Marketing PlanTiến Vua Instant Noodle

01/2011 - 12/2011

Ho Cho Minh City Market

Marketing Principles - MKTG1205

Lecturer: Nguyễn Anh Thư

Team members:

Nguyen Doan Thuc Linh - s3230459

Phan Thi Phuong Trang - s3220811

Tran Thanh Quang - s3230283

Bui Thanh Nam - s3231186

Executive Summary

Introduced in 2009, Tiến Vua is a relatively new instant noodle brand of Masan Food. Being a

new player in a highly competitive market, Tiến Vua currently holds a low share of 2% in the

market. However, Tiến Vua’s unique health-oriented feature of not containing trans-fat does

give it a big advantage to differentiate it from other brands and potentially catch the interest of

consumers.

In the macro-environment, the economic factor of HCMC dwellers’ spending half of their

income for food and the social and cultural factors of Vietnam as a country of heavy instant

noodle consumption in Asia with increasing awareness of consumers towards healthy food

products are some key factors that may positively have effect on the instant noodle industry. In

the micro-environment, currently there are about 50 brands in the Vietnamese instant noodle

market. Vina Acecook with various brands such as Hảo Hảo, Lẩu Thái, Kim Chi, Modern, etc. is

the market leader with a 65% market share. However, Tiến Vua is considered to compete

directly with two main competitors that are Hảo Hảo of Acecook and Gấu Đỏ of Asia Food in

the segment of low-priced instant noodles. Though being a health-oriented product, Tiến Vua’s

current price is relatively low and competitive compared to these main competitors which have

no healthcare feature at all.

In the SWOT analysis, some Tiến Vua’s major strengths identified are the existing brand

awareness of Masan Food with other well-known products like Chin Su or Nam Ngư, its unique

message of “Noodle for health”, the strong base of financial resources and Masan Food’s strong

distribution channels. The limitation in flavors and the role of a new player in a highly

competitive market are the two main weaknesses of Tiến Vua. However, in a country of high

food and beverage consumption with the increasing consumers’ care for healthy food and the

development of modern production technology, Tiến Vua does have certain opportunities to

develop and compete against threats rising from the increasingly intense competition of similar

health-oriented instant noodles as well as the impact of inflation on production costs and

buying demands. Overall, the main objectives of this plan is to help Tiến Vua gain 60%

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awareness among target market with the image of a healthcare product, and more importantly,

to increase its market share by 7% and achieve break-even by the end of 2011. Mass marketing

strategy will be recommended for Tiến Vua in this one-year plan with the target market are

people, mainly women, students and officers, aged 25 to 50 with lower-middle income or above

living in Ho Chi Minh City. With average life standards but in a busy life, they are more likely to

give their preference to Tiến Vua rather than other instant noodle brands due to their care for

convenient but healthy food products. Consequently, “Noodle for health with no trans-fat” is

the benefit sought that Tiến Vua provides to generate attention from this target market. With

the competitive advantages of product differentiation in using modern food processing

technology and image differentiation in delivering the “brand for health” message, Tiến Vua

also insists on its unique health-oriented feature as its positioning statement.

On giving recommendations for the product and brand development, line extension strategy is

suggested to provide more diversification in flavors and more eye-catching effect in packaging.

Two pricing strategies are also recommended which are psychological & value-added pricing

by increasing the product’s price to suit with its health-oriented value and product bundle

pricing by providing mixed-flavor bundles of Tiến Vua at a lower price than separate packs to

encourage more consumption in large quantity. Furthermore, expanding distribution channels

to achieve intensive market coverage will be the main task of Tiến Vua’s place strategy.

Supermarkets and convenient stores will be the main places to concentrate on as these are the

places where people most often purchase instant noodles. For the promotion strategy, both

push and pull strategies will be applied simultaneously in two divided periods of the campaign.

