-disciplined, results-oriented leader with a proven track record in the consumer products industry Prior to joining The Estée Lauder Companies, Ms Giang had an impressive 20-year career at Unilever, where she was responsible for numerous operating, marketing and strategic efforts spanning different geographies and categories
In 2022, ELCVN became the No 2 largest cosmetics company with about 19% market share, behind L'Oreal with 21% market share If considering high-end cosmetics companies alone, ELCVN is the 3rd company in terms of market share with 9.4%, behind YSL (11.96%) and Christian Dior (20.78%) 4 In Vietnam, ELCVN owns brands such as Estee Lauder, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, MAC, Jo Malone London and La Mer Among them, La Mer is the brand with the highest price point in the ecosystem of both ELC and ELCVN
The company's orientation for the next 3-5 years is to focus on developing high-end product lines with natural origins, with the key product being La Mer's Cream de La Mer The company will focus on educating the market about the importance of using high-end skincare products to significantly upgrade the quality of skin by combining fermented seaweed essence with other natural elements (such as Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Lecithin, Iron and Vitamin C, E and
4 Data from Beauté Research, “YTD Net Sales, CY 2023” and Internal data from ELCVN
B12, and citrus, eucalyptus, wheat germ, alfalfa, and sunflower essential oils), creating a highly efficient premium moisturizer with regard to its nutritive, healing, soothing and smoothing properties, a product considered "The Rolls Royce of skincare creams" To realize that ambition, ELCVN will focus on building and upgrading the distribution system with three main channels: B&M, Online and Corporate Sales In particular, corporate sales is a new channel established within the last 3 years so it is still very primitive and has an insufficient customer base However, at the end of 2022, ELC decided to invest heavily in the corporate sales channel at ELCVN in the context that other distributions are facing difficulties because they have to face too many new competitors in the industry, including Cheap cosmetics companies come from Korea and China Price competition has put a lot of pressure on traditional distribution channels as the company must always run promotion programs for a long time, reducing profit margins and increasing the risk of incurring losses For the corporate sales channel, targeting employees of large corporations will help the customer portfolio expand quickly Most employees of large corporations will be very fond of high-end cosmetics products Using internal communication from partners to communicate about existing ELCVN incentives will help increase conversion rate from potential customers to new-to-find customers
La Mer – is the global leader in luxury skincare and delivers profound healing The brand story began when Dr Max Huber, an aerospace physicist, suffered burns in a lab accident and set out to create his own destiny After 6,000 experiments and 12 years of searching led to the epiphany of a lifetime – a fermentation process that transformed sea kelp and other pure ingredients into the miracle that would help transform the look of his skin In honor of his muse, he called it Crème de la Mer In 1995, La Mer joined The Estée Lauder Companies after Max Huber’s death and became the most coveted skincare brand in the world The unique selling point of the cream de La Mer
35 product is the liquid mixture called "Miracle Broth" This is a mixture made with core element from a sea kelp named Macrocystis pyrifera in the pristine waters from Vancouver Island This type of kelp must be harvested by hand To create the “miracle broth”, Huber collected the kelps and he fermented each batch of kelp for three months in a fish tank The most interesting thing here is that this fermentation process does not take place in a normal environment, the sound patterns (soundtracks of Max Huber) and the flashing lights worked like catalysts to speed up and improve the fermentation process to create a richer broth And last but not least, each time the Miracle Broth is created, it is infused with drops of the batch that came before it, creating a timeless link to its original Because of the magic of the brand story and the true effectiveness of the products, La Mer gradually won the trust of consumers and became the most premium cosmetic brand in the world La Mer products are positioned as luxury products with the two most outstanding products being Crème De La Mer and The Treatment Lotion The price for a 30ml jar of Crème De La Mer will cost about 6,850,000 VND in the Thai market while a jar of Estee Lauder's highest quality cream, Re-Nutriv Ultimate Lift Regenerating Youth Crème 50ml, costs only 7,046,500 VND
