Marketing plan for certificate authority service of Viettel Telecom = Kế hoạch Marketing cho dịch vụ chứng thực chữ ký số của công ty viễn thông Viettel

vietnam national university, HANOI school of business Nguyen Thu Phuong MARKETING PLAN FOR CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY SERVICE OF VIETTEL TELECOM master of business administration thesis H

vietnam national university, HANOI

school of business

Nguyen Thu Phuong

MARKETING PLAN FOR CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY

SERVICE OF VIETTEL TELECOM

master of business administration thesis

Hanoi - 2011

vietnam national university, HANOI

school of business

Nguyen Thu Phuong

MARKETING PLAN FOR CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY

SERVICE OF VIETTEL TELECOM

Major: Business Administration

Code: 603405

Master of business administration thesis

Supervisors: Ph.D Tran Doan Kim

Hanoi – 2011

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Error! Bookmark not defined ABSTRACT Error! Bookmark not defined TÓM TẮT Error! Bookmark not defined

CONTENTS i

LIST OF TABLES iv

LIST OF FIGURES iv

INTRODUCTION 1

1 The problem 1

2 Objective 2

3 Scope 2

4 Methods / Approaches 2

5 Short Introduction 3

CHAPTER I 4

AN OVERVIEW OF MARKETING PLAN 4

I Definition of marketing plan 4

1 Definition 4

2 Purpose of the Marketing Plan 5

3 The marketing planning process 5

II MARKETING PLAN 6

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6

2 SITUATION ANALYSIS 6

2.1 Market analysis 6

2.1.1 Market Size 7

2.1.2 Market Growth Rate 7

2.1.3 Market Trends 8

2.1.4 Key Success Factors 8

2.2 Competitor analysis 8

2.3 SWOT Analysis 9

2.3.1 Strengths 9

2.3.2 Weaknesses 10

2.3.3 Opportunities 10

2.3.4 Threats 10

3 MARKETING STRATEGY 11

3.1 Marketing Objectives 11

3.2 Market Segmentation 11

3.2.1 Bases for Segmentation in Consumer Markets 12

3.2.2 Bases for Segmentation in Industrial Markets 14

3.3 Positioning 15

4 MARKETING – MIX 16

4.1 Product Marketing 16

4.1.1 Product level 16

4.1.2 Product strategy 17

4.2 Pricing 19

4.2.1 Definition 19

4.2.2 Types of Pricing strategies 20

4.3 Distribution 21

4.4 Promotion 23

4.5 People 24

4.6 Process 26

4.7 Physical Evidence 27

5 FINANCIAL FORECAST 27

6 IMPLEMENTATION 28

CHAPTER 2 30

CURRENT MARKETING ACTIVITIES FOR VIETTEL CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY (VIETTEL-CA) SERVICE 30

I AN OVERVIEW OF VIETTEL GROUP 30

1 History 30

2 The growth chart 32

3 Organizing structure 34

II THE INTRODUCTION OF CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY SERVICE (VIETTEL-CA) 35

1 The description and features of service 35

2 Digital signature applications 36

3 Service features 36

III MARKET ANALYSIS 37

1 Global CA market 37

2 Forecast about public digital signature market in Vietnam 39

3 Market Demand 41

3.1 Market segmentation 41

3.2 Market size 44

3.3 Market growth 45

4 Competition analysis 48

4.1 VDC 48

4.2 Nacencomm 49

4.3 BKAV 51

4.4 FPT IS 52

5 SWOT Analysis 53

5.1 Strength 53

5.2 Weakness 54

5.3 Opportunity 55

5.4 Threat 55

6 Target market 55

7 Positioning 56

8 Marketing – Mix 57

8.1 Product 57

8.1.1 The product‘s strategy 57

8.1.2 Package 58

8.1.3 Logo 58

8.2 Price 58

8.2.1 Valuation Asset Approach 59

8.2.2 Service price 61

8.2.3 Equipment price 62

8.3 Place 62

8.3.1 Direct distribution network 62

8.3.2 Indirect distribution network 63

8.4 Promotion 63

8.4.1 Advertising 63

8.4.2 Sales promotions 63

8.4.3 Public relations & publicity 65

8.4.4 Marketing communications budget 65

8.5 People 66

8.6 Process 66

8.7 Physical evidence 66

9 Evaluation of Marketing activities‘ efficiency 67

CHAPTER 3 69

MARKETING PLAN OF VIETTEL TELECOM COMPANY FOR VIETTEL CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY SERVICE (VIETTEL – CA) 69

1 The objectives of Marketing 69

2 Target customer 69

3 Positioning 69

4 Marketing strategy 69

4.1 Product 69

4.2 Price 70

4.3 Distribution 70

4.4 Promotion 71

4.4.1 Advertising 71

4.4.1 Sales promotions 71

4.4.1 Public relations & publicity 72

4.5 People 72

4.6 Process 73

4.7 Physical evidence 73

5 Action program 73

5.1 Schedule of marketing plan action 73

5.2 Budget 78

6 Financials 79

6.1 Expense Forecast 79

6.2 Sales Forecast 80

6.3 Income Statement 81

CONCLUSION 82

LIST OF REFERENCES 83

APPENDIX 1: LIST OF INTERVIEWEES 85

APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONAIRE 89

LIST OF TABLES

2.1 Number of potential CAs in Vietnam in 2011 45 2.2 Number of potential CAs in the market in period from 2011 to 2015 46 2.3 Number of expected CAs in the market in period from 2011 to 2015 47 3.1 Schedule of Marketing plan action of Viettel in 2012 74