Push strategy will be mainly used during the first period from January to March 2011 with tools

of personal selling and trade promotion (quantity discount) targeted more at retailers and

wholesalers to increase sales volume and market share, specifically intensive during the Tet

holiday period when consumption rate is very high. Pull strategy will be implemented in the

second period from April to December with a variety of activities in advertising (TVC, print ad,

outdoor, Internet), public relations (press release, factory tour, conferences, blogs) and sales

promotion (samples, POP displays) with aim to encourage consumers’ demand as well as to

enhance the brand equity among target market.

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction.....................................................................................................5

2. Situational Analysis..........................................................................................5

a. Macro-environment..................................................................................5

b. Micro-environment...................................................................................6

3. SWOT .............................................................................................................7

a. Strengths...................................................................................................7

b. Weakness..................................................................................................7

c. Opportunities............................................................................................8

d. Threats.......................................................................................................8

e. SWOT Matrix.............................................................................................9

4. Objectives........................................................................................................9

5. Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning...........................................................10

a. Segmenting..............................................................................................10

b. Targeting.................................................................................................11

c. Positioning...............................................................................................11

6. Marketing Mix Strategies...............................................................................13

a. Product....................................................................................................13

b. Price.........................................................................................................14

c. Place........................................................................................................15

d. Promotion................................................................................................15

7. Action Program..............................................................................................20

8. Control Program.............................................................................................21

9. References.....................................................................................................22

10. Appendices....................................................................................................23

a. Market segmentation..............................................................................23

b. Consumer survey.....................................................................................25

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1. Introduction

Tiến Vua is an instant noodle brand of Masan Food (MF). Despite being relatively young, MF has

been well known in Vietnam for many popular health-oriented brands such as Chin Su, Nam

Ngư, Omachi. Like other MF's brands, Tiến Vua is health-oriented and it is the first instant

noodle in the Vietnamese market that doesn't contain trans-fat. However, since being a new

player in a highly competitive market with over 50 brands, Tiến Vua is holding a low market

share of only 2% (Techcomsecurities, 2009). Thus, this marketing plan is designed for Tiến Vua

to implement in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) as the main market during a one-year period from

2011 with an aim to help raise more awareness among target customers as well as increase its

share in this competitive market. Besides, a small face-to-face survey on 50 shoppers at Lotte

Mart and Co.op Mart Miếu Nổi in HCMC was also conducted to support for this plan1 .

2. Situation Analysis

a) Macro-environment

Demographic

In 2009, the total population of HCMC was around 6.472 million people including 3.187 million

males and 3.285 million female (Vietnam General Statistic Office, 2009). HCMC also had the

highest per capita income in Vietnam, which up to US$2,500 comparing to the whole country

US$1,200 (Hang, 2010). With a huge population, HCMC is always a potential market for food

products; especially convenience products like instant noodles.

Economic

According to Hang (2010), HCMC dwellers spend half of their income on food. This point

proposes that eating is still the most important need and it will become the opportunity for

food industry to develop.

Social & Cultural

1 Refer to appendices for the full survey and result5

In 2007, Vietnam had the highest instant noodle using rate in Asia with 1-3

packages/person/week (Ba & Hang, 2010). Therefore, it often takes lots of people’s attention to

the effects of instant noodle on health – which relate to the product’s ingredients, nutrients.

Political

According to 42/2005/QĐ-BYT regulation available on 23/12/2005, all food companies have to

register all their products with the Ministry of Health to prove that their products are safe and

have good quality towards consumers’ health. Yet, Vietnam still hasn’t had regulation on not

using oil having trans-fat in food industry like other countries (Ba & Hang, 2010).

b) Micro-environment

Competitors

In Vietnam, Vina Acecook, Asia Food and Vifon are the three largest competitors of MF in term

of instant noodle market share in which Vina Acecook is the market leader with a 65% share

(Hai, 2009). Currently, Tiến Vua is now competing directly with Hảo Hảo of Acecook and Gấu Đỏ

of Asia Food in the low-end segment market with the price range between 2,000-3,500

VND/pack.

