Enhancing the marketing activities of PNAT trading and services co.,ltd

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION & TRAINING UNIVERSITEÙ LIBRE DE BRUXELLES HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY SOLVAY BUSINESS SCHOOL MBMM PROGRAM Lyù Lan Phöông ENHANCING THE MARKETING ACTIVITIES OF PNAT TRADING & SERVICES CO. LTD. Final Project Master in Business & Marketing Management Ho Chi Minh City 2007 PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com MINISTRY OF EDUCATION & TRAINING UNIVERSITEÙ LIBRE DE BRUXELLES HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY SOLVAY BUSINESS SCHOOL MBMM PROGRAM Lyù Lan Phöông ENHANCING THE MARKETING ACTIVITIES OF PNAT TRADING & SERVICES CO. LTD. Final Project Master in Business & Marketing Management Project Tutor: Traàn Xuaân Kieâm Doctor in Business Administration Ho Chi Minh City 2007 PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com ii Student Declaration I hereby certify that the attached assignment is my own work. Materials drawn from other sources has been acknowledged according to specific requirements for referencing. Ho Chi Minh City, 25 th May, 2007 Ly Lan Phuong PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com iii Acknowledgments The author wishes to express sincere appreciation to Dr. Traàn Xuaân Kieâm for his guidance in the preparation and writing of this final project report. Special thanks to Mr. Nguyeãn Vaên Taâm, IT Director of PNAT Trading & Services Co. Ltd., for his valuable input and feedback, and also to the management and staff of PNAT, the members of the Postgraduate Office of Open University HCMC and Solvay Business School for their assistance and encouragement in making this project a reality. PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com iv Remarks from Project Tutor PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com v Executive Summary PNAT Trading & Services Co. Ltd. (hereinafter to be called PNAT) is a family- owned business specializing in trading and servicing Informatics (IT) products and office equipment. It is a newly set-up company (one year old), but has made a good reputation for quality goods and services at competitive price. Currently, PNAT has an insignificant market share (less than 1 per cent), and it seeks to expand its customer reach and win a better market share in the IT market in Hochiminh City. Marketing Objectives PNAT has managed to have a gross sales of USD 64,369 for its first year 2006, with a small loss of USD 1,889 due to high set-up costs for company infrastructure . Nevertheless, PNAT has developed a long-term relationship with local and international companies. Now PNAT intends to expand its sales of IT products and services, focusing on international and local SBs 1 , and heavy home-users of IT. Its goal is to increase gross sales by 20 per cent in the year 2008 and incrementally in the subsequent years. Products or Services PNAT has signed contracts with large manufacturing companies and authorized distributors in Vietnam such as IBM, ASUS, HP, and FTP to distribute their products to SBs on order, at a margin of 5%. The pricing structure of PNAT is 1 Small Businesses PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com vi competitively lower than its competitors, and PNAT further differentiates itself by giving free-of-charge after-sales services. Together with the sales of products, PNAT carries out maintenance and trouble-shooting services to these SBs whenever there is a need. Now, as the market environment has been increasingly changed at a fast pace since Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization in 2006, PNAT plans to meet the new demands of the market, and aggressively embark on sales of IT products and services. Resources Needed PNAT is a newly set-up company, with low financial strength and manpower resources. To increase sales of IT products and services, it plans to boost eMarketing and eCommerce, as this can save costs and increase marketing efficiency. PNAT has the management expertise to accomplish this plan, and being an IT service company, PNAT does not need to hire outside consultants to develop its website and bring to full operation. All that is required will be about USD 1,800 to redesign and develop the website, and 3 IT specialists to take turns in monitoring the website. Marketing Matrix Components PNAT has the benefit of beginning online marketing with its loyal customers, who are well established companies 2 . PNAT hopes to expand communication links with its current customers and attract new customers who are local and international SBs, and heavy home-users of IT products and services. The 2 Please refer to 1.4.3: List of Loyal Customers PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com vii objectives of PNAT’s online marketing is brand and image building, and a wider reach of customers, for increase in sales. Projected Outcomes It is expected that the brand of PNAT and its quality services and goods will be better known and utilized, so that its gross sales can be increased by 20% (about USD 76,800) in the first year (2008), and for the subsequent years, by 30%. It is also expected that, thanks to its online marketing, PNAT will have better understanding of the customer’s ‘unsatisfied demands’, and to satisfy these demands with a USP 3 in a way that no other competitors can manage to achieve, to increase barriers to entry for its competitors, and achieve a sustainable competitive edge. 3 Unique Selling Proposal PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Student Declaration ii Acknowledgments iii Remarks from Project Tutor iv Executive Summary v Marketing Objectives v Products or Services v Resources Needed vi Marketing Matrix Components vi Projected Outcomes vii TABLE OF CONTENTS viii LIST OF FIGURES x FOREWORD 1 1. Background 1 2. Research Objectives & Scope 2 3. Research Method 2 3.1 Method of Information-gathering 2 3.2 