3.3 Expense Forecast of Certificate Authority service 79 3.4 Viettel‘s number forecasts of CA service from 2011 to 2015 80 3.5 Viettel‘s Sales forecast of CA service from 2011 to 2015 80 3.6 Viettel‘s Income statement of CA service from 2011 to 2015 81

LIST OF FIGURES

2.1 Revenue of Viettel Company in period from 2000 to 2010 32 2.2 Profit of Viettel Company in period from 2000 to 2010 33 2.3 Human resource of Viettel Company in period from 2000 to 2010 33 2.4 Organization structure of Viettel Telecom 34 2.5 Forecast about global CA market during 2006 – 2012 38 2.6 Number of CAs granted in South Korea during 2000-2008 39 2.7 Order receivement of enterprises during 2006 - 2008 40 2.8 Percentage of enterprises having websites during 2004 – 2008 41 2.9 Market share of Certificate Authority service 48

INTRODUCTION

1 The problem

Along with the development of the Internet, the e-transaction is becoming increasingly popular and is the inevitable trend not only for trade but also for the transaction of public administration In Vietnam, government is implementing projects to expand e-transaction applications in the administrative services of state agencies, especially the administrative services of the Ministry of Finance - typical

is the project of the Department of Taxation With this situation, the government is creating an e-transaction market in general and service market of digital signature in particular

According to Decision 1605/QĐ-TTg by the Prime Minister on ―Approval of national program in applying information technology to state-owned organizations during 2011-1015‖, the government‘s target until 2015 is that:

- 100% of state agencies from the districts, departments or equivalent or higher,

or e-portal site provides full electronic information under Article 28 of the Law on Information Technology, Supply for all public services online level 2 and most basic public services online at least level 3 to the people and businesses

- 50% individual and enterprise tax forms will be declared online

- 90% of customs offices do electronic customers procedures

- All bidding plan, bidding notices of bidding results, the list of participating bidders is posted on the national tender; about 20% of package goods procurement, construction and consultant services using state funds to be made online

- 100% of passports issued to citizens of Vietnam serving the immigration as electronic passports

- 30% of the records request for a building permit is submitted online

It can be seen, in Vietnam, the legal framework and social needs of the e-transaction grows, enabling the service authentication of e-transactions under development, which is typical services of digital signature (an effective tool for authentication, ensuring the safety and integrity of electronic transaction services)

However, people's awareness of these services is limited Furthermore, the market has five service providers supply the Certificate Authority is: VNPT, BKAV, Viettel, FPT, Nacencom Viettel is the third supplier after VNPT and BKAV Therefore, no advantage Viettel pioneers and fierce competition between providers

So, to solve these problems, Viettel need to boost the marketing activities to increase understanding of customer service as well as attracting and promoting customer using Viettel – CA service

While working at the Center for Business customers, Viettel Telecom, I have been studying the Viettel Certificate Authority (Viettel – CA) and found these problems

in the process of service development Thus, I decided to chose the topic

“Marketing Plan for Viettel Certificate Authority (Viettel – CA) service in Viettel Telecom company” for my thesis

2 Objective

The thesis attempt to analysis market of Certificate Authority service and current marketing activities of Viettel for Viettel – CA service, and then built the marketing plan for this service

3 Scope

The thesis concentrates on the Certificate Authority service in Vietnam market In which, it will specifically build marketing plan to Viettel Certificate Authority (Viettel – CA) of Viettel Telecom company (a company belong to Viettel Corporation), one of the biggest telecommunication companies in Vietnam

4 Methods / Approaches

The thesis focuses on typical methods of economic research such as information gathering, facts and figures comparing and critical analyzing The author adopts

both primary and secondary research methods and uses domestic and foreign material sources to find out basic theories about marketing plan, meanwhile collecting data through marketing activities, analysis reports of Viettel Telecom and through survey by email questionnaire and telephone follow up to 100 enterprises at Hanoi The enterprise selected for the survey has the following criteria: it is small and medium enterprises in many industries to understand their different needs about

CA service, so that classify customers to different segmentation and then have suitable marketing strategy Then, the author uses the systematical, statistical, analytical methods to analyze all collected data

5 Short Introduction

Apart from the introduction, conclusion and appendices, the thesis consists of three chapters:

- Chapter I: An overview of marketing plan

- Chapter II: Current marketing activities for Viettel Certificate Authority

(Viettel – CA) service

- Chapter III: Marketing plan of Viettel Telecom company for Viettel Certificate Authority (Viettel – CA) service

