MARKETING PLAN MARKETING PLAN FOR LAUNCHING TOP TOP SELF HEATING HOT POT ACECOOK VIETNAM’S NEW PRODUCT

With 27 years of experience, Acecook Vietnam became a manufacturer of instant noodles leading in Vietnam, supplying the market with diverse products such as instant noodles, instant rice

THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

-úûúû -

MARKETING PLAN MARKETING PLAN FOR LAUNCHING TOP TOP SELF-HEATING HOT POT- ACECOOK VIETNAM’S

NEW PRODUCT

MAJOR: MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Name Student Code

TABLE OF CONTENT

1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

2.SITUATION ANALYSIS 2

2.1 Market Summary 2

2.1.1 Market Demographics 2

2.1.2 Market Needs 2

2.1.3 Market Trends 3

2.1.4 Market Growth 3

2.2 SWOT Analysis 3

2.2.1 Strengths 3

2.2.2 Weaknesses 4

2.2.3 Opportunities 4

2.2.4 Threats 4

2.3 Competition 4

2.4 Product Offering 6

2.5 Key to Success 6

2.6 Critical Issues 6

3.MARKETING STRATEGY 7

3.1 Mission 7

3.2 Market Objectives 7

3.3 Financial Objectives 7

3.4 Target Markets 8

3.4.1 Customer 8

3.4.2 Bussiness 9

3.5 Positioning 9

3.6 Marketing Strategy 10

3.6.1 Product 10

3.6.2 Price 12

3.6.3 Place 13

3.6.4 Promotion 14

4.ACTION PLAN 15

4.1 QUARTER I 15

4.2 QUARTER II 19

4.3 QUARTER III 23

4.4 QUARTER IV 27

5.FINANCIALS 31

5.1 Break-Even Analysis 31

5.2 Sales Forecast 31

5.3 Expense Forecast 31

6.CONTROLS 32

6.1 Implementation 33

6.2 Marketing Organization 33

REFERENCES 34

APPENDICES 36

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1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Entered the Vietnamese market from December 15, 1993, and started production and business in1995 With 27 years of experience, Acecook Vietnam became a manufacturer of instant noodles leading in Vietnam, supplying the market with diverse products such as instant noodles, instant rice noodles, instant vermicelli, cooked vermicelli, vermicelli noodles, cooked pho get the trust and supported by millions of customers

With the set mission and mission, Acecook is committed to bringing consumers:

– Satisfaction, joy and peace of mind to consumers through convenient, delicious quality and food safe products on the basis of <Japanese technology, Vietnamese taste=

– Focus on building sustainable human resources by creating a favorable working environment, good welfare for employees to work with peace of mind and make long-term dedication

– Commitment to comply with the law, ensure food safety standards and be

environmentally friendly

– Actively working to improve the quality of life, bringing joy and smiles to

everyone and contributing to the development of society

In Vietnam, because of the Covid-19 epidemic, consumers' trends and consumption habits are gradually changing According to a survey from Nielsen, more than 50% of people have reduced the frequency of visiting visit supermarkets, grocery stores and traditional markets At the same time, the cart value above 1 purchase increased to meet the need to stay at home more and limit going out They tend to buy packaged goods, instant food, and stockpile at home instead of going to the shops outside Because of people's health concerns, the amount of packaged food is still on the rise However, consumers value convenience, deliciousness, and health nowadays Unlike the past, the factor of convenience and savings has changed This is also the reason the manufacturers continuously offer products in the high segment, improve quality, increase advertising and promotions to reach consumers such as noodles, pho, vermicelli, and noodles cup-bowl-tray, added with meat, shrimp, eggs, seafood and other nutritious foods supplements are continuously launched into the market, helping consumers enjoy the food in anywhere and change dishes often The Vietnamese instant noodle market is also located in the trend of "premiumization" of the world, when consumers are willing to pay for more expensive products

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That's why Acecook wants to launch Vietnam's first self-boiling hot pot product This is a product that both meets the needs of convenience, health, as well as a variety of nutrition

