Research and recommendations about marketing comunication of securities companies in vietnam

LIST OF FIGURESFigure 1-1: The Communication Process...11 Figure 1-2: The tools of the marketing communication mix...12 Figure 1-3: Marketing Communication Strategy for Service Firms...1

Nguyen Xuan Quynh

RESEARCH AND RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT MARKETING COMUNICATION OF SECURITIES

COMPANIES IN VIET NAM

master of business administration thesis

Nguyen Xuan Quynh

RESEARCH AND RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT MARKETING COMUNICATION OF SECURITIES

COMPANIES IN VIET NAM

Major: Business Administration

Code : 60 34 05

Master of business administration thesis

Supervisor: DR Chu Thanh

Hanoi - 2007

TABLE OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

TÓM TẮT iv

LIST OF FIGURES 8

INTRODUCTION 9

CHAPTER 1 THEORY FOUNDATION ABOUT MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS 11

1.1 General about Marketing Communications 11

1.2 Setting Marketing Communication Strategy for Service Firms 12

1.2.1 Define the Target Audience and Objectives 13

1.2.2 Divide the Communications Objectives and Target Audiences among the Channels 15

1.2.3 Define Communications Messages 16

1.2.4 Put the Communications Mix Together 18

1.3 Marketing Communication Tools 19

1.3.1 Advertising 19

1.3.2 Public Relations 27

1.3.3 Personal Selling 29

1.3.4 Sales Promotion 32

1.3.5 Direct Marketing 34

1.3.6 E-marketing 35

CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH ON MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS OF SECURITIES COMPANIES 39

2.1 Summary about Vietnam securities market and securities companies 39

2.2 Research on communication tools used by securities companies 42

2.1.1 Public relations 43

2.1.2 Advertising 48

2.1.3 Personal Selling 49

2.1.4 Sales Promotion 50

2.1.5 Direct Marketing 52

2.1.6 E-Marketing 52

2.3 Survey on efficiency of marketing communication from securities companies and customers behaviour 53

2.3.1 Aims of survey 53

2.3.2 Scope of survey and some limitations 53

2.2.3 Findings 54

CHAPTER 3 RECOMMENDATIONS 66

3.1 Define the target audience and objectives of communication 66

3.1.1 Define the target audience of communication strategy 66

3.1.2 Define the communication objectives 68

3.2 Divide the target audience and objectives of communication among the channels 69

3.3 Define communication messages 70

3.4 Put communication mix together 72

3.4.1 General recommendations 72

3.4.2 Recommendations for particular communication tool 73

CONCLUSION 78

REFERENCES 79

APPENDIX: Questionnaires for Thang Long Securities JSC 80

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1-1: The Communication Process 11

Figure 1-2: The tools of the marketing communication mix 12

Figure 1-3: Marketing Communication Strategy for Service Firms 12

Figure 2-1: Percentage of Accounts Opened at Securities Companies 40

Figure 2-2: One article about SSI when it first listed on HASTC 44

Figure 2-3: SSI with the event of being listed on HOSE 44

Figure 2-4: Announcement about the establishment of STB Securities 45

Figure 2-5: VNDirect launches new service 45

Figure 2-6: Bien Viet Securities with CBV-Index 45

Figure 2-7: SSI and its CEO Tran Duy Hung 46

Figure 2-8: CEO of Vndirect – Mrs Pham Minh Huong 46

Figure 2-9: „Chung khoan cuoi tuan” on VTV1 47

Figure 2-10: INFOTV 47

Figure 2-11: Viet Dragon Securities Corp holds training course for customers 48

Figure 2-12: Advertising of Ocean Securities on InfoTV 49

Figure 2-13: Advertising of Thang Long Securities on Investment Review 49

Figure 2-14: Image of brokers 50

Figure 2-15: Promotion of Viet Tin Securities Company 51

Figure 2-16: http://www.bsc.com.vn 52

1 The Problem

Recently, after the booming from the end of 2006 and beginning of 2007, Vietnamstock market has had downward adjustment The investors don‟t rush to the tradingfloors like they did before Securities companies, especially new-born companiesare facing a lot of trouble in attracting customers They really need effectivemarketing communication tools to communicate more with customers, understandand find the way to attract and maintain them Therefore, this research wasconducted to give out recommendations about market communication for securitiescompanies to help them communicate more effectively with customers

2 Objectives and aims

Objectives:

- Know how securities companies are communicating with customers and the effectiveness of these activities

- Know how customers get communication messages from securities

- Which communication tools are use by securities companies in Vietnam

- How effective are these tools?

- How do customers aware of the communication of securities companies

- By which way do customers find information about stock market?