With La Mer's criteria - "Consumers accept themselves at any age and see their personal journey as the most meaningful It’s not about looking perfect, but being happy, youthful and vital.", brand is targeting to those who expect high levels of service and personalization They want to be unique and cultured individuals, seek effective products that deliver brand promise, has a unique sense of self, and want to be independent and confident They also follow trends, connect with brands who
36 share their values and tenants, strive to become a better version of themselves and seek everyday healthy and radiant skin
With the customer profile that the brand is targeting, there will be three sources of customer growth including Devotees, Next generation and Emerging These sources of customer growth are based on data collected from Malaysia and Thailand, two markets with consumer behavior most like Vietnam The Vietnamese market is a potential market but is still very small when compared to APAC countries Therefore, the brand team will prioritize taking advantage of data sources from neighboring markets to reduce market research costs instead of having to spend a large amount of money to analyze the Vietnamese market Based on customer data in Malaysia and Thailand, the brand team identified 3 sources of customer growth in Vietnam, including:
Devotees – are those who spend more money, stick with a brand, forgive mistakes made by the brand, pay more for goods or services, and go above and beyond to support the brand La Mer’s devotees will be ageless women and Gen Z Asian women For ageless women, they are willing to pay annually from $1,958 to $2,194 for full-size hero products and have little change in their skincare routine over the years They value brands and products that support emotional health and confidence They are interested in product lines that have capabilities such as lifting or firming; smoothing; repair or revitalizing; brightening or radiation; prevent or protect and evens skin tone With Gen Z Asian women, they will be willing to spend about $1,245 - $1,397 annually on full-size products but they will prefer to experience new, trending product lines They value high quality luxury that fulfills her desire to be uniquely different, cultured, and interesting They are interested in product lines with capabilities such as lifting or firming; smoothing; soothes sensitivity;
37 reduces bikou; brightening or radiation; prevention or protection; strengthening or stabilizing
Next generation – are the next generation customers who will follow and become devotees in the future This group consists mainly of Millennial women They are willing to pay annually from $1,039 to about $1,204 for products with smaller capacity but are still best- selling products on the market They value luxury items that enhance their quality of life and depict their taste; strive to be the most ideal version of themselves They will seek products to give them benefit of acne treatment or blemishes, bikou or combination skin; diminishes dark circles; radiance or protection
Emerging – This is a file of potential customers who know and love La Mer products but have not yet become loyal customers of La Mer This customer file will include two main groups: multi-ethnic women and European and American men For multi-ethnic women, they will be willing to pay from $853 to $1,065 for products good for acne or blemishes, bikou or oil control combination skin; heals post-blemish scarring They will value their individualism and connectedness; will pay for products that align with their core tenets For European and American men, they will value simple, targeted, and scientifically- backed solutions to address their skin’s needs They will be comfortable to pay annually around $1,511 – $1,664 for soothes shaving irritation; stabilizes or improves barrier; soothes expression lines; pore or blemish care; photoaging protection; multi-functional usage 5
5 Sources: ELC Corporate Consumer Snapshot Dashboard; LM CRM data; LM Consumer Model based on FY22 stretch plan +34% RS growth as of April 2021
Ageless women Gen Z Asian women
European and American men Average annual spend
$1,958 to $2,194 $1,245 to $1,397 $1,039 to $1,204 $853 to $1,065 $1,511 to $1,664
G-STIC action plan
According to results of Beauté Research, the high-end cosmetics market in Vietnam reached about
8 billion USD in 2022 It is expected to increase by 22% and reach 9.8 billion USD in 2023 With the ambition to dominate the high-end cosmetics market, ELCVN Country Manager expects La Mer to contribute 39% of the market, reaching about 3.8 billion USD in FY24 This number is aligned by the La Mer brand team and distribution channel leads The brand team will propose branding activities to bring traffic to the channels The channels will rely on that estimated traffic