CHAPTER I

AN OVERVIEW OF MARKETING PLAN

I Definition of marketing plan

1 Definition

Following the information from Michael Baker [8], Marketing plan is defined: ―A

marketing plan is a written document that details the necessary actions to achieve

one or more marketing objectives It can be for a product or service, a brand, or a product line Marketing plans cover between one and five years

A marketing plan may be part of an overall business plan Solid marketing strategy

is the foundation of a well-written marketing plan While a marketing plan contains

a list of actions, a marketing plan without a sound strategic foundation is of little use.‖

In other information source by David Parmerlee [11]: ―A marketing plan contains

information about your company and its products, marketing objectives and strategies, as well as how you will measure the success of your marketing activities‖

It describes all the marketing activities you'll perform during a specified time period (usually one year) You'll also include any background information and research results you used to select those marketing activities Finally, you'll document the costs associated with your planned marketing activities as well as the measurements you'll use to determine success

Most often, a marketing plan is a component of a business plan A business plan basically states how you plan to run your company–what your goals are, how much money it will take to achieve your goals and what activities you'll perform to achieve your goals Marketing, obviously, is one of those activities Marketing plans sometimes stand alone but should always support and be closely linked to a company's business objectives.‖

2 Purpose of the Marketing Plan

A marketing plan helps you establish, direct and coordinate your marketing

efforts Preparing a marketing plan forces you to assess what's going on in your marketplace and how it affects your business It also provides a benchmark for later measurement Often, simply embarking on the process of preparing a marketing plan guides you in developing a successful marketing strategy

3 The marketing planning process

In most organizations, "strategic planning" is an annual process, typically covering just the year ahead Occasionally, a few organizations may look at a practical plan which stretches three or more years ahead

To be most effective, the plan has to be formalized, usually in written form, as a formal "marketing plan." The essence of the process is that it moves from the general to the specific; from the overall objectives of the organization down to the individual action plan for a part of one marketing program It is also an interactive process, so that the draft output of each stage is checked to see what impact it has

on the earlier stages - and is amended

The marketing process model based on the publications of Philip Kotler [13] It consists of 5 steps, beginning with the market & environment research After fixing the targets and setting the strategies, they will be realized by the marketing mix in step 4 The last step in the process is the marketing controlling Beside this process

of Philip Kotler, there are many other Marketing Plan Model of different marketing specialists So, base on my research I conclude a Marketing Plan Model below

II MARKETING PLAN

 A description of company, including products and/or services

 Mission statement

 Business‘s management

 The market and customer

 Marketing and sales

 Competition

 Business‘s operations

 Financial projections and plans

The executive summary will end with a summary statement, a ―last kick at the can‖ sentence or two designed to persuade the readers of your business plan that your business is a winner

2.1 Market analysis

―The goal of a market analysis is to determine the attractiveness of a market and to

understand its evolving opportunities and threats as they relate to the strengths and weaknesses of the firm.‖

David A Aaker outlined the following dimensions of a market analysis [3]:

 Market size (current and future)

 Market growth rate

 Government data

 Trade associations

 Financial data from major players

 Customer surveys

2.1.2 Market Growth Rate

A simple means of forecasting the market growth rate is to extrapolate historical data into the future While this method may provide a first-order estimate, it does not predict important turning points A better method is to study growth drivers such as demographic information and sales growth in complementary products Such drivers serve as leading indicators that are more accurate than simply extrapolating historical data

Important inflection points in the market growth rate sometimes can be predicted by constructing a product diffusion curve The shape of the curve can be estimated by studying the characteristics of the adoption rate of a similar product in the past Ultimately, the maturity and decline stages of the product life cycle will be reached Some leading indicators of the decline phase include price pressure caused by competition, a decrease in brand loyalty, and the emergence of substitute products, market saturation, and the lack of growth drivers

2.1.3 Market Trends

Changes in the market are important because they often are the source of new opportunities and threats The relevant trends are industry-dependent, but some examples include changes in price sensitivity, demand for variety, and level of emphasis on service and support Regional trends also may be relevant

2.1.4 Key Success Factors

The key success factors are those elements that are necessary in order for the firm to achieve its marketing objectives A few examples of such factors include:

 Access to essential unique resources

 Ability to achieve economies of scale

 Access to distribution channels

 Technological progress

It is important to consider that key success factors may change over time, especially

as the product progresses through its life cycle

2.2 Competitor analysis

In formulating business strategy, managers must consider the strategies of the firm's competitors While in highly fragmented commodity industries the moves of any

single competitor may be less important, in concentrated industries competitor

analysis becomes a vital part of strategic planning

Competitor analysis has two primary activities, 1) obtaining information about important competitors, and 2) using that information to predict competitor behavior The goal of competitor analysis is to understand:

 with which competitors to compete,

 competitors' strategies and planned actions,

 how competitors might react to a firm's actions,

 how to influence competitor behavior to the firm's own advantage

Casual knowledge about competitors usually is insufficient in competitor analysis Rather, competitors should be analyzed systematically; using organized competitor intelligence gathering to compile a wide array of information so that well-informed strategy decisions can be made

