Marketing plan to launch a gel antacid brand in vietnam market master project in business and marketing management

I air1 writing to confirm that the project entitled: MARKETING PLAN TO LAUNCH A GEL ANTACID IN VIETNAM A product belongs to antacid category Prepared by Mr.. TABLE OF FIGURE OR PICTUR

MBMM4

PHA THÀH TRUG

MARKETING PLAN TO LAUNCH

A GEL ANTACID IN VIETNAM

MASTER PROJECT MASTER IN BUSINESS & MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Ho Chi Minh City

(2010)

This work has not been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university To the best

of my knowledge and belief, the project contains no materials previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the project itself

Phan Thanh Trung

December 14, 2010

Firstly, I would like to express my appreciation to Mr BUI THANH TRANG - PhD,

my project tutor, for all his valued guidance and expert advice in the preparation of this project

Special thanks to my mentor for his personal encouragement and unlimited support in sharing marketing experience which motivated me to work harder on this project Last but not least I would like to send my deepest appreciation to my family and my company for their emotional support and spiritual encouragement throughout my MBA study

I air1 writing to confirm that the project entitled:

MARKETING PLAN TO LAUNCH A GEL ANTACID IN VIETNAM

A product belongs to antacid category

Prepared by

Mr PHAN THANH TRUNG

Has satisfied the requirement for a Master's project in Business and Marketing Management

I, therefore, recommend that the project be presented

Tutor

BUI THANH TRANG

2.1 Process to launch a new product 07 2.2 Marketing Activities To Build And Develop A New

14

4.1.1 Market situation 14 4.1.2 Introduction of United Pharma Incorporation 16

TABLE OF FIGURE OR PICTURE OR TABLE

Figure 2.1 A Framework of a new product launching process 05

Figure 4.1 Antacid market value and Growth rate of Antacid

category vs the total OTC market value Growth

15

Figure 4.2 Moving Annual Total Revenue of Top 17 Corporations

in Vietnam of OTC market; up to Oct 2010

16

Figure 4.3 Brand awareness from antacid consumers 17 Figure 4.4 Popular symptoms of hyperacidity 18 Figure 4.5 Source to influence respondent to choose an antacid 18 Figure 4.6 The purchasing place where hyperacid sufferers bought

antacid

19

Figure 4.7 Functional benefits preferred 19 Figure 4.8 The most suitable price for a good quality antacid 20 Figure 4.9 The most trusted recommendation of an antacid brand 20 Figure 4.10 Pricing Analysis of Acidown Gel 26 Figure 4.11 Distribution Channel Organization 27

Figure 4.13 Three Success Factors of Communication 30 Figure 4.14 Profit and Lost Statement of Acidown Gel in 5 years 33

Picture 4.1 Packaging Image of Acidown Gel 25

Table 3.1: Sample allocation of quantitative research 13

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

According to the latest statistics of Vietnam

Science Digestion Association, 2009, over

70% Vietnamese population have stomach

problem caused by bacteria of food and

irregular diet and activity habits which harm

the stomach and digestion

Along with the eco-socio development, the modern lifestyle with hard work and stress do have negative impact on the health of a person’s stomach and digestion Failures to treat the diseases promptly could result in severe complications, negative effects, or even life-threatening hazards

According to the IMS Health Vietnam1 , Total antacid market is expected at US$ 24 million for the year 2010, growing by 21% vs 2009, which is faster than the average Over The Counter2 market growth of 15%

There are 2 kinds of antacid formats, tablet and gel Gel format contributed nearly 70% of total antacid market in 2009 and achieved a better growth rate of 23% due to the switching trend from tablet to gel format Gel market

Phosphalugel and Gastropulgite with market

value shares of 30% and 14% respectively

(source: IMS Health Vietnam Data 2009)

With the incremental of antacid market, this

thesis will propose a marketing plan to launch a new antacid brand in Gel format which is marketed by United Pharma Incorporation (UPI) to penetrate into this attractive market