Marketing Intermediaries

MF has very strong distribution channels in Vietnam. The company has already had 132

distributors, 119,608 retailers, and 1,300 sales persons within Vietnam by December 2008

(Vietcapital, 2009).

3. SWOT Analysis

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a) Strengths

Company’s existing brand awareness: MF has built a strong brand in Vietnam with many

market-leading products such as Chin Su, Nam Ngư or Omachi. Such brand establishments will

provide supremacy to MF’s new products like Tiến Vua against other competitors. Further, the

company’s unblemished reputation for safe food products also adds to its reputation.

The message of “Noodle for health”: Tiến Vua is the first brand in the market to position itself

as a health-oriented noodle with the message of not containing trans-fat. This message is

simple and easy to remember but powerful and clear enough to differentiate Tiến Vua from

other brands.

Strong financial resources: MF has a strong of base of finance. MF's revenue reached US$230.2

million in 2009 (Techcomsecurities, 2009). Moreover, the profits earned from other successful

products like Chin Su, Nam Ngu or Omachi will also provide big support for MF to invest in

promotional activities for Tiến Vua.

Pricing and distribution channels: Tiến Vua’s price is lower compared to other products of the

same middle market segment – which gives it an edge with price-conscious customers. Besides,

MF has very strong distribution channels in Vietnam.

b) Weaknesses

Newcomer in a highly competitive market: For instant noodles, MF is still a new entrant in a

large category of over 50 instant noodle brands in Vietnam.

The limitation in flavors: Currently, Tiến Vua has only two flavors, which is quite low compared

to other brands of the same market segment such as Hảo Hảo, Miliket, etc. This will limit the

choice of customers looking for a variety of flavors to avoid boringness.

c) Opportunities

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High rate of food and beverage consumption in Vietnam: Vietnam’s GDP is consumption

dominated and more importantly, food and beverage comprises 40% of the Vietnamese

consumption bundle (Techcomsecurities, 2009). Thus, the Vietnamese F&B industry has never

lost its potential for any brand to enter the market. Besides, Vietnam owns one of the largest

instant noodle markets in Asia and the growth of this market (19%) is promisingly significant

(Vietcapital, 2009).

The increasing awareness of Vietnamese consumers towards healthy food: The rising in

consumer income and life standards has enabled dietary changes among Vietnam’s consumer

base recently. People pay more attention to branded products’ food safety and prestige

(Euromonitor cited in Vietcapital, 2009), especially after the happening of several crisis related

to food hygiene and safety in Vietnam.

The development of modern food processing technology: The development of new technology

will promise to reduce the production cost thus help the brand gain more profits.

d) Threats

Increasingly intense competition: New brands of instant noodles are mushrooming more

heavily than ever in the Vietnamese market. They come from both local and foreign brands,

which make the market a real fierce battlefield. Moreover, recently, there have appeared some

similar brands claiming as health-oriented instant noodles such as New Way with non fried

instant noodle or Gomex “3 miền” with add-in Vitamin B. Therefore, Tiến Vua’s marketing

communications must stress its clear differentiation and value-added pricing.

The impact of inflation on cost increasing and buying demands

e) SWOT Matrix

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STRENGTHS WEAKNESSESO

PPO

RTU

NIT

IES

SO strategies

- Continue pushing up advertising

activities which insist on Tiến Vua’s unique

trans-fat-free feature to differentiate it

from other products as well as generate

more preference from consumers

- Continue expanding the distribution

channels to make Tiến Vua as accessible

to consumers as possible

WO strategies

- Educate consumers about the importance of

eating healthy food products and promote

the advantages of using trans-fat-free instant

noodles like Tiến Vua

THRE

ATS

ST strategies

- Enhance the brand equity by creating

intensive advertising and promotional

campaigns

- Install modern production lines to

reduce costs and remain competitive

WT strategies

- Research and create more diversification in

terms of ingredients, flavors and packaging to

facilitate more customers’ choices

- Develop more impressive POPs to capture

the attention of buyers

4. Objectives

Achieve 60% awareness among target market in HCMC about Tiến Vua and 50% of them

associating Tiến Vua with the image of a health-oriented product by the end of 2011.