- Which media platform do customers prefer and use most?

4 Scope of work

– Research on the communication with individual customers only, not including institutional investors

– Security market in Vietnam in 2005 – 2007

– Survey mainly in Hanoi

5 Data source & Processing

– Primary data: questionnaires

– Secondary data: newspapers, websites

– Processing: to use MS Excel

6 Methods

– Empirical

– Survey using questionnaires

7 Significance

– Theory: understand about marketing communication

– Practice: recommendation for securities companies to communicate more effectively with customers

8 Limitation:

- Survey only with individual investors

CHAPTER 1 THEORY FOUNDATION ABOUT

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS 1.1 General about Marketing Communications

Communications is the process of conveying a message to others and require six

elements: a source, a message, a channel of communication, a receiver and theprocesses of encoding and decoding The source may be a company or person whohas information to convey The information sent by a source, such as a description

of a new service, forms the message The message is conveyed by means of achannel of communication such as a sales person, advertising media, or publicrelations tools Clients who read, hear, or see the message are the receivers

Figure 1-1: The Communication Process

Source: Managing Service Marketing, John E.G Baterson, K.Douglas Hoffman

Marketing communications are all the communications between the organization

and all other parties, especially with customers Part of the wider academic researcharea of marketing, it encompasses all the traditional forms of promotion includingadvertising, sales promotion, personal selling, publicity, public relations, directmarketing and e-marketing But it aims to be broader than this It includes all points

of contact between the organization and other parties

The Marketing Communications Mix is the specific mix of advertising, personal

selling, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing a company uses topursue its marketing objectives

Figure 1-2: The tools of the marketing communication mix

Advertising

Marketing

E-PublicRelations

Marketing

Communication

Mix

DirectMarketing

SalesPromotion

PersonalSelling

1.2 Setting Marketing Communication Strategy for Service Firms

The setting of a communications strategy follows a common pattern in irresponsive

of whether the firm is producing a goods or services The first is to define a targetaudience and clear objectives for the complete communication mix The mainelements of the communication mix include advertising, public relations, personalselling, sales promotion and direct marketing Only personal selling is normally atwo-way process The remainders are one-way communication, from the marketer

to the customer only With services, however, the service providers at the point ofcommunication can also have an important two-way communication role

Figure 1-3: Marketing Communication Strategy for Service Firms

 Objectives  Objectives  Objectives  Objectives  Objectives

Source: Managing Service Marketing, John E.G Baterson, K.Douglas Hoffman

1.2.1 Define the Target Audience and Objectives

2007

The target audience should flow from the overall marketing plan and from a soundunderstanding of consumer behavior The target audience for the service needs to

be decided early in the process of the whole services formula may becomemalformed Define the target customer for the service is thus the foundation of theservice formula Unlike goods, however, the target audience has to be much moreprecisely targeted

Setting communication objectives for

services The preconsumption choice phase

The objectives must to be ensuring that company‟s service is the one perceived to

be the least risky alternative Communications could be used to try to influence thechoice process in the following ways:

 To ensure that the firm‟s service offering is in the evoked set

 To alter the weights attached to different attributes by consumers to favor those

on which the company is strong

 To alter the score on a given attribute for the company, particularly if there is gap between performance and consumers‟ perceptions

 To alter the score on a given attribute given to a competitor, again particularly ifthere is a gap between performance and consumers‟ perceptions

 If the company is not in the evoked set, to build enough awareness of the

offering to arouse inclusion

The consumption phase

During this phase, the services consumer is a more or less active participant in theproduction process It is important that consumers perform that production rolesuccessfully From the firm‟s point of view, successful performance will improvethe efficiency of the operation and the satisfaction of other customers From theconsumers‟ point of view, successful performance will ensure a high level of

perceived control and, in all probability, a high level of satisfaction in thepostconsumption phase.

Therefore, communication in this phase can be used to ensure successfulperformance by giving the consumer a clear script The nature of this scriptdepends on the nature of the service operation

The postconsumption evaluation phase

Consumer expectations come from a number of sources, some within the control ofthe services firm and some outside its control Expectations arise either fromprevious experience with the firm and/or its competitors or from some form ofcommunication The objective for this phase is to attempt to match customers‟expectation to the performance characteristics of the servuction system

1.2.2 Divide the Communications Objectives and Target Audiences among the Channels

Once the overall objectives and target audiences for the whole communication mixare set, it is necessary to divide the tasks among advertising, selling, publicrelations, and point-of-sales messages This is a process of matching the tasks to thecapabilities of the different communications channels and to the ways consumersuses those channels and the different objectives