Competitor Analysis Framework

Michael Porter presented a framework for analyzing competitors [14] This framework is based on the following four key aspects of a competitor:

A SWOT analysis is a first, but critical, step in developing an organizational strategy By examining the company's internal capabilities—its strengths and weaknesses and its external environment—opportunities and threats, it helps to create strategies that can proactively contend with organizational challenges

2.3.1 Strengths

Strengths, in the SWOT analysis, are a company's capabilities and resources that allow it to engage in activities to generate economic value and perhaps competitive advantage A company's strengths may be in its ability to create unique products, to

provide high-level customer service, or to have a presence in multiple retail markets Strengths may also be things such as the company's culture, its staffing and training, or the quality of its managers Whatever capability a company has can be regarded as strength

2.3.2 Weaknesses

A company's weaknesses are a lack of resources or capabilities that can prevent it from generating economic value or gaining a competitive advantage if used to enact the company's strategy There are many examples of organizational weaknesses For example, a firm may have a large, bureaucratic structure that limits its ability to compete with smaller, more dynamic companies Another weakness may occur if a company has higher labor costs than a competitor who can have similar productivity from a lower labor cost The characteristics of an organization that can be strength,

as listed above, can also be a weakness if the company does not do them well

2.3.3 Opportunities

Opportunities provide the organization with a chance to improve its performance and its competitive advantage Some opportunities may be anticipated, others arise unexpectedly Opportunities may arise when there are niches for new products or services, or when these products and services can be offered at different times and

in different locations For instance, the increased use of the Internet has provided numerous opportunities for companies to expand their product sales

2.3.4 Threats

Threats can be an individual, group, or organization outside the company that aims

to reduce the level of the company's performance Every company faces threats in its environment Often the more successful companies have stronger threats, because there is a desire on the part of other companies to take some of that success for their own Threats may come from new products or services from other companies that aim to take away a company's competitive advantage Threats may also come from government regulation or even consumer groups

3 MARKETING STRATEGY

Following Michael Baker [8], A marketing strategy is a process that can allow an

organization to concentrate its limited resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage A marketing strategy should be centered on the key concept that customer satisfaction is the main

goal

3.1 Marketing Objectives

Marketing objectives should be based on understanding company‘s strengths and weaknesses, and the business environment you operate in They should also be linked to company‘s overall business strategy

Objectives should always be SMART:

- Specific - for example, you might set an objective of getting ten new

customers

- Measurable - whatever your objective is, you need to be able to check

whether you have reached it or not when you review your plan

- Achievable - you must have the resources you need to achieve the objective

The key resources are usually people and money

- Realistic - targets should stretch you, not demotivate you because they are

unreasonable and seem to be out of reach

- Time-bound - you should set a deadline for achieving the objective For

example, you might aim to get ten new customers within the next 12 months

3.2 Market Segmentation

Market segmentation is the identification of portions of the market that are different from one another Segmentation allows the firm to better satisfy the needs of its potential customers

The marketing concept calls for understanding customers and satisfying their needs better than the competition But different customers have different needs, and it

rarely is possible to satisfy all customers by treating them alike A good market segmentation will result in segment members that are internally homogenous and externally heterogeneous; that is, as similar as possible within the segment, and as different as possible between segments

3.2.1 Bases for Segmentation in Consumer Markets

Consumer markets can be segmented on the following customer characteristics: Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic, Behavioralistic

Geographic Segmentation

The following are some examples of geographic variables often used in segmentation

 Region: by continent, country, state, or even neighborhood

 Size of metropolitan area: segmented according to size of population

 Population density: often classified as urban, suburban, or rural

 Climate: according to weather patterns common to certain geographic regions

Psychographic Segmentation

Psychographic segmentation groups customers according to their lifestyle Activities, interests, and opinions (AIO) surveys are one tool for measuring lifestyle Some psychographic variables include:

Behavioral segmentation has the advantage of using variables that are closely related to the product itself It is a fairly direct starting point for market segmentation

3.2.2 Bases for Segmentation in Industrial Markets

In contrast to consumers, industrial customers tend to be fewer in number and purchase larger quantities They evaluate offerings in more detail, and the decision process usually involves more than one person These characteristics apply to organizations such as manufacturers and service providers, as well as resellers, governments, and institutions

Many of the consumer market segmentation variables can be applied to industrial markets Industrial markets might be segmented on characteristics such as:

In industrial markets, patterns of purchase behavior can be a basis for segmentation Such behavioral characteristics may include:

 Usage rate

 Buying status: potential, first-time, regular, etc

 Purchase procedure: sealed bids, negotiations, etc

3.3 Positioning

Following Philip Kotler [14], After a company has decided which market segments

to enter, it must decide what 'position' it wants to occupy in those segments A product's position is the place the product occupies in consumers' minds If a product were perceived to be exactly like another product on the market, consumers would have no reason to buy it Market positioning gives a product a clear, distinctive and desirable place in the minds of target consumers compared with competing products Marketers plan positions that distinguish their products from competing brands and give them the greatest strategic advantage in their target markets