2 SITUATION ANALYSIS

Acecook - the leading general food company in Vietnam Officially put into operation

in 1995, after many years of operation, Acecook Vietnam has continuously grown and achieved a solid position in the market Acecook always wishes to bring satisfaction, joy, and peace of mind to consumers through convenient products, delicious quality, and food safety

- Occupation: Student, office worker, housewife

- Income: medium to high income

• Behavior Factors

- Users are busy and have little time to cook

- Users like the convenience, fast

- Users have a passion for food and prefer trying new foods

- Users spend money on food, typically available food

- Attractive designs: When putting many products together, the one with a beautiful and outstanding design will attract the attention of customers more

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2.1.3 Market Trends

In 2020, Vietnam has become the world's third-largest instant noodles market with over 7.03 billion servings consumed This is an increase of 29 percent from 2019 and a new record for the country, according to data from the World Instant Noodles Association (WINA) Besides, the latest survey by the market research company Nielsen Vietnam said the consumption rate of instant noodles during the Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam increased

by 67% Most consumers have turned to storing dry food in their homes As a result, the demand for instant food has also increased because of their convenience, variety of flavors, product lines and affordable prices

2.1.4 Market Growth

WINA data shows, Global consumption of instant noodles rose nearly 10 percent in

2020 to 116.56 billion servings In there, Vietnam accounted for around 6 percent of instant noodles servings in the world Each Vietnamese consumed about 55.6 servings on average The increase in instant food consumption in Vietnam has occurred as the country faces the Covid-19 pandemic outbreaks, forcing people to stay at home under social distancing directives According to the market research report by Facts and Factors, global instant noodle sales are expected to increase from 45.1 billion USD in 2020 to 74.08 billion USD

in 2028, and the average annual revenue growth will reach 6.40% in the forecast period

2021 to 2028

Figure 2.1: Global Instant Noodles Market

2.2 SWOT Analysis

2.2.1 Strengths

- Has a large market and holds a high market share

- High brand awareness, familiar with Vietnamese consumers of many ages

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- Get many certificates of food hygiene and safety

- Advanced production technology, international standard quality control process

2.2.2 Weaknesses

- There is no comprehensive customer care policy

- Packaging and quality are not regularly improved that easily cause boredom with customers

- Create a breakthrough when challenging with new products

- The taste is more suitable for Vietnamese taste than foreign products

2.2.4 Threats

- There are many competitors in the market such as Masan Consumer, Uniben and Asian Food

- Customers are not loyal to products/brands

- Consumers (take care of their health more and increasingly) appreciate cooked dishes

home-self Shortage of supplies and labor resources due to the epidemic situation

- More and more substitutes will appear in the future

2.3 Competition

For many years, the Vietnamese instant food market has been dominated by four big players: Acecook Vietnam, Masan Consumer, Uniben, and Asia Foods

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Figure 2.2: Market share by volume of Vietnamese noodle manufacturers

(source: nguoiduatin.vn) According to Retail Data's statistical data, in the first 9 months of 2020, this group accounted for about 84% of instant noodle market revenue In which, Acecook Vietnam Group leads with 35.4% market share However, the data shows that this company is losing market share over the years, from 36.8% in 2018 to 36.7% in 2019 By the end of 2019, the company's revenue reached VND 10,648 billion, profit after tax was VND 1,660 billion Holding the second position in the instant food industry is Masan Consumer With the goal

of constantly innovating, the company continuously launched high-class instant noodle products to the market and achieved high growth in both volume and selling price In 2019, the company achieved a revenue of 4,968 billion VND, up 7% compared to 2018 Facing the strong rise of Masan, like Acecook Vietnam, both Uniben and Asia Foods are losing market share For Uniben, the market share in 2018 accounted for 17.2%, decreasing to 14.9% in the first 9 months of 2020 In terms of business results, Uniben achieves steady revenue of thousands of billions of dong per year, but the profit is quite low Specifically,

in 2019, the company earned nearly 2,856 billion VND, but the profit was only nearly 40 billion VND Compared with Uniben, Asian Food's profit is higher and there is a big gap Specifically, in 2010, Asia Foods' revenue reached VND 3,070 billion and a net profit of VND 409 billion And the market share of Asia Foods decreased from 11.5% (in 2018) to 10.1% (9 months in 2020)