One way of assigning tasks across the array of communication channels is toconsider the degree to which the message can be targeted at specific audiences.Media advertising itself varies along this dimension TV advertising can reach veryboard audiences but it is not very selective except in the variation in audienceacross channels by time of day Nation print media such as newspapers andmagazines offer more selective focus, as they themselves tend to be targeted atmore specific segments of consumers

Trade magazines are even more specific in their readership Direct mail offers themost focused of the impersonal media The choice among these media must be able

to make based on the cost per thousand members of the target audience and the riskand cost of reaching the wrong segment

1.2.3 Define Communications Messages

Key differences in information usage between goods and services

In order to create communications messages for a service, it‟s necessary tounderstand key differences in information usage between goods and services Thesedifferences are crucial to understanding how divide the communications objectives,target audiences, and budget between the different channels

Consumers of services are less likely to purchase without information than thosebuying goods This relates to the increased perceived risk associated with servicesand the need for consumer to reduce that risk by collecting information beforepurchasing

Consumer of services will prefer personal over impersonal sources of information.Because services are experimental, it is extremely difficult to describe or specifythe “product” before purchase It might be possible to use TV advertising to conveythe experience, but it is clear that consumers prefer to obtain their information fromindividuals who have experienced the services directly or indirectly

Even among personal services, the high level of risk inherent in the process meanthat customers will give greater credibility to independent sources of informationrather than those perceived to be controlled by the firm All this implies that massadvertising communication from comparable individuals is far more likely thanmass advertising to be used by consumers as a source of information

However, it is possible to use advertising and other forms of promotion to leverageword-of-mouth communication Such as an approach might imply using advertisingand promotional tools to persuade satisfied customers to tell other consumers.Word-of-mouth communication can be used directly in media advertising, in theform of testimonials from satisfied customers.

Consumer information sources can be classified broadly into internal and externalsources Both types can be used to help consumers cope with perceived risk.Internal sources are fundamentally linked to memory scan

Define Communication Messages

These guidelines have developed based on the key differences in information usagebetween goods and services and features of services including: intangibility,inseparability, heterogeneity, and perishability inherent in services products

Promise what is possible

In its most basic form, customer satisfaction is developed by customers‟ comparingtheir expectations to their perception of the actual service delivery process In times

of increasing competitive pressures, firms may be tempted to overpromise Makingpromises the firm cannot keep initially increases customer expectations and thensubsequently lowers customer satisfaction as those promises are not met Twoproblems are associated with overpromissing First, customers have disappointedand a significant loss of trust then occurs between the firm and its customers Thesecond problem directly affects the service firm‟s employees

Tangibilize the Intangible

In tangibilizing the intangible, the scale of market entities, which reflects the degree

of tangibility among products, should be turned on its ends The advertising oftangible-dominant products tends to make them more abstract to differentiate themfrom one another In contrast, the advertising of intangible-dominant products

should concentrate on making them more concrete through the use of physical cuesand tangible evidence.

Feature the working relationship between customer and provider

Service delivery is an interactive process between provider and customer, and it istherefore appropriate that the firm‟s advertising should feature, for example, acustomer and a company representative working together to achieve a desiredoutcome The advertising of services, in particular, must concentrate not only onencouraging customers to buy but also on encouraging employees to perform

Reduce consumer fears about variations in performance

The firm‟s advertising can also minimize the pitfalls of heterogeneity in thecustomer‟s mind To enhance the perception of consistent quality, the firm‟sadvertising should provide some sorts of documentation that reassures thecustomers

Determine and focus on relevant service quality dimensions

The reasons customers choose among competing services are often closely related

to the five dimensions of service quality: reliability, responsiveness, assurance,empathy and the quality of the tangibles associated with the services However,some features are commonly are more important to customers than others; thereforethe company should more focus on them

1.2.4 Put the Communications Mix Together

If the objective is to reach nonusers of the service at the preconsumption phase,then the choice of communication channels is limited Media advertising can beused either directly or as way to harness or create word-of-mouth communication inthe market place If the number of target customers is limited, it might be possible

to use other means such as personal sales force or direct marketing The decisionwould depend on the cost-effectiveness of the different channels and thecomplexity of the message to be conveyed.

By the time consumers reach the consumption and postconsumption phases, theyare already part of the servuction process On a cost/audience member basis, itwould seem more logical to use the point-of-sale environment or the serviceprovider to handle the communication

1.3 Marketing Communication Tools

1.3.1 Advertising

1.3.1.1 Concept of Adverting

Advertising is any paid form of nonpersonal communication about an organization,good, service, or idea by an identified sponsor The paid aspect of this definition isimportant because the space for the advertising message normally must be bought.Advertising involves mass media (such as TV, radio, and magazines), which arenonpersonal and do not have an immediate feedback loop as does personal selling

There are several advantages to a firm using advertising in its communication mix.