Gain a 7 percent more of market share based on sales of current and newly developed

flavors by the end of 2011 and achieve break-even early in this period.

Maximize the sales by strengthening promotion and keeping the sales growth at no less

than 30% annually.

5. Segmenting, Targeting, Positioning

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a) Segmenting

Geographic

HCMC is the largest economic hub with the population around seven million people. Therefore,

it will be the main target market of Tiến Vua.

Demographic

Generally, consumers of Tiến Vua are from all age groups 10-60 years old. However, according

to Rauscher (2007), women are much more proactive on healthcare than men and they are also

the ones who take care for family’s health. Hence, women are the primary target of Tiến Vua

since they usually seek healthy foods for their family. Besides, students and officers aged 20-30

are also considered as secondary target market of Tiến Vua.

Since the price of Tiến Vua is 2,600 VND per pack, Tiến Vua is suitable for people who have low-

middle income (3-5 million VND per month on average). However, due to the benefit sought of

this product, Tiến Vua also attracts consumers of middle income or above who pay more

attention to healthy foods.

Behavioral

Benefit sought: Most people have negative perception about instant noodles that they are not

good for their health due to the lack of nutrient, bad sanitary inspection and harmful chemical

elements. Hence, “trans-fat free” is the most significant benefit of Tiến Vua that makes it

unique in the market.

Psychographic

HCMC citizens have very busy life, thus they do not have enough time to prepare meals.

Therefore, they always seek for the kind of food that is ready-made but still ensures the

nutrient quality.

b) Targeting

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Mass marketing strategy

Despite containing no trans-fat, Tiến Vua is still a low-end instant noodle that appeals to most

people with cheap price. Thus, MF should apply mass marketing strategy (Kotler et al, 2009) in

order to attract mass consumers who are seeking for convenient but healthy food such as

students, officers, and specifically modern women who take care of their families' health. As

the mass marketing strategy is implemented, promotion programs will be developed to target

the mass with more focus on attracting women in family.

c) Positioning

Possible competitive advantages

Product differentiation: Using the most modern food processing technology, Tiến Vua is the first

brand in the market that claims to be free from trans-fat thus not harmful for consumers’

health.

Image differentiation: Since the establishment in 2004, MF has built a well-recognized brand

and delivered “brand for heath” message. Along with other products such as Nam Ngư

pasteurized fish sauce, no 3-MCPD soy sauces, and natural fermentation chili sauces, Tiến Vua

is a new product of MF which delivers the consistent message of healthy food.

Positioning statement

With its competitive advantages, Tiến Vua will be positioned as a healthy instant noodle in the

market. The marketing strategy will concentrate on the trans-fat free element of this product

which differentiates it from other brands in the market.

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Positioning map2

2 For detailed prices, refer to the appendices

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Price

High

Low High

Low

Quality

6. Marketing Mix Strategies

a) Product

Product level Current state Recommendations for improvement

Core benefit- To bring consumers delicious,

healthy and instant meals.

Actual product Brand:

One new brand of MF who known

for many health-oriented food

brands such as Chin Su, Omachi,

Nam Ngư and Tam Thái Tử.

- One of the top 50 Vietnamese

brands in 2009 (AC Nielsen cited in

Vietcapital, 2009).

Quality and features:

Quality

- Health-oriented, first instant

noodle in the market that doesn't

contain trans-fat

(TechcomSecurities, 2009)

- Guaranteed by MF's technology

and experience in producing high

quality products under instant

noodle standard TCVN 5777:2004

issued by Directorate for

Standards, Metrology and Quality

(Nga, 2010).

Feature

- Have only two flavors: pork with

cabbage and sour shrimp.

Quality and feature: Apply line

extensions strategy

- Introduce two new flavors: gà tần

sâm (chicken with ginseng) and bò

hầm nấm kim châm (beef with

needle mushroom).