42 to calculate revenue for each channel based on the average conversion rate of the last 3 years With expectation of contributing 15% of total revenue, corporate sales channel committed to reach 570 million USD with average conversion rate from leads to transaction of 22.5% in 2023 The average order value (AOV) of this channel is around 470 USD; so, the amount of transaction needed will be 1,212,766 From the above conversion rate, the total Lead needed will be 5,390,071 The average conversion rate from Reach to Lead in the last 3 years was 60% Therefore, the total Reach needed will be 8,983,452 In other channels, there will be a big gap in reach and total traffic (reach will account for about 25% of traffic) However, because corporate sales channel is using the communication channel as HR communication, the conversion rate from traffic to reach is about 80% This is a very high number thanks to the effectiveness of using direct message and direct email from the HR department of partners Finally, the total amount of traffic that the corporate sales channel needs to target will be about 11,229,315 This amount of traffic can be roughly understood as the total number of employees working at the partner's company This is a very large number and very challenging for this channel, which requires the corporate sales lead to approach partners who are super large corporations with a large number of employees in Vietnam For example, EVN (97 thousand employees), MWG (81 thousand people), PVN (60 thousand people), Viettel (54 thousand people), Samsung (58 thousand employees), Petrolimex (50 thousand people), Vingroup (46 thousand people) thousand people), TKV (39 thousand people), FPT (38 thousand people), HPG Group (30 thousand people), Shopee (19 thousand employees), C.P Group (27 thousand employees), Vinamilk (9 thousand employees) etc 6
6 Data from internal reports conducted by Anphabe
Table 4.2 Goals of Corporate Sales channel for La Mer in FY24
2 Conversion rate from leads to transaction 22.5%
6 Conversion rate from Reach to Lead 60%
8 Conversion rate from Traffic to Reach 80%
Target customers – As mentioned above, the target customers of the Corporate Sales channel will be super large corporations with a large number of employees in Vietnam Combined with La Mer's Devotees are ageless women and gen Z women, from which it can be concluded that the target customers of the Corporate Sales channel for the La Mer brand are women from 22 - 65 years old, working at large corporations, with spending on cosmetics from $1,245 - $2,194 per year, are very concerned about emotional health and confidence, and love products that are high quality, luxury, uniquely different, cultured, and interesting
Collaborators – Because the corporate sales channel uses HR communication as the main communication channel, the collaborators of this distribution channel are personnel in departments of the HR department such as employee engagement, internal engagement, learning and development etc
La Mer products will always deliver key brand core value that is "Drive luxury aspirational value by amplifying brand purpose through dedication to ocean conservation and reducing the ecological impact of business Commit to keeping purpose at the center of everything will be done, delivering true value and meaning in the hearts of consumers, and involving them in brand's mission.”
The unique selling point of La Mer products is the origin of raw materials from the ocean and environmentally friendly packaging The three core messages that La Mer's Marketing team always tries to deliver through their products include:
Ocean awareness & conservation – La Mer's first product was made from seaweed, so the brand always appreciates what the sea has to offer La Mer's product promotion campaigns will always try to maximize ocean conservation social, investment support and increase awareness among consumers
Sustainability – The R&D team always deliver breakthrough packaging design to reduce waste; ensure ingredients are ocean friendly This is also one of the unique selling points that makes consumers love using La Mer products because their packaging design is both inspired by the sea and does not harm the environment
Transparency – To strengthen customer confidence in the origin of ingredients that make up products and packaging, La Mer will always accelerate and increase ingredient transparency through TVCs or short advertising videos
For employees of partner companies, the Corporate Sales channel will offer attractive discounts when purchasing La Mer products through this distribution channel In addition, Corporate Sales will offer additional workshops to help customers experience the products and services that a luxury brand can bring Customers are not only satisfied by commercial incentives, but they are also pampered with high-end skincare treatments performed by La Mer experts This will help take customers' shopping experience to a new level Customers will not simply shop, but they will be immersed in the world of the sea, feeling the power of handcrafted and sophisticated ingredients
For the HR department, Corporate Sales channel will offer them gift sets with attractive incentives that they can use as gifts for employees, partners, or leaders In addition, Corporate Sales can offer skincare treatments at the partner's office as a reward that the partner's company gives their employees after stressful working hours