In positioning its product, the company first identifies possible competitive advantages upon which to build the position To gain competitive advantage, the company must offer greater value to chosen target segments, either by charging lower prices than competitors or by offering more benefits to justify higher prices However, if the company positions the product as offering greater value, it must deliver greater value Effective positioning begins with actually differentiating the company's marketing offer so that it gives consumers more value than is offered by the competition

The company can position a product on only one important differentiating factor or

on several However, positioning on too many factors can result in consumer confusion or disbelief Once the company has chosen-a desired position, it must take steps to deliver and communicate that position to target consumers

4.1.1 Product level

When a company set a plan for it‘s product, the product should be viewed in three levels

- Core product: The most basic level is the core product, which addresses the

question: What is the buyer really buying? The core product stands at the centre of the total product It consists of the problem-solving services or core benefits that consumers seek when they buy a product Thus when designing products, marketers must first define the core of benefits that the product will provide to consumers

the core product Actual products may have as many as five characteristics: a

quality level, features, styling, a brand name and packaging Its name, parts, styling, features, packaging and other attributes have all been combined carefully to deliver the core benefit - a convenient, high-quality way to capture important moments The strategy at this level involves organizations branding, adding features and benefits to ensure that their product offers a differential advantage from their competitors

product around the core and actual products by offering additional consumer services and benefits

Therefore, a product is more than a simple set of tangible features Consumers tend

to see products as complex bundles of benefits that satisfy their needs When developing products, marketers must first identify the core consumer needs that the product will satisfy, then design the actual product and finally find ways to augment

it in order to create the bundle of benefits that will best satisfy consumers

in terms of buyers' perceptions Companies rarely try to offer the highest possible quality level - few customers want or can afford the high levels of Product quality offered in products Instead, companies choose a quality level that matches target

market needs and the quality levels of competing products Beyond quality level, high quality can also mean consistently delivering the targeted level of quality to consumers In this sense, quality means 'absence of defects or variation'

Many companies have turned quality into a potent strategic weapon Strategic quality involves gaining an edge over competitors by consistently offering products and services that better serve customers' needs and preferences for quality As one expert proclaims: 'Quality is not simply a problem to be solved: it is a competitive opportunity Others suggest, however, that quality has now become a competitive necessity - only companies with the best quality will thrive

A product can be offered with varying features A 'stripped-down' model, one without any extras, is the starting point The company can create more features by adding higher-level models Features are a competitive tool for differentiating the company's product from competitors' products Being the first producer to introduce

a needed and valued new feature is one of the most effective ways to compete How can a company identify new features and decide which ones to add to its product? The company should periodically survey buyers who have used the product and asked these questions: How do you like the product? Which specific features of the product do you like most? Which features could we add to improve the product? How much would you pay for each feature? The answers provide the company with a rich list of feature ideas, each of which should be assessed on the basis of its customer value versus its company cost The analysis should give insight into features that customer‘s value highly in relation to costs, and which would truly improve the product's competitive position

Another way to add product distinctiveness is through product design Some companies have reputations for outstanding design, some companies have

integrated design with their corporate culture So design can be one of the most powerful competitive weapons in a company's marketing arsenal

As competition intensifies, design will offer one of the most potent tools for differentiating and positioning products of all kinds Good design can attract attention, improve product performance, cut production costs and give the product a strong competitive advantage in the target market

One of the most important decisions a marketing manager can make is about branding Brands have the power of instant sales; they convey a message of confidence, quality and reliability to their target market Branding has become a

central issue in product strategy On the one hand, developing branded product

requires a great deal of long-term marketing investment, especially for advertising, promotion and packaging A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, design or a combination of these, which is used to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors Thus a brand identifies the maker or supplier of a product

A brand can deliver up to four levels of meaning:

 Attributes: A brand first brings to mind certain product attributes

 Benefits: Customers do not buy attributes, they buy benefits Therefore,

attributes must be translated into functional and emotional benefits

 Values: A brand also says something about the buyers' values

 Personality: A brand also projects a personality

4.2 Pricing

4.2.1 Definition

Pricing is one of the most important elements of the marketing mix, as it is the only mix, which generates a turnover for the organization Pricing is difficult and must reflect supply and demand relationship Pricing a product too high or too low could

mean a loss of sales for the organization Pricing should take into account the following factors:

- Fixed and variable costs

- Competition

- Company objectives

- Proposed positioning strategies

- Target group and willingness to pay

An organization can adopt a number of pricing strategies The pricing strategies are based much on what objectives the company has set itself to achieve

4.2.2 Types of Pricing strategies

- Penetration Pricing: Here the organization sets a low price to increase sales and market share Once market share has been captured the firm may well them increase their price

- Skimming Pricing: The organization sets an initial high price and them slowly lowers the price to make the product available to wider market The objective

is to skim profits of the market layer by layer

- Competition Pricing: Setting a price in comparison with competitors Really a firm has three options and these are to price lower price the same or price higher

- Product line Pricing: Pricing different products within the same product range

at different price points

- Bundle Pricing: The organization bundles a group of products at a reduced price Common methods are buy one and get one free promotions or BOGOF‘s as they are now known