Figure 2.3: Revenue of instant noodle maker in 2017-2019 (unit: billion VND)

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Figure 2.4: Profit of instant noodle maker in 2017-2019 (unit: billion VND)

2.4 Product Offering

Acecook self-heating hot pot currently offers 3 taste:

The first product is Tóp Tóp Seafood hot pot The product includes 1 pack of sauce, dry noodles and side dishes such as fish balls, squid balls, crab sticks, dried shrimp and lotus roots The dish has a sour, spicy and deep flavor that is extremely attractive

The second product, Tóp Tóp Beef hot pot, includes 1 pack of dry noodles, 1 pack

of sauce, 1 pack of large beef, tofu and onions The beef is both soft and chewy, served with the sweet broth of onions to create a warm flavor for the dish

The third product is Tóp Tóp Mushroom hot pot, also known as Tóp Tóp Vegetarian hot pot This product includes dry noodles, flavored sauce packs, tofu, carrots and corn Besides, this type of hot pot also has a package of mushroom sauce including many types such as enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms and straw mushrooms

2.5 Key to Success

The keys to success are quality and price of products that meet market demand Ensuring these two factors will help the position of Tóp Tóp in the market more firmly Besides, Acecook must satisfy its customer through the tastes of the dish Any product should be launched because of customer need - the success or failure of any product is largely dependent on whether people like and use it or not If these keys to success are achieved, Acecook will become a profitable, sustainable company

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- Pay attention to their competitors for similar products at both their price points and their target customers Get to know other businesses and identify gaps in their products that you can fill

3 MARKETING STRATEGY

3.1 Mission

Vision: <Becoming a leading food production enterprise in Vietnam with sufficient governance capacity to adapt to the process of globalization=

ASSURANCE for customers=

Business philosophy: "Through the culinary path to contribute to Vietnamese society"

Happy Customers, Happy Employees, Happy Society

3.2 Market Objectives

Acecook Vietnam is currently supplying to the market the following products:

● Instant noodles (packs, bowls, cups, trays) - this is the company's spearhead product with brands such as: Hao Hao, Modern, De Nhat…

● Pho, noodle soup, instant vermicelli (package, bowl)

● The salt and seasoning package of Hao Hao noodles is loved by consumers, so recently, Acecook Vietnam has launched Hao Hao Sauce to serve and satisfy the needs of millions of customers

3.3 Financial Objectives

Revenue: expected 1 year after product launch (from January 1, 2022, to December 31,

2022) Acecook will sell 21,000,000 Top Top self-heating hot pot products in 5 big cities of

Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh, Da Nang, Can Tho and earn 975,000,000 thousand VND

in revenue

Market share: the total population in 5 major cities of Vietnam is nearly 21 million people

(Ho Chi Minh Minh city 8,837 million, Da Nang 1.191 million, Hanoi 8,3 million, Hai Phong 1.342 million, Can Tho 1.244 million) With 21,000,000 products sold, corresponding to a maximum possible market share of 15% (assuming each people buy products 1 time)

new, discover, curious

Want to save time and still want to eat good quality food nutrition

Lazy to go buy or cook eat

There are full-quality dishes

in a shorter delivery time Diverse flavors make the meal not boring

Fill your stomach quickly and easily to cook

Very reasonable price for a box hot Pot

catching new products at retail points

Regularly update the coin’s consumer orientation, products new

No time to cook

Eating is boring due to lack

of food options

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3.4.2 Bussiness

Grocery store Traditional shop Convenience store Ecommerce platform

E-commerce platform

Prioritize goods that are easy to store

Products continuously develop and stabilize every year Support from the manufacturer in terms of storage, transportation, display