Each distribution channel will be differentiated based on the difference in five main marketing flows including physical flow, title flow, payment flow, information flow and promotion flow Goods will be ordered by the supply chain team from factories in Hong Kong, Australia, USA,
UK, or Malaysia and will be stored at ELCVN's warehouse in Binh Tan district, Ho Chi Minh City And from ELCVN's warehouse, goods will be transported to the next stakeholders depending on the nature of each distribution channel Currently, ELCVN is cooperating with two 3PL vendors: DSV (for B&M and corporate sales channels) and SYN (for online channel) They will be responsible for the entire fulfillment process from packaging, storing to delivery
4.3.3.1.1 B&M channel flows a) Physical flow: Goods will be transported by vans or trucks (depending on the quantity of goods) from ELCVN's warehouse to the retailer's warehouse At the retailer's warehouse, goods will be received by the retailer's warehousing team They will unload and record the quantity of goods transferred After that, the goods will be unpacked and counted in detail by counter managers, who are offline store managers of ELCVN After being fully counted, the goods will be stored at offline stores and distributed directly to customers at selling points b) Title flow: For B&M channel, there will be 3 main stakeholders involved in the distribution process including ELCVN, Retailer and Customers c) Payment flow: Customers are the ones who will pay for the products they buy at offline stores, that amount will be collected by the retailer and transferred back to ELCVN after deducting costs related to retailer operations such as sales commission, rental fee, penalties, etc marketing fee or management fee etc d) Information flow: Information will be transmitted between stakeholders by methods such as email, SMS, calls or reflected directly at offline stores Most customers will give direct
47 feedback to staff at the store, so information from customers will be handled directly by ELCVN e) Promotion flow: All promotion programs will come from ELCVN's strategy There will be several programs where ELCVN will cooperate with retailers to bring a comprehensive shopping experience to customers There will also be many programs that ELCVN will plan and implement directly to customers
RISK ASSESSMENT
Description: Describe the barrier in short
Likelihood: Identify the likelihood of a given risk happening Likelihood scale on 5 levels:
1 – (Very unlikely): A very slim chance for this risk to occur
2 – (Not likely): Low chances for this risk to occur
3 – (Possible): 50-50 chances for this risk to occur
4 – (Probable): Good chances for this risk to occur
5 – (Very likely): Surely this risk will occur at some point
Impact: Rank risks based on the impact they will have on your project if they occur The impact scale also has 5 levels:
1 – (Negligible): This risk will hardly impact your project
2 – (Low): You can easily handle the consequences of this risk
3 – (Moderate): It will take some time and effort to mitigate the consequences of this risk
4 – (Significant): This risk could cause long-term consequences that will be hard to recover from
5 – (Catastrophic): The impact of this risk might wreck your project
Risk rating: Risk rating = Likelihood x Impact
Response (Action): 'List down the actions when risk occurs
Table 5.16 Risk assessment of corporate sales activities for La Mer
Corporate partner runs communication not following guideline from
- Catch-up with partners every 2 weeks to update on their marketing calendar
- Build and follow up JBP with partners
Vietnamese policy compliance of retailing, taxing, promotion communicating
- Get advice from competent state agency of local area where the activity occurs
- Clarify policy compliance with internal and external finance teams
- Frequently update new updates of law documents
Channel conflict due to untransparent information
- Monthly internal catch-up to update marketing progress
- Align marketing calendar across all channels
- Build stock plans for next 3 months with SC
- Catch up with SC to ensure delivery time
- Get product marketing plans from Brand Team for whole year
- Catch up with Product Marketing every 2 weeks to update status of New product launch
- Follow Brand's guideline for product
1 Corporate partner runs communication not following guideline from ELC – 25 points – High risk