Method of Analysis and Synthesis 3 4. Project Outline 3 CHAPTER 1: MARKETING ACTIVITIES OF PNAT 4 1.1 INTRODUCTION TO PNAT 4 1.1.1 History of Establishment of PNAT 4 1.1.2 Organization Structure of PNAT 4 1.1.3 Company Performance 5 1.2 PRODUCT OF PNAT 5 1.3 PRICING 7 1.3.1 Products 7 1.3.2 Services 7 1.4 DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS AND MERCHANDISING 7 1.4 PROMOTION ACTIVITIES 8 PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com ix 1.4.1 Telemarketing 9 1.4.2 Email Marketing 9 1.4.3 eCommerce 9 1.4.4 Other Promotion Activities 10 CHAPTER 2: SITUATION ANALYSIS 11 2.1 MARKET ANALYSIS 11 2.1.1 Changes in the Competitive Environment 11 2.1.2 Changes in the Sociocultural, Political and Legal Environment 11 2.2 COMPETITOR ANALYSIS 13 2.2.1 Competitor Matrix 13 2.2.2 Analysis of 2 key competitors of PNAT 13 2.3 TARGET ANALYSIS 15 2.4 SWOT ANALYSIS 15 2.4.1 Strengths 15 2.4.2 Weaknesses 16 2.4.3 Opportunities 17 2.4.4 Threats 17 CHAPTER 3: ENHANCING MARKETING ACTIVITIES OF PNAT 18 3.1 OPERATING PHILOSOPHY & MISSION STATEMENT 18 3.2 ANALYSIS AND PROPOSAL FOR STRATEGY 19 3.3 RECOMMENDATIONS 19 CONCLUSION 25 BIBLIOGRAPHY 26 1. Books/Articles: 26 2. Websites: 26 APPENDICES 1 PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com [...]... Activities of PNAT PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com 4 CHAPTER 1: MARKETING ACTIVITIES OF PNAT 1.1 INTRODUCTION TO PNAT 1.1.1 History of Establishment of PNAT On 16th June 2006, PNAT Trading & Services Co Ltd (PNAT) received its business licence On 26th June 2006, PNAT began its operation, providing companies with products and services of IT and office equipment Currently, PNAT. .. management theorist, has stated The aim of Marketing is to make selling superfluous The aim of Marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself profitably Ideally, Marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy4” Yes, Marketing has been proven as critical for the long-term sustainability of any organization Within the constraint of this... have chosen PNAT, a small company, to apply my Marketing knowledge and identify some feasible solutions to enhance their Marketing activities PNAT is a newly established company (one year old), and has made some good business transactions in the IT and office products market in Hochiminh City PNAT has implemented some marketing activities, including the development of its website (www .pnat- it.com),... products and services are often sophisticated and costly However, although most customers are low in IT knowledge, they can distinguish a quality service after a few trials In view of this, PNAT is expanding its services to this segment of the market: heavy home-users of IT: students, online game players, and virtual office people; and government agencies 1.4 DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS AND MERCHANDISING PNAT s... distribution process flow of B2B, and PNAT s list of loyal customers The list of customers shows that PNAT has ‘repeated wealthy transactions’10 with many local and international SBs PNAT has also been servicing state-owned offices or institutions (No 14 and 15 in the above list) This has helped PNAT to maintain a strong foothold in IT products and services As for merchandising, PNAT does not have strong... TARGET ANALYSIS The current customers of PNAT are small-sized businesses (SBs) They buy office equipment from PNAT and enjoy after-sales and maintenance services at a competitive price PNAT also sells IT products to them as and when required, but this means PNAT does not have a regular flow of IT customers Moreover, office equipment does not get replaced often (especially for SBs), so PNAT has to frequently... expand its targets to B2C and B2G, with the existing B2B becoming a landing ground and catalyst for the expansion to B2C and B2G The diagram in Appendices (Figure 14, pg 15) illustrates how PNAT can expand its targets by leveraging on its current targets, with the “As -Is Target” being the companies that are PNAT s loyal customers (B2B), and the “Desired Targets” are the B2C - heavy home users of IT... payment With the rising number of Vietnamese businesses and individuals using online payment, PNAT can carry out eCommerce and be the first player in the IT market to do so The planned eCommerce model will combine the existing marketing activities with an online marketing platform to promote PNAT s brand and image, provide more information to customers, and expand customer reach The website will be 26 Gruslin,... possible marketing activity enhancement 3.2 Method of Analysis and Synthesis The method of data analysis, deduction, or induction is used to generate feasible recommendations 4 Project Outline Besides the Foreword, Tables, Figures, etc., the Final Project will comprise the following two main parts: a Chapter 1: Marketing Activities of PNAT b Chapter 2: Situation Analysis c Chapter 3: Enhancing Marketing Activities. .. on PNAT IT product sales & services, and not on Office products and services, as PNAT has realized that IT-related sales far outweigh office equipment sales 3 Research Method The project uses the following methods: 3.1 Method of Information-gathering 3.1.1 Reference Method: The reference method is secondary research, with references to materials and information from PNAT, as well as materials from other . of PNAT Trading & Services Co. Ltd., for his valuable input and feedback, and also to the management and staff of PNAT, the members of the Postgraduate Office of Open University HCMC and. its competitors, and PNAT further differentiates itself by giving free -of- charge after-sales services. Together with the sales of products, PNAT carries out maintenance and trouble-shooting services. increase sales of IT products and services, it plans to boost eMarketing and eCommerce, as this can save costs and increase marketing efficiency. PNAT has the management expertise to accomplish this