There is a source of goods to provide a full range for distributors

Buy a variety of products from the manufacturer at a discounted price

3.5 Positioning

The Top Top self-heating hot pot is essentially fast food However, compared to existing instant food on the Vietnamese market such as instant noodles, Pho, etc Acecook's self-heating hot pot has many improvements Firstly, consumers do not need boiling water but only need cold water to be able to cook hot pot of self-heating within 10 minutes by the self-heating mechanism of the self-heating bag, which is very convenient for those who want to use hotpot in a place where there is no electricity, gas, etc Moreover, the self-heating hot pot on the Vietnamese market today is mostly imported from China - where the dishes are commented to have quite a lot of oil and flavor of traditional medicine Vietnamese people, especially young people, are not too familiar with that taste

Therefore, Top Top self-heating hot pot can also satisfy the taste factor suitable for Vietnamese taste

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3.6 Marketing Strategy

3.6.1 Product

Tóp Tóp self-heating hot pot is the first self-heating hot pot product in Vietnam That is

a product capable of self-heating heats the food inside without the need for a stove or any other heating tool any To do this special thing, inside the self-heating hot pot, there will be

a heat-generating bag When this package comes in contact with water, it will generate heat and make the water hot, from which the hot pot will automatically It's like boiling on a stove Vietnamese people have a unique taste formed from the culinary culture Since ancient times, Vietnamese dishes are always full and full of spices However, Today's busy life has made Vietnamese people gradually accept simple dishes simple and bland just to save time Grasping that situation, Acecook times First introduced to the market Latuso self-heating hot pot not only meets all the requirements unique culinary needs but is also very convenient and time-saving

- Product name: Tóp Tóp self-heating hot pot

This name is easy to read, easy to remember and expresses closeness and affection The logo of Top Top is the word "self-heating hot pot" with the full brand name and the taste of hot pot but smaller

- Packaging:

Acecook's plastic tray is specialized for food and is supplied from reputable partners, certified for safety in practice products The front side of product label: Acecook logo, symbolic image for hot pot, net weight, product flavor, product information, and note pictures, We keep the traditional Acecook logo on the product packaging and continue to design the paper packaging To move into the product growth phase, we continue to research

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and expand the depth of the product mix, launch and upgrade multiple versions for the campaigns

Top Top has 3 typical flavors: mushroom, seafood, and beef developed from

satisfying the taste of Vietnamese people which are sour, spicy, salty At the same time, vegetarians can also use this product when choosing a mushroom flavor Depending on the taste, the packaging process and product packaging will also have specific similarities and differences to help consumers easily recognizable Below is our team’s self-design for three flavors of this product

Figure 3.1: llustration of Top Top self-heating hot pot seafood flavor

Figure 3.2: llustration of Top Top self-heating hot pot beef flavor

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Figure 3.3: llustration of Top Top self-heating hot pot mushroom flavor 3.6.2 Price

We’ll adopt a Value based-pricing method due to good brand and excellent product

quality Acecook also applies Market penetration pricing strategy in order to quickly gain market share and give customers the opportunity to try our new product Besides that, we also apply Product bundle pricing strategy to encourage the purchasing power of customers

Acecook also uses psychological pricing The idea behind psychological pricing is that customers will read the slightly lower price and treat it lower than the price actually is We’ll sell the product with a retail price of 65.000 VND, combined with the Product bundle pricing strategy

• B2B:

- Unified shipping pricing: due to Acecook's distribution system throughout

Vietnam, distribution is a strength However, only a few factories are able to meet the production requirements of this Top Top product, so free shipping is not possible Therefore, the shipping price for each agent and distributor will be the same

- Discount: Dealers or distributors will receive a discount based on the number of

imported goods in batches At least 10% will be (Extract in 30% of selling expenses)

• B2C:

- Location-discriminatory pricing: customers will choose products according to

their usage needs depending on the shopping location, Therefore, retail locations will always have price differences to increase profits Understanding that factor, when Acecook the price sells to agents or retailers will be adjusted to meet their profit needs but still, guarantee the price to consumers unchanged

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3.6.3 Place

Distribution method: mass distribution

Acecook has 11 noodle factories spread across 3 regions of North, Central, and South in Vietnam In each province, the factory is located in a different strategy North has 3 factories, the South has 7 factories and the Central has 1 factory Below is the model distribution pattern of Top Top heating hot pot from production to consumers