Normally, ELCVN will send partners key visual (KV) images in jpg or png format with dimensions of 900x900 pixels or 1400x600 pixels and partners will use that KV to communicate internally However, some partners have their own guidelines on KV for internal communication, so they will adapt ELCVN's KV to their template That leads to some partners' KV not being consistent with ELCVN's guidelines Disseminating media materials that do not comply with ELCVN's guidelines is considered a taboo and a critical issue for the entire corporation because it will affect the brand's image and brand's equity However, there are some partners who are very strict in using their internal KV guidelines and they are also very determined in forcing ELCVN to follow their guidelines This can be resolved if the channel lead assigns ELCVN’s designers to follow up with partners every 2 weeks to update media materials based on their marketing calendar Reconciling the guidelines of both ELCVN and partners will be done by professional designers, but the channel lead needs to ensure that the designers follow the work schedule Channel lead can also include penalty clauses if partners do not follow ELCVN's guidelines Partners that do not have an internal KV guideline will often easily accept this term Other partners will ask the channel lead to remove this condition from the agreement The channel lead will often work with partners to build a Joint Business Plan (JBP) for a calendar year based on the marketing calendar of two parties When building this JBP, the channel lead also makes requirements regarding the KV
88 guideline and both sides will agree on the KV guideline after the JBP meeting Afterwards, the channel lead only needs to follow up the built JBP to ensure that the KV fully covers the requirements of ELCVN
2 Vietnamese policy compliance of retailing, taxing, promotion communicating – 25 points – High risk
In Vietnam, business and tax policies are quite complex and constantly changing Therefore, regularly following up with state agencies to ensure policy compliance is an important priority Furthermore, ELCVN does not have a local legal team, which means there will not be a dedicated department to do this Therefore, the channel lead will be the one who must ensure this policy compliance issue Because ELCVN's business license does not include retailing and event organizing functions, workshops and sales in the workshop will have to be done through Vietnamese agency companies This makes ensuring policy compliance more complicated when the channel lead must ensure policy compliance for the entire agency There will be 3 main issues related to policy compliance: a) applying for a retail license, b) ensuring corporate income tax for the agency and c) registering for promotion programs according to regulations of the Department of Industry and Trade The channel lead will have to get advice from the internal and external finance team and competent state agency of the local area to be able to finalize the licenses and documents that the event needs a) Applying for a retail license: As mentioned above, ELCVN needs to go through a Vietnamese agency to apply for a retail license at the workshop location ELCVN only needs to provide the business license and authorization letter to the agency and this application will be processed within 20-40 working days depending on the locality
89 b) Ensuring corporate income tax for the agency: Because the agency is the owner of the retail license, the agency must be the one selling La Mer products at the workshop That requires the agency to buy products from ELCVN and sell to end customers The sales contract between ELCVN and the agency will be a contract in the form of consignment, meaning that ELCVN will deposit the goods at the agency warehouse and the agency will sell the goods and collect money After the sale, the remaining quantity of goods will be returned to ELCVN's warehouse, and the agency will bank the proceeds from the sales minus service charges In theory, the price of the product that the agency imports from ELCVN (input price) will be equal to the price of the product that the agency sells to end customers (output price) because in this case, the agency only plays a role as a middleman to collect money This results in the tax authority collecting tax on the volume of goods the agency sold from ELCVN According to tax authority regulations, trading in goods must generate profits before deducting selling expenses, which means the input price must be lower than the output price Corporate income tax will be charged based on the taxable income of the business Taxable income = (output price - input price) x sold quantity - selling expenses Therefore, the fact that the input price is equal to the output price is not in accordance with the policy Therefore, when making a sales contract with an agency, the channel lead will have to include the clause that "if the customer source comes from the agency's data, the agency will receive 10% commission of that transaction" c) Registering for promotion programs according to regulations of the Department of Industry and Trade: All promotion programs must be registered with the Department of Industry and Trade with a discount rate not exceeding 50% This is a document used to collect corporate income tax and is very important to ensure the financial health of ELCVN Because the agency is the owner of the retail license at the workshop location, the agency will be the one to register the promotion program
90 with the Department of Industry and Trade This will cause difficulties in setting selling prices, related to input price and output price To be able to register for the 15% promotion program for