- Psychological Pricing: The seller here will consider the psychology of price and the positioning of price within the market place

- Premium Pricing: The price set is high to reflect the exclusiveness of the product

- Optional Pricing: The organizations sell optional extras along with the product

to maximize its turnover

- Cost based Pricing: The firms take into account the cost of production and distribution, they then decide on a markup with them would like for profit to come to their final pricing decision

- Cost plus Pricing: Here the firms add a percentage to costs as profit margin to come to their final pricing decisions

4.3 Distribution

Distribution is about getting the products to the customer Distribution channels can

be described by the number of channel levels involved Each layer of marketing intermediaries that performs some work in bringing the product and its ownership closer to the final buyer is a channel level Because the producer and the final consumer both perform some work, they are part of every channel

- Channel 1: called a direct-marketing channel, has no intermediary levels It consists of a manufacturer selling directly to consumers

- Channel 2: contains one intermediary level In consumer markets, this level is

typically a retailer

- Channel 3: contains two intermediary levels, a wholesaler and retailer This channel is often used by manufacturers of food, drugs, hardware and other products

- Channel 4: contains three intermediary levels

Channel 3 Manufacturer Wholesaler Retailer Consumer Channel 4 Manufacturer Wholesaler jobber Retailer Consumer

Channel systems often evolve to meet market opportunities and conditions However, for maximum effectiveness, channel analysis and decision making should

be more purposeful Designing a channel system calls for:

Like most marketing decisions, designing a channel begins with the customer Marketing channels are viewed as customer value delivery systems in which each channel member adds value for the customer Thus designing the distribution channel starts finding out what values consumers in various target segments want from the channel

Channel objectives should be stated in terms of the desired service level of target customers Usually, a company can identify several segments wanting different levels of channel service The company should decide which segments Co serve and the best channels to use in each ease In each segment, the company wants to minimize the total channel cost of supplying customers, while also meeting their service requirements

The company's channel objectives are also influenced by the nature of its products, company policies, marketing intermediaries, competitors and the environment

Having defined its channel objectives, the firm then identifies its major channel alternatives in terms of the types and number of intermediaries to use and the responsibilities of each channel member

The firm must evaluate each alternative against economic, control and adaptive criteria

 Economic criteria: the company compares die likely profitability of different channel alternatives It estimates the sales that each channel would produce and the costs of selling different volumes through each channel

 Control criteria: the company must also consider control issues Using intermediaries usually means giving them some control over the marketing of the product, and some intermediaries take more control than others Other things being equal, the company prefers to keep as much control as possible

 Adaptive criteria: finally, the company must apply adaptive criteria Channels often involve long-term commitments to other firms and loss of flexibility, making it hard to adapt the channel to a changing marketing environment

4.4 Promotion

In the context of the marketing mix, promotion represents the various aspects of marketing communication, that is, the communication of information about the product with the goal of generating a positive customer response Marketing communication decisions include:

- Promotional strategy (push & pull strategy): Marketing theory distinguishes between two main kinds of promotional strategy - "push" and "pull"

 Push: A ―push‖ promotional strategy makes use of a company's sales force

and trade promotion activities to create consumer demand for a product The producer promotes the product to wholesalers, the wholesalers promote it to retailers, and the retailers promote it to consumers It tries to sell directly to the consumer, bypassing other distribution channels With this type of strategy, consumer promotions and advertising are the most likely promotional tools

 Pull: A ―pull‖ selling strategy is one that requires high spending on

advertising and consumer promotion to build up consumer demand for a product If the strategy is successful, consumers will ask their retailers for the product, the retailers will ask the wholesalers, and the wholesalers will ask the producers

- Advertising: Any non-personal paid form of communication using any form of mass media (Television, newspaper, magazine )

- Personal selling & sales force: Selling a product service one to one

- Sales promotions: Commonly used to obtain an increase in sales short term Could involve using money off coupons or special offers

- Public relations & publicity: Involves developing positive relationships with the organization media public The art of good public relations is not only to obtain favorable publicity within the media, but it is also involves being able

to handle successfully negative attention

- Direct mail: Direct mail allows an organization to use their resources more effectively by allowing them to send publicity material to a named person within their target segment By personalizing advertising, response rates increase thus increasing the chance of improving sales Listed below are links

to organization whose business involves direct mail

- Internet Marketing: Promoting and selling your services online

4.5 People

People are the most important element of any service or experience Services tend

to be produced and consumed at the same moment, and aspects of the customer experience are altered to meet the 'individual needs' of the person consuming it Most of us can think of a situation where the personal service offered by individuals has made or tainted a tour, vacation or restaurant meal Remember, people buy from people that they like, so the attitude, skills and appearance of all staff need to be first class Here are some ways in which people add value to an experience, as part

of the marketing mix - training, personal selling and customer service

- Training

All customer facing personnel need to be trained and developed to maintain a high quality of personal service Training should begin as soon as the individual starts working for an organization during an induction The induction will involve the person in the organization's culture for the first time, as well as briefing him or her

on day-to-day policies and procedures At this very early stage the training needs of

the individual are identified A training and development plan is constructed for the individual which sets out personal goals that can be linked into future appraisals In practice most training is either 'on-the-job' or 'off-the-job.' On-the-job training involves training whilst the job is being performed e.g training of bar staff Off-the-job training sees learning taking place at a college, training centre or conference facility Attention needs to be paid to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) where employees see their professional learning as a lifelong process of training and development