Rationale: Nearly 82% of consumers

in our survey said that they like these

two flavors. These flavors make the

brand sound healthier and also live

up to the brand name Tiến Vua,

which means “for the King”.

- Introduce new bundle of mixed

flavors: one bundle contains 10 packs

of Tiến Vua noodle in different

flavors.

Rationale: Our survey indicates that

76% of consumers like to buy various

flavors and brands of instant noodles

at the same time.

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Design and Packaging:

- Packaged at 75g in attractive

colors of yellow, red and green

with a logo “Noodle for health” on

the front side of the package

Design and Packaging:

Make the logo of “Noodle for health”

more outstanding (bigger font size,

more attractive color) to grasp more

attention of buyers.

Augmented product

- Detailed nutrition facts and

expiration date are provided on the

back of the package.

- Company's address and contact

are included for further enquiry

from customers.

- A hot line and an online Q&A

section are set up by MF to answer

customers' questions regarding all

the company's products including

Tiến Vua (MF, 2010).

b) Price

MF has been using market penetration and competition-based pricing for Tiến Vua. When it

first launched in 2009, Tiến Vua was sold at 2,000 VND in order to compete with other low-end

noodle brands. This strategy helped Tiến Vua to penetrate the market faster and quickly attract

a large number of customers; Tiến Vua achieved US$26.5 million in revenue during launch

period, Jan-Aug, 2009 (TechcomSecurities, 2009).

For this 2011 marketing plan, we propose two other pricing strategies that Tiến Vua should

apply as following:

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Psychological & Value-added Pricing

Despite being marketed as trans-fat free and good for health, Tiến Vua is currently sold at a

relatively low price (2,600 VND) compared to its main competitors such as Hảo Hảo (3,000 VND)

or Gấu Đỏ (2,500 VND) while these brands’ production costs should be lower since they don’t

use trans-fat free technology in producing their noodles. Therefore, we believe most consumers

will question the quality and credibility of Tiến Vua. According to our survey, when looking for

instant noodles, consumers pay most attention to flavors and quality, not price. Besides, when

asked is it reasonable if Tiến Vua is sold at 3,500 VND, 68% of them said yes. Therefore, we

suggest MF to increase Tiến Vua's price from 2,600 to 3,200 VND. This price would increase

MF's profits, enhance Tiến Vua's quality in consumers' mind while is competitive still.

Product bundle pricing

As said above, Tiến Vua should introduce a multi-flavor bundle containing 10 noodle packs that

is sold at a lower price than 10 separate packs. If a single Tiến Vua pack is 3,200 VND, we

suggest the new bundle be sold at 27,000 VND.

c) Place

Conventional distribution system and Intensive distribution

Sine Tiến Vua is a fast moving consumer good, intensive distribution is recommended in order

to reach the largest number of consumers. Besides, as HCMC is really large in population and

area, expanding the current distribution channel from big supermarkets to small convenient

stores is one of the main goals of MF.

d) Promotion

Both push and pull strategies will be applied simultaneously for Tiến Vua in 2011. Push strategy

is to utilize MF's large network of retailers and wholesalers and to be mainly used in certain

occasions to drive short-run sales and push two new flavors into the market place. However,

the plan will focus more on pull strategy in order to build good a relationship with consumers

and long-term brand equity (Kotler et al, 2009). Besides, as Tiến Vua offers unique benefits that

15

make it superior to competing brands, pull strategy is more appropriate to motivate consumers'

demands (Belch & Belch, 2009).

Tiến Vua's 2011 promotion campaign will be divided into two periods:

1st period: January – March

2nd period: April - December

Due to the introduction of the two flavors, the first period will feature intense advertising

schedule and heavy sales promotion offers for wholesalers, retailers and consumers in order to

raise awareness for the product. The second period will have a moderate advertising schedule

and focus more on PR activities in order to keep Tiến Vua's image fresh and build strong

relationship with costumers.