La Mer products, the output price must be equal to 85% of the input price because according to policy, the discount will be calculated based on the difference between the output price and input price of the registering company But the agency's input price and output price are almost equal, which will make it impossible for the agency to register for the promotion Therefore, the channel lead will have to attach the retail selling price in the appendix to the contract to show that ELCVN has listed the retail selling price with the Department of Industry and Trade and the agency will make a discount based on ELCVN's listed selling price
CONCLUSION
La Mer is the most premium cosmetic brand owned by The Estée Lauder Companies Inc with the mission of bringing the most luxurious values to customers through luxury services and high-end products Vietnam will be the last country in the APAC group to officially distribute La Mer products in Q3 FY24 (i.e., Q1 of 2024) through 3 distribution channels B&M, Online and Corporate Sales Corporate Sales is a special distribution channel as the customers of this channel are employees of corporate partners, and this is an independent channel with its own management team from regional team to local team without influenced by other distribution channel managers That means that the channel lead of corporate sales has full authority to decide on marketing strategies for La Mer brands for this distribution channel Channel lead will independently build strategies related to placement, product, price, and promotion based on the La Mer brand team's guidelines In addition to committing to sales for La Mer products (15% of total revenue of Vietnam affiliate, about 570 million USD) in FY24, the channel lead must also complete commitments with the corporate sales regional team on related KPIs to the number of corporate partners, number of new customers, number of workshop attendees, etc Moreover, the marketing plans of this distribution channel must ensure sustainability in the financial picture of the whole company with KPIs of total NOP is within 15% and workshop's NOP is above 40% The corporate sales channel will have two business models to complete sales performance KPIs including: selling to employees of corporate partners through The Online Company Store (shop.thecompanystore.vn) and selling through workshop Both models will be executed by vendors and managed on-top by channel lead
With the country manager's ambition of making La Mer the top-1 high-end skincare brand in Vietnam with 39% market share, corporate sales is designated as one of the 3 main "keys" to help
92 unlock this door, and channel lead play an important role in operating, managing and devising correct and appropriate strategies Given those objectives, the thesis accomplished 3 goals including 1) synthesizing knowledge to build a marketing plan, 2) understanding competitors based on data from external information sources and from research of the EM&D department, 3) build a detailed marketing plan for the distribution of La Mer products through corporate sales channels Among the above goals, building a complete marketing plan for La Mer products in the corporate sales channel is the most important result of this thesis ELCVN can completely use and adjust this marketing plan based on the actual situation of the launch timeline If La Mer's launching time is later than expected, this marketing plan will have to change some small details, but in general, because the marketing calendar has been phased in detail each month, adjusting will not take too much effort
The marketing plan in this thesis is part of the company's master marketing plan as it focuses on analyzing aspects related to commercial marketing of corporate sales rather than branding or communication With the limited scope of work of the Corporate Sales Lead position, the writer will focus on developing their sales channel based on the information they inherit from the Brand team instead of having to directly research, collect data and analyze the market That helps make the marketing plan of the sales channel more detailed and feasible After all, a marketing plan is a plan that helps bring a product to the end consumer, so the marketing plan in this thesis plays an important role in a master marketing plan, helping the company implement their plans to the final consumer In a higher position in the organization such as Corporate Sales Director, they will need to coordinate with brand teams to analyze the market and give instructions to positions below such as Corporate Sales Manager and Corporate Sales Lead, who will spend 70-80% of their time executing the leaders' vision Therefore, to expand the scope of the corporate sales channel's
93 marketing plan, the writer can put himself in the position of Corporate Sales Director and take extensive steps to collect information, market research and analyze competitors
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