In order to propose a concept of a gel format antacid to market, the primary research of qualitative and quantitative was designed and conducted with the objectives to find out the

Over The Counter: is the pharmaceutical product does not need prescription of doctor Consumers are able

to study and seld-medicate it by themselves

expected at US$ 24 million for the year 2010, growing by 21%

vs 2009, which is faster than the average Over The Counter market growth of 15%”

“Gel format contributed nearly 70% of total antacid market in

2009 and achieved a better growth rate of 23% due to the switching trend from tablet to gel format”

antacid Usage and Attitudes, the most required attributes of antacid, choice criteria of an antacid, sources that make target consumers trust an antacid brand and price range as well The research found out that majority of consumers self-medicate themselves for the an antacid medication and followed by recommendation from pharmacies; “Relieves pain quickly” and “Coating Stomach” were the functional benefits that target consumers expected from an effective antacid; “The prescription of doctor” was the most influenced source for antacid users trust in an antacid brand; the most suitable price for a good quality antacid of a gel antacid is VND 3,000 to VND 3,500

The thesis proposes to launch an antacid brand in gel format named Acidown Gel with better antacid neutralizing capacity It is

means that Acidown Gel understands what

hyperacid sufferers expect, why and when

hyperacid sufferers should use brand and how

hyperacid sufferers use an antacid

With the ambition to gain share from key leading players (Phosphalugel, Gastropulgite) in gel segmentation, Acidown Gel is positioned not only competitive in function (efficacy) but also the pricing strategy in retailed price (pool strategy) and in gross margin for retailers (push strategy)

The research showed that majority of antacid purchases came from pharmacies Therefore, availability and channel penetration at pharmacies are the primary key success factors of Acidown Gel The optimal utilization of distributor’s sales-force and whole-sellers to distribute Acidown Gel to pharmacies is crucial element for its success

Acidown Gel sales forecast will achieve VND 10.5 billion (equivalent to US$ 0.5 million)

in third year UPI will get the positive accumulated net profit in the third year and continue

to achieve the positive net profit in year 04 and year 05 This project is considered as a good investment

“The thesis proposes to launch

an antacid brand in gel format named Acidown Gel with better antacid neutralizing capacity It is positioned as

A SPECIALIST I&

STOCHACHE TREATME&T”

CHAPTER 1: ITRODUCITO

1.1 Reasons to Research

UPI is a Philipinese foreign direct invested company with a pharmaceutical manufacturer With competitive advantage in own production, it is quite initiative in material in improve production cost, innovative proposition and capturing market dynamics According to the report of IMS health Vietnam in Jun 2010, UPI was ranked at the second largest OTC corporations in revenue market leaded by SANOFI-AVENTIS and followed by GSK UPI has found that the antacid marketing is increasing and market size of antacid is quite big with US$ 24 million in 2010 Therefore, it is planning to penetrate this lucrative segment

In order to find the ideas of product to develop the product concept, the primary research needed to be conducted to explore the target consumers’ insights The target consumers’ insight is the foundation to shape the product concept

1.2 Objectives of Research

- The brand awareness from end-users

- The brand Usage and Attitudes:

The common symptoms which a hyperacid sufferer usually suffered

The brands were used to address the problem

Who advised those brands?

- Criteria of an antacid

- The sources that make them trust an antacid brand

- Price range of a qualified antacid brand

1.3 Methodology

Qualitative and quantitative were used in this research

Qualitative was conducted with focus groups in different age ranges and genders who suffered in hyperacidity in last 6 months in order to collect the insights, needs, key perceptions The result of qualitative research is the foundation for the next step of quantitative research

Quantitative research was conducted with questionnaire in the field Personal interviews (face-to-face) were done with 100 respondents by the exit methods in front of the pharmacies, hospitals or medical clinics using structured questionnaire