Push strategy

Push strategy will be mainly used during the first period. This is Tet holiday period as well;

therefore, consumers' demand for food is really high. This is a great opportunity for Tiến Vua to

increase sales volume and market share.

By using personal selling and trade promotion, MF can encourage retailers and wholesalers to

stock Tiến Vua more than usual, especially the two new flavors. We suggest MF to apply special

discount for retailers and wholesalers who buy in large quantity during this period:

5% discount for any order over 50 million VND

7% discount for any order over 100 million VND

Further discount can be considered for larger orders

Pull strategy

Advertising

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Media objectives

To reach at least 40% of the target audience with an average frequency of 6.0 during the

first period

To reach at least 60% the target audience with an average frequency of 5.0 by the end

of 2011

Advertising strategy

Key message: Tiến Vua with two new flavors gives you healthy meals that have no trans-fat.

Message execution: slice of life and scientific evidence

Advertising mediums

TV: large reach, high exposure and frequency rates and strong impact with a combination of

sight, sound and motion.

Tiến Vua will be advertised on the advertising slots of entertainment programs like Trò Chơi Âm

Nhạc, Ai Là Triệu Phú or high-rating soap operas. HTV7, HTV9 and VTV33 will be chosen because

these channels have quality programs that attract lots of viewers in the target market.

TVCs will be mainly broadcasted at night time or weekends when the target audience is

normally at home watching TV.

Newspaper and Magazines: low cost, effective reach, high selectivity.

Print ads will be placed in cooking or health sections of popular lifestyle magazines and

newspapers such as Thanh Niên, Tuổi Trẻ, Tiếp Thi Gia Đình, Thế Giới Văn Hóa.

Outdoor: low cost, broad reach within high exposure rate.

3 Refer to chart 1 below for detailed advertising schedule17

Billboards and posters will be put at main streets in district 1 and outside big supermarkets such

as Big C and Co.op Mart.

Internet: low cost, flexibility, selectivity and interactive capabilities.

Banners will be placed on websites that have high traffic of target market such as

dantri.com.vn, tuoitre.vn and vnexpress.net

Public Relations

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Chart 1 - Adverting Schedule

Since Tiến Vua is a health-oriented product, MF should also focus on communicating the unique

benefits of Tiến Vua via PR initiatives. PR is a more credible, cheaper promotional tool than

advertising while it could create a strong relationship between the company and customers

(Kotler et al, 2009).

Press release: press releases will be sent to credible health and women magazines and

newspapers to introduce two new flavors, Tiến Vua's unique benefits and the danger of trans-

fat in food products.

Factory tour: journalists and government officers will be invited on a tour around MF's factory

to examine Tiến Vua's quality.

Health conference about trans-fat: conference about the danger of trans-fat run by credible,

recognized experts will be organized. This event has great news value and should help Tiến Vua

and MF get free publicity on famous news outlets.

Online blog: an online blog will be established and updated weekly on how to cook home foods

that are healthy and delicious. This blog will act as a link between the company and consumers

and consumers will sure have a better attitude towards Tiến Vua.

Sales Promotion

Sample: two new flavors packs will be attached on MF's current products such as Chin Su soy

sauce or Nam Ngư fish sauce. These product's main consumers are the same as Tiến Vua who

like health-oriented and branded products. Thus, distributing Tiến Vua's samples this way will

be more effective in terms of targeting the right consumers who are likely to be interested.

Point-of-Purchase displays: LCD displays showing the process of making Tiến Vua will be placed

in big supermarkets. This will ensure consumers about the quality of the product and encourage

them to try the product. Standee and shelf decoration will be implemented as well.

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7. Action Program

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8. Control Program

After implementing the plan, we use tight control measures to supervise the effectiveness of

marketing process. The controls plan of Tiến Vua is developed based on (1) quantitative

measure of business performance; (2) qualitative measure of the customers’ perception on the

products; (3) Analysis report of competitor’s performance, specifically dominant brands in the

market such as Gấu Đỏ, Miliket, Hảo Hảo.