- Personal Selling

There are different kinds of salesperson There is the product delivery salesperson

His or her main task is to deliver the product, and selling is of less importance e.g

fast food, or mail The second type is the order taker, and these may be either

'internal' or 'external.' The internal sales person would take an order by telephone, mail or over a counter The external sales person would be working in the field In

e-both cases little selling is done The next sort of sales person is the missionary

Here, as with those missionaries that promote faith, the salesperson builds goodwill with customers with the longer-term aim of generating orders Again, actually

closing the sale is not of great importance at this early stage The forth type is the

technical salesperson, e.g a technical sales engineer Their in-depth knowledge

supports them as they advise customers on the best purchase for their needs Finally,

there are creative sellers Creative sellers work to persuade buyers to give them an

order This is tough selling, and tends to offer the biggest incentives The skill is identifying the needs of a customer and persuading them that they need to satisfy their previously unidentified need by giving an order

- Customer Service

Many products, services and experiences are supported by customer services teams Customer services provided expertise (e.g on the selection of financial services), technical support(e.g offering advice on IT and software) and coordinate the

customer interface (e.g controlling service engineers, or communicating with a salesman) The disposition and attitude of such people is vitally important to a company The way in which a complaint is handled can mean the difference between retaining or losing a customer, or improving or ruining a company's reputation Today, customer service can be face-to-face, over the telephone or using the Internet People tend to buy from people that they like, and so effective customer service is vital Customer services can add value by offering customers technical support and expertise and advice

4.6 Process

Process is another element of the extended marketing mix There are a number of

perceptions of the concept of process within the business and marketing literature Some see processes as a means to achieve an outcome, for example - to achieve a 30% market share a company implements a marketing planning process

Another view is that marketing has a number of processes that integrate together to create an overall marketing process, for example - telemarketing and Internet marketing can be integrated A further view is that marketing processes are used to control the marketing mix, i.e processes that measure the achievement marketing objectives All views are understandable, but not particularly customer focused For the purposes of the marketing mix, process is an element of service that sees the customer experiencing an organization‘s offering It's best viewed as something that your customer participates in at different points in time Here are some examples to help your build a picture of marketing process, from the customer's point of view

At each stage of the process, markets:

 Deliver value through all elements of the marketing mix Process, physical evidence and people enhance services

 Feedback can be taken and the mix can be altered

 Customers are retained, and other serves or products are extended and marked to them

 The process itself can be tailored to the needs of different individuals, experiencing a similar service at the same time

Processes essentially have inputs, throughputs and outputs (or outcomes) Marketing adds value to each of the stages Take a look at the lesson on value chain analysis to consider a series of processes at work

4.7 Physical Evidence

Physical evidence is the material part of a service Strictly speaking there are no

physical attributes to a service, so a consumer tends to rely on material cues There are many examples of physical evidence, including some of the following:

 The building itself (such as prestigious offices or scenic headquarters)

 Mailboxes and many others

A financial forecast is simply a financial plan or budget for your business It is an estimate of two essential future financial outcomes for a business – your projected income and expenses You can then create a cash flow forecast by adding when the income and expenses are due so that you know exactly how much you need to make every month for a profitable business

A financial forecast is the best guess of what will happen to your business

financially over a period of time Usually, financial forecasts are an estimate of future income and expenses for a business over the next year and are used to develop the projections of profit and loss statements, balance sheets and, most critically, the cash flow forecast

Predicting the financial future of your business is not easy, especially if you are starting a business and do not have a trading history Initially, your financial forecasts will be inexact and inaccurate However, frequent forecasting with adjustments as required will promote more accurate forecasting

Also following to Philip Kotler [13], marketing implementation is the process that turns marketing strategies and plants into marketing actions to accomplish strategic marketing objectives Implementation involves day-to-day, month-to-month activities that effectively put the marketing in to work Whereas marketing planning addresses the what and why of marketing activities, implementation addresses the who, where, when and how

Successful implementation depends on several key elements:

First, it requires an action program that pulls all the people and activities together Marketing strategies become specific action programs that answer the following questions: What will be done? When will it be done? Who is responsible for doing it? How much will it cost? For example, the manager may want to increase sales promotion as a key strategy for winning market share A sales promotion action plan should outline special offers and their dates, trade shows entered, new point-of-purchase displays and other promotions The action plan shows when activities will start, be reviewed and be completed

Second, the company's formal organization structure plays an important role in implementing marketing strategy

Another factor affecting successful implementation is the company's reward systems - formal and informal operating procedures that guide planning,

decision-and-budgeting, compensation and other activities For example, if a company compensates managers for short-run results, they will have little incentive to work towards long-run objectives Companies recognizing this are broadening their incentive systems to include more than sales volume

Effective implementation also requires careful planning At all levels, the company must fill its structure and systems with people who have the necessary skills, motivation and personal characteristics In recent years, more and more companies have recognized that long-run human resources planning can give the company a strong competitive advantage

Finally, for successful implementation, the firm's marketing strategies must fit with its culture Company culture is a system of values and beliefs shared by people in an organization It is the company's collective identity and meaning The culture informally guides the behavior of' people at all company levels Marketing strategies that do not fit the company's style and culture will be difficult to implement Because managerial style and culture are so hard to change, companies usually design strategies that fit their current cultures rather than trying to change their styles and cultures to fit new strategies."