1.4 Scope of Research

The primary research was conducted in different districts of Ho Chi Minh City

This thesis depicted a trusted and workable antacid brand in gel format to offer the market This thesis proposed Marketing plan to launch an antacid brand in gel format in Vietnam market

1.5 Structure of Research: The Thesis Includes 5 Chapters:

- Chapter 1: Introduction to introduce Reasons to Research, Objectives of

Research and Methodology of research, Scope of Research

- Chapter 2: Literature Review to review the theory of process to launch a new

product

- Chapter 4: Market Analysis, Result of Research, Marketing Activities

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Process to launch a new product

The first step of new product development requires gathering ideas to be evaluated as potential product options Many market research techniques are used to encourage ideas including: running focus groups with consumers, channel members, and the company’s sales force; encouraging customer comments and suggestions; and gaining insight on competitive product developments through secondary data sources Group of conducted research can yield a wide range of possible products that can be further pursued

Ideas are critically evaluated by company to isolate the most attractive options As the ideas are whittled down to a few attractive options, rough estimates are made of an idea’s potential in terms of sales, production costs, profit potential, and competitors’ response if the product is introduced Acceptable ideas move on to the next step

IDEA GENERATION

SCREENING

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT and TESTING

Figure 2.1 A Framework of a new product launching process

3 CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING

With a few ideas in hand the marketer now attempts to obtain initial feedback from customers, distributors and its own employees Generally, focus groups are convened where the ideas are presented to a group In some cases, focus groups are exposed to a mock-up of the ideas During focus groups with customers, the marketer seeks information that may include: likes and dislike of the concept; level of interest in purchasing the product; frequency of purchase; and price points to determine how much customers are willing to spend to acquire the product

Now in this step, the process becomes very dependent on market research as efforts are made to analyze the viability of the product ideas The key objective at this stage is to obtain useful forecasts of market size, operational costs, production cost and financial projections Additionally, the organization must determine if the product will fit within the company’s overall mission and strategy

Companies direct their research and development teams to construct an initial design or prototype of the idea Marketers also begin to construct a marketing plan for the product Once the prototype is ready, the marketer seeks customer input In this step, the customer gets to experience the real product as well as other aspects of the marketing mix, such as advertising, pricing, and distribution options In addition to gaining customer feedback, this step is used to gauge the feasibility of large-scale, cost effective production for manufactured products

Products are ready to be tested as real products In some cases the marketer accepts what was learned from concept testing and skips over market testing to launch the idea as a fully marketed product The most common type of market testing makes the product available to

a selective small segment of the target market (e.g., one city), which is exposed to the full marketing effort as they would be to any product they could purchase

7 COMMERCIALIZATION

If market testing displays promising results the product is ready to be introduced to a wider market Some companies introduce or roll-out the product in waves with parts of the market receiving the product on different schedules This allows the company to ramp up production in a more controlled way and to fine tune the marketing mix as the product is distributed to new areas

2.2 Marketing Activities To Build And Develop A ew Product

or intangible

Service - Something is considered a service if it is an offering a customer obtains through the work or labor of someone else Services can result in the creation of tangible goods (e.g., a publisher of business magazines hires a freelance writer to write an article) but the main solution being purchased is the service

Idea - Something falls into the category of an idea if the marketer attempts

to convince the customer to alter their behavior or their perception in some way

Price versus Value

For most customers price by itself is not the key factor when a purchase is being considered This is because most customers compare the entire marketing offering and do not simply make their purchase decision based solely on a product’s price In essence when

a purchase situation arises price is one of several variables customers evaluate when they mentally assess a product’s overall perceived value

Perceived value = perceived benefits received/perceived price paid

For the buyer value of a product will change as perceived price paid and/or perceived benefits received change

Importance of price

Pricing decisions can have important consequences for the marketing organization and the attention given by the marketer to pricing is just as important as the attention given to more recognizable marketing activities Some reasons pricing is important include:

Most Flexible Marketing Mix Variable – The flexibility of pricing decisions

is particularly important in times when the marketer seeks to quickly stimulate demand or respond to competitor price actions

Setting the Right Price – Pricing decisions made hastily without sufficient research, analysis, and strategic evaluation can lead to the marketing organization losing revenue

Trigger of First Impressions - It is important for marketers to know if customers are more likely to dismiss a product when all they know is its price If

so, pricing may become the most important of all marketing decisions if it can be shown that customers are avoiding learning more about the product because of the price

Important Part of Sales Promotion – Many times price adjustment is part of sales promotions that lower price for a short term to stimulate interest in the product

2.2.3 Place (Distribution)

What is distribution channel?

Distribution channel is the path that moves product from the marketer to consumers It means making decisions on the activities that will give customers access to and permit purchase of a marketers’ product

Direct - With a direct distribution system the marketer reaches the intended final user of their product by distributing the product directly to the customer That

is, there are no other parties involved in the distribution process that take ownership

of the product

Multi-Channel (Hybrid) - In cases where a marketer utilizes more than one distribution design the marketer is following a multi-channel or hybrid distribution system

2.2.4 Promotion

What is Promotion?

Promotion is a form of communication that uses various methods to reach a targeted audience with a certain message in order to achieve specific organizational objectives Objectives of Promotion:

The most obvious objective marketers have for promotional activities is to convince customers to make a decision that benefits the marketer (of course the marketer believes the decision will also benefit the customer) For most for-profit marketers this means getting customers to buy an organization’s product and, in most cases, to remain a loyal long-term customer

Sales Promotion – Involves the use of special short-term techniques, often

in the form of incentives, to encourage customers to respond or undertake some activity

Public Relations – Also referred to as publicity, this type of promotion uses third-party sources, and particularly the news media, to offer a favorable mention of the marketer’s company or product without direct payment to the publisher of the information

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIG

Research Objectives

Methodology

Qualitative Data

Collection

Analysis

COCLUSIO

Problem Statement

Quantitative

Findings

Figure 3.1 Research Framework

Focus groups sample:

We recruited 20 respondents and divided into 4 groups Respondents of each group had the similar demographic in age range and genders

- Group 01: 5 female, age from 18 to 24 [young female]

- Group 02: 5 female, age from 25 to 40 [mature female]

- Group 03: 5 male, age from 18 to 24 [young male]

- Group 04: 5 male, age from 25 to 40 [mature male]

Respondent criteria: those who suffered in hyperacidity in last 6 months, and at least bought and used an antacid to address last hyperacidity

3.2.2 Quantitative Research

Personal interviews (face-to-face) were conducted by the exit in front of the pharmacies, hospitals or medical clinics using structured questionnaire Questionnaire survey was employed as the tool to collect primary information of consumers’ decision-making styles and antacid choice criteria in sample size of 100 respondents who are the representatives of target consumers A structured questionnaire which consists of 4 sections – Demographic information; Brand metric on awareness; Purchase and consumption behavior; Brand Choice criteria

Before carrying out the fieldwork survey, a pilot test was conducted with 10 subjects in order to pretest the format and suitability of questions as set out in the Questionnaire Quantitative Research Sample:

Sample Design: N=100 across 10 districts in HCM City

Respondent criteria: those who suffered in hyperacidity, and at least bought an antacid in last 6 months

Below is the sample allocation:

Order District Sub-Total Hospital Pharmacies Medical Clinic

Table 3.1: Sample allocation of quantitative research

Source: Research conducted

3.3 Information eed

From the research, the thesis needed to find out:

- The functional benefits which target consumers expected from an antacid

- The retailed price that target consumers could afford

- The suitable retailed price that delivered a good quality gel antacid

- The channels that target consumers usually purchase their antacid

- The key drivers to influence their purchase of antacid

- The common symptoms that target consumers suffered

- The brands that target consumers usually used to address their problems

CHAPTER 4: MARKET AALYSIS, RESULT OF RESEARCH, MARKETIG ACTIVITIES

4.1 Market Analysis

4.1.1 Market situation

According to the latest statistics of Vietnam Science Digestion Association, 2009, over 70% Vietnamese population have stomach problem caused by a bacterium named Helicobacter Pylori (HP) – some of the possible sources of the bacteria are through food

or contact directly through spittle Records from the Ho Chi Minh City University Medical Center show that the causes are irregular diet and activity habits which harm the stomach and digestion This also shows that our modern lifestyle with hard work and stress do have negative impact on the health of a person’s stomach and digestion That is why hyperacidity and ulcers have become popular diseases today

Ho Chi Minh City University Medical Center revealed a notable statistic figure: between 3 and 5 confirmed cases of stomachache out of 10 cases diagnosed by endoscopy technology Stomachache is now really widespread, yet unfortunately it has not been given enough awareness Failures to treat the diseases promptly could result in severe complications, negative effects, or even life-threatening hazards Those who work under permanent pressures and who lead far too busy lives should keep close tabs on their states

of stomach health Sometimes identifying early symptoms of stomachache is not easy If the disease remains untreated for a while, the day it’s detected becomes nearly too late for any treatment efforts

According to the IMS Health Vietnam, Total antacid market is expected at US$ 24 million for the year 2010, growing by 21% vs 2009, which is faster than the average Over The Counter market growth of 15% Because of the emergence of modern life-style affecting work and leisure, the number of potential sufferers who usually skip regular meals and strained by stress is increasing

The antacid market achieved a remarkable growth rate which was higher then the growth rate of total OTC market since 2007; and it is estimated to achieve a better growth rate in the coming years

There are two main formats of antacid - gel format and tablet format Gel format mainly contributed to the value to antacid market In 2009, The gel format contributed nearly 70%

of the antacid market, and achieved a better growth rate of 23%; whereas the growth rate

of tablet was only 13.5% The total antacid market is forecasted that it will achieve a remarkable growth rate of more than 20%, and gel format will regain the share of table format

Market Value of Antacid, US$ Mio

Growth Rate of Ttl OTC Poly (Gel Format) Poly (Tablet Format)

Figure 4.1 Antacid market value and Growth rate of Antacid category vs the total

OTC market value Growth

Source: IMS Health Vietnam Data 2009

4.1.2 Introduction of United Pharma Incorporation

UPI is a Philipinese foreign direct invested company with a manufacturer and enthusiastic staff of 300 employees from all over the country UPI has been in Vietnam for 15 years, and with such a long time in the local market, UPI is growing up quickly and steadily UPI

is now one of the top pharmaceutical corporations in Vietnam Main business of the company is producing and supplying OTC products with popular brands such as Decolgen, Evervon, Fibermate, Alaxan etc UPI has done really good job so far as our growth rate often exceeds or at least equals to market-wide average rate UPI’s global mission is to provide high-quality medical products and services at pocket-suiting prices to enrich people’s lives and improve community’s healthcare standards For the coming years and beyond, UPI Vietnam shall keep sticking to this mission

According to the report of IMS health Vietnam in Jun 2010, UPI is being ranked at the second largest corporations in revenue in OTC market

Figure 4.2 Moving Annual Total Revenue of Top 17 Corporations in Vietnam of OTC market; up to Oct 2010

Source: IMS Health Vietnam Data, Oct 2010: Top ranking OTC manufacturers in Vietnam

4.2 Result of Research:

Below are the findings of research which help to develop product concept and marketing plan of project:

4.2.1 Brand Awareness

Phosphalugel, Gastropulgite, Novagast achieved a very good brand awareness from

consumers Those are gel format antacid In tablet antacids, Maalox, Kremils and

Motilium-M achieved a moderate awareness from consumers

41 ++

Total

Figure 4.3 Brand awareness from antacid consumers

Source: Research analysis