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Word count: 3298

9. References

Ba, T. & Hang, P. (2010) 'Kiến nghị ghi rõ thành phần trên bao bì mì ăn liền - Suggestion on putting

detailed nutrition facts on instant noodle package', Thực phẩm & đời sống, 31/08/2010, last viewed

30/12/2010, <http://thucphamvadoisong.vn/trang-chu/106-tin-tuc-su-kien/1268-kien-nghi-ghi-ro-

thanh-phan-tren-bao-bi-mi-an-lien.html>.

Belch, G. & Belch, M. (2009) 'Advertising and promotion, an integrated marketing and

communication perspective', New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

23

Hang, T. (2010) 'HCMC personal income growth outpaces nation', Vietnews, 07/01/2010, last viewed

30/12/2010, <http://www.vietnewsonline.vn/News/Society/10750/HCMC-personal-income-growth-

outpaces-nation.htm>.

Hai, T. (2009) 'Cuộc chiến quanh gói mì ăn liền - Instant noodle battle', SGGP, 03/08/2009, last

viewed 30/12/2010, <http://www.sggp.org.vn/kinhte/2009/8/198759/>.

Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Ang, S., Leong, S., Tan, C. & Hon-Ming, O. (2009) 'Principles of Marketing, a

global perspective', Singapore: Prentice Hall.

Masan Food (2010) 'Hỏi & Đáp - Question & Answer', Company's website, last viewed 30/12/2010,

<http://www.masanfood.com/hotline.php>.

Nga, T. (2010) 'Khác tố mì Tiến Vua mốc trước hạn - A consumer complains about Tiến Vua',

Vietnamnet, 14/08/2010, last , <http://vnn.vietnamnet.vn/bvkh/201008/Khach-to-mi-Tien-Vua-

moc-truoc-han-928915/>.

Rauscher, M. (2007) 'Women top men as seekers of online health info', Reuters, 28/08/2007, last

viewed 30/12/2010, <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSCOL86509220070828>.

Techcom Securities (2009) 'Masan group investment report', Report, 12/2009, last viewed

30/12/2010, <http://masangroup.com/investor/MSN%20_TCBS_Final.pdf>.

Viet Capital Securities (2009) 'Công ty cổ phần tập đoàn Masan (MSN-HOSE) - joint stock company

Masan', Financial report, 18/11/2009, last viewed 30/12/2010,

<http://masangroup.com/vn/investor/MSN_BanViet_22Dec09.pdf>.

Vietnam General Statistic Office (2009) 'Statistical yearbook of Vietnam 2009', last viewed

30/12/2010, <http://www.gso.gov.vn/default_en.aspx?tabid=515&idmid=5&ItemID=10439>

10. Appendices

a) Market segmentation

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According to the statistic, Vietnamese Market is home of more than 50 instant noodle

producers with hundreds of brands. The market leaders of instant noodle are Vina Acecook,

Asia Food, Vifon and Uni-President which take up to more than 90 % of market share with five

billion packs per year (Hai, 2009). The Vietnamese instant noodles market is divided into three

segments based on price and quality.

The advanced segment includes high quality brands with good looking design at high prices

between 7,000-15,000 VND per pack. Some typical brands in this segment are Hoang Gia

(Vifon), etc.

The medium segment includes medium quality instant noodle with diversified flavors which are

sold at reasonable prices of 4,000-6,500 VND per pack. Some typical brands in this segment are

Omachi (MF), Mi Lẩu Thái (Vina Acecook), etc.

The low-end segment includes low medium quality instant noodle with very simple spices

which are sold at cheap prices between 1,500-3,500 VND. Representatives for this segment are

Hảo Hảo, Miliket and Mì Gà Tím

Based on prices recorded at Co.op Mart Miếu Nổi on 25/12/2010

Low-end

Company Brand Price WeightVifon 2,500 VND 80gr

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Vina Acecook 3,000 VND 75gr

MF 2,600 VND 75gr

Medium

Segment

Vina Acecook 4,00VND 80gr

Vifon 4,200 VND 75gr

MF 4,500 VND 75grAdvanced

Vifon 8,000 VND 120gr

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Segment

Vina AceCook 6,000 VND 90 gr

b) Consumer SurveyHi, we are students from RMIT and we are doing this survey to understand consumers' behaviors and awareness toward Tiến Vua instant noodle. Your help would be very much needed for the success of our assignment. Thank you so much for your time.