Acecook has many different forms of distribution channels to bring products to people’s consumption but is still mainly distributed under the agent system (wholesale) Acecook chooses to sell outright to distributors to save costs (warehouse rental costs) The business chooses many wholesalers and the duty of these distributors is to distribute to the retailers hierarchical and then cover the retail stores When customers have demand, retailers will report it to wholesalers and this business will offer the product on a wholesale basis break This model is optimal in that Acecook will limit the amount of inventory to save costs as well as meet the number of products committed to distributors

We have adopted an Intensive Distribution Strategy and maintain a growing network with our distribution partners

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3.6.4 Promotion

• Push strategies: Contact with Acecook’s old distribution agents in major cities

Then, try to contact 150 new distributors and 2,000 serving retailers (new) to offer products to them Connected with dealer chains, especially which is in serving the upper-middle-income customer segment such as supermarkets, hypermarkets, mini market, convenience stores in the city center,

• Pull strategies:

- Advertising

We work with newspapers to support our press conference We run TVC on digital platforms, advertising on social networks associations like Facebook, Instagram, collaborate with influencers, and hold related online campaigns to promote the product

- Personal selling

Give samples at selling points and place booths with an event to attract customers so that customers can easily try out products and make purchasing decisions In detail, the Top Top testing booth can be put at supermarkets, offices, schools, convenience stores

- Direct marketing

We keep in touch with customers (mainly dealers and retailers) by sending emails We will send notifications for product launches, holidays, and anniversaries, as well as discount voucher codes and QR codes

3.7 MARKETING RESEARCH

We will have our products tested with focus groups of target customers, including those who are not interested in self-heating hot pot and those who have already had needs and are interested in this By which, we will get feedback from customers on product quality (price, taste, nutrition), packaging, and design, and then make the improvements We will continue

to expand product testing with a diverse range of users in order to measure and analyze customer attitudes toward competing self-heating hot pot brands and products Research on brand awareness will assist us in determining the effectiveness and efficiency of our messages and media Finally, we will assess the market reaction

combo 3 flavors and 1.000.000 codes 5% discount (up to 20,000) for any combo of 2 products with different flavors

20,130,000

contract with retailers/

distributors

- Prepare products to distribute to Loyal retailers/ distributors of Acecook (CVS, Supermarkets, etc) focus on 5 big cities Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh, Can Tho

- Officially sell products on commerce channels especially Shopee

e Expand retail partners in 5 big cities and nearby provinces (from traditional to modern channels)

- Continue to sell products on commerce

● Use of various forms of POSM: launch posters, testing booth, divider, gondola end, island display, dangler

● Support a 5% discount for large retailers and distributors

● Display shelf support for dealers: apply the gift-giving program for new products on display

1.000.000

PULL:

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Adve r- tising

*16/1/2022 - 31/1/2022

Book the article heating hot pot- new trend" in the online

"Self-newspapers:

+ VNExpress: Article Type 4,5 (3h)

Book the article "Is heating hot pot good for health?" on Dan tri newspaper in home page for 2h

self Produce TVC 15s with

Ly Hai- Minh Ha to introduce the new product

- OOH (out of home):

Place panels at 5 bus bodies in Ho Chi Minh, 5 buses in Hanoi

-Social Media Ads:

- Cooperate

with 10 large

Fanpage, group on

Facebook/Instagram to review/post product advertisements

- Cooperate with Ninh Tito, Dino Vu,

An sap Sai Gon, Bong Tim, Tun Pham to make review videos

on youtube as well as Tiktok

to advertise for Top Top

- Display ads:

run TVC 15s Skippable in-stream ads YouTube:

850.000 views + Facebook CPM plan:

250,000 views

-Social Media Ads

- Partner with food bloggers who care about health,

convenience and support Vietnamese products on social networking platforms to increase brand recognition:

+ Dino Vu (Youtube) + Tun Pham (Tiktok) + Ninh Tito (Youtube)

- Display ads:

run TVC 15s Skippable in-stream ads:

850,000 views

on Youtube

1,503,800