Thus, successful marketing implementation depends on how well the company blends the five elements - action programs, organization structure, decision-and-reward systems, human resources and company culture - into a cohesive program chat supports its strategies

CHAPTER 2 CURRENT MARKETING ACTIVITIES FOR VIETTEL CERTIFICATE

AUTHORITY (VIETTEL-CA) SERVICE

Viettel Group established under decision 2097/2009/QĐ-TTg signed on December

14, 2009 by the Government Prime Minister is a national defense economics enterprise with 100 % state-owned capital Viettel Group has many sectors in business, include: Providing telecommunications services; Transmission; Post; Distributing Data terminal equipment; Financial investment; Communication; Real Estate Investment; Import and Export; Foreign Investment

1 History

- In 1989: Electronic communication Equipment Company, the predecessor of

the Viettel Group was established

- In 1995: Electronic communication Equipment Company, renamed to Viettel

Corporation, recognized as the second telecommunications in Vietnam and got the operation license

- In 2000: Viettel got the license to provide testing long-distance telephone

service which use VoIP technique rout Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh with 178 brands and got the success That was the first time in Vietnam, one more telecommunication-services company has the opportunity to be selected

- In 2001: Viettel began offering international VOIP service

- In 2002: Viettel began providing Internet access service

- In 2003: Implementation of investment policies on basic telecommunication

services, Viettel installed operator to bring fixed line telephone services (PSTN) into the business market Vital also made fixed line telephone universal to all regions in the country with the increasing quality of services

- In 2004: Determining that mobile phone services would be the basic

telecommunication services, Viettel used all resources to construct the network and launch the service on 15/10/2004 with brand 098 As the appearance of mobile phone 098 brand in the market, Viettel again made a huge reputation by service lower of costs, improve the quality of customer care, and make the fairness of the mobile information market in Vietnam It was voted as one of 10 information technology and communication events in

2004, and continues from the following year to now Viettel, was always evaluated as the subscriber growth mobile network and the fastest network, and got the attention and support of customer with the bold policies and business strategies

- In 2005: Prime Minister Phan Van Khai signed a decision to establish Viettel

Group on 02/3/2005 and Bureau of Ministry of Defense had 45/2005/BQP decision on 06/4/2005 about the establishing of Viettel Group Vital also started providing virtual network services

- In 2006: Viettel expanded the services to Laos and Cambodia

- In 2007: Viettel Telecom (belong to Viettel Corporation) was established as

the multi-service company in telecommunication market on the merged of companies: Internet Viettel, Fixed line telephone Viettel and Mobile phone Vital Corporation‘s revenue reached 1 billion USD in 2007

- In 2008: After only one year, Corporation‘s revenue was double (2 billion

USD) At the same time, Viettel Corporation was ranked as 100 largest telecommunication brands in the world Viettel also became the number one in Cambodia market about telecommunication infrastructure

- In 2009: Viettel Group established under decision 2097/2009/QĐ-TTg signed

on December 14, 2009 by the Government Prime Minister is a national defense economics enterprise with 100 % state-owned capital and the Authorized capital was 50.000 billion VND

- In 2010: Viettel started investing in Haiti At the same year, Mozambique

Government granted a license to provide mobile telecommunication services for Movitel – the subsidiary of this corporation Viettel competed with 22 companies in the bidding to become the third mobile supplier in Mozambique

- In 2011: On 27/1/2011, Developed Private Investment Agency of Peru

announced that Viettel Group of Vietnam won in the bidding to get the fourth licenses of telecommunication in Peru

2 The growth chart

Figure 2.1 Revenue of Viettel Company in period from 2000 to 2010

Unit: Billion VND

(Source: Viettel Coporation report in 2011)

Figure 2.2 Profit of Viettel Company in period from 2000 to 2010

Unit: Billion VND

(Source: Viettel Coporation report in 2011)

Figure 2.3 Human resource of Viettel Company in period from 2000 to 2010

Unit: Human

(Source: Viettel Coporation report in 2011)

3 Organizing structure

Figure 2.4 Organization structure of Viettel Telecom

- Viettel Telecom: is the subsidiary of Viettel Group, in charge of providing telecom and information technology services The structure of Viettel Telecom includes 6 departments, 5 centers and 1 steering unit which monitor branches

 Content development center: is the Unit which produces and sell the content services such as: program production, phone number leasing

 VAS center: is the Unit which produces and sells value added services on the mobile phone platform