Chào chị, chúng em là sinh viên của đại học RMIT. Chúng em rất mong chị có thể dành chút thời gian tham gia vào cuộc khảo sát về mì ăn liển Tiến Vua. Cám ơn chị.

1. How old are you? - Chị bao nhiêu tuổi?a. 20-25 c. 25-30b. 30-40 d. 40+

2. What is your job? - Công việc của chị là gì? a. Office worker (nv văn phòng) c. Worker (công nhân)

b. Business owner (chủ doanh nghiệp) d. Housewife (nội trợ)

3. Your family's income per month? - Thu nhập hàng tháng của gia đình chị? a. 3-5 mil VND c. 6-10 mil VND

b. 11-20 mil VND d. > 20 mil VND

4. Which brand of noodle listed below have you eaten? (you can choose more than 1 option ) - Chị đã ăn những loại mì nào sau đây? (được chọn nhiều câu)

a. Tiến Vua e. Mì Gà Tímb. Hảo Hảo f. Vua Bếpc. Mì lẩu Thái g. A-oned. Hoàng Gia h. Others (khác)

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5. You select instant noodle based on: (you can choose more than 1 option) - Chị chọn mì ăn liền dựa trên tiêu chí nào? (được chọn nhiều câu)

a. Price (giá)b. Flavor, taste (hương vị)c. Package (bao bì)d. Nutrition, quality (chất lượng)e. Reputation of the brand (thương hiệu)f. Other (khác)

6. How do you normally buy instant noodles? - Chị thường hay mua mì ăn liền theo cách nào?a. One flavor, one brand at the same time (một lần một loại mì duy nhất) b. Various flavours, various brands at the same time (nhiều loại, mùi mì một lần)

7. How do you know about Tiến Vua instant noodle? (you can choose more than 1 option) - Chị biết mì Tiến Vua qua phương tiện thông tin nào?

a. Internetb. Advertisements on TV, newspapers, radio (quảng cáo trên TV, báo, radio) c. Family, friends (bạn bè và người thân)d. In-store display, promotion, sampling (hàng xài thử, quảng cáo trong cửa hàng)e. You don't know anything about Tiến Vua (don't do the next question) (chị không biết

gì về mì Tiến Vua)

8. What is the most important difference between Tiến Vua and other instant noodle brands? - Điểm khác biệt lớn nhất giữa mì Tiến Vua và các mì khác?

a. Cheaper price (rẻ hơn)b. Tiến Vua is healthier than other instant noodles (using fresh oil - "không sử dụng dầu

chiên đi chiên lại") c. Tiến Vua's package looks better (bao bì đẹp hơn)d. Tiến Vua tastes better (ngon hơn)e. Others (khác)

9. Do you like Tiến Vua to introduce new flavors like Gà Tần Sâm or Bò Hầm Nấm Kim Châm? - Chị có muốn Tiến Vua giới thiệu 2 mùi mới?

a. Yes (có) b. No (không)

10. Do you think Tiến Vua package (75gr) is too small to full your stomach? - Chị có thấy gói mì Tiến Vua quá nhỏ?

a. Yes, should be bigger (có) b. No, I'm happy with70gr (không)

11. Is it easy to find and buy Tiến Vua? - Chị có thấy kiếm và mua mì Tiến Vua dễ dàng?a. Yes (có) b. No (không)

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12. If Tiến Vua is sold at 3,500 VND, do you think it's reasonable? - Nếu Tiến Vua được bán giá 3,500, chị có thấy hợp lý?

a. Yes (có) b. No, should be lower (không)

Thank You Cám Ơn Chị

Survey Result

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