It can be attention-getting and also communicate specific product/service benefits

to prospective buyers By paying for the advertising space, a company can controlwhat it wants to say and, to some extend, to whom the message is sent Advertisingalso allows the company to decide when to send its message The nonpersonalaspect of advertising also has its advantages Once the message is created, the samemessage is sent to all receivers in a market segment If the message is properlypretested, the company can trust that that the same message will be decoded by allreceives in the market segment

Advertising has some disadvantages, the costs to produce and place a message are

significant, and the lack of direct feedback makes it difficult to know how well themessage was received

1.3.1.2 Types of advertisements

a) Product advertisements

Focus on selling a good or service, product advertisements take three forms: (1)pioneering (or informational), (2) competitive (or persuasive) and (3) reminder

Used the introductory stage of the life cycle, pioneering advertisements tell people

what a product is, what it can do, and where it can be found The key objective of apioneering ad is to inform the target market Informative ads have been found to beinteresting convincing, and effective

Advertising that promotes a specific brands‟ features and benefits is competitive.The objective of this message is to persuade the target market to select the firm‟sbrand rather than that of competitors An increasingly common form of competitiveadvertising is comparative advertising, which shows one brand‟s strengths relative

to those of competitors Firms that use comparative advertising need marketresearch and test results to provide legal support for their claims

Reminder advertising is used to reinforce previous knowledge of a product.Reminder advertising is good for products that have achieved a well-recognizedposition and are in the mature phase of their product life cycle Another type ofreminder ad, reinforcement, is used to assure current users they made the rightchoice

b) Institutional advertisements

The objective of institutional advertisements is to build goodwill or an image for anorganization, rather than promote a specific good or service Often this form of

advertising is used to support the public relations plan or counter adverse publicity.Four alternative forms of institutional advertisements are often used:

 Advocacy advertisement states the position of a company on an issue.

 Pioneering institutional advertisements, like the pioneering ads for products

discussed earlier, are used for announcement about what a company is, what it can do, orwhere it is located

 Competitive institutional advertisements promote the advantages of one product

class over another and are used in the market where different product classes compete for thesame buyers

 Reminder institutional advertisements, like the product form, simply bring the

company‟s name to the attention of the target market again

1.3.1.3 Develop the advertising program

Because media costs are high, advertising decisions must be made carefully, using

a systematic approach The advertising decision process is divided into (1)developing, (2) executing, and (3) evaluating the advertising program

Development of the advertising program focuses on the four Ws:

 Who is the target audience?

 What are (1) the advertising objectives, (2) the amounts of money that can be budgeted for the advertising program, and (3) the kinds of copy to use?

 Where the advertisements should be run?

 When should the advertisements be run?

a) Identifying the Target Audience

The first decision in developing the advertising program is identifying the target

audience, the group of prospective buyers toward which an advertising program is

directed To the extent that time and money permit, the target audience for theadvertising program is the target market for the firm‟s product, which is identifiedfrom marketing research and market segmentation studies The more a firm knowsabout its target audience‟s profile – including their lifestyles, attitudes, and values –the easier it is to develop an advertising program.

b) Specific Advertising Objectives

After the target audience is identified, a decision must be reached on what thatadvertising should accomplish Consumers can be said to respond in terms of ahierarchy effects, which is the sequence of stages a prospective buyer goes throughfrom initial awareness of a product to eventual action

Awareness: the consumer‟s ability to recognize and remember the product or brand

name

Increase: an increase in the consumer‟s desire to learn about some of the features

of the product or brand

Evaluation: the consumer‟s appraisal of the product or brand on important

attributes

Trial: the consumer‟s actual first purchase and use of the product or brand

Adoption: through a favorable experience on the first trial, the consumer‟s repeated

purchase and use of the product or brand

For a totally new product the sequence applies to the entire product category, butfor a new brand competing in an established product category it applies to the branditself These steps can serve as guidelines for developing advertising objectives

c) Setting the Advertising Budget

After setting the advertising, a company must decide on how much to spend.Determining the ideal amount for the budget is difficult because there is no preciseway to measure the exact results of advertising

d) Designing the Advertisements

The central element of an advertising program is the ad itself Advertisingmessages consists of advertising copy and the artwork that the target audience isintended to see (as in magazines, newspaper and TV) or hear (as on radio, TV) Themessage usually focuses on the key benefits of the product that are important to aprospective buyer in making trial and adoption decisions

Message content

Most advertising messages are made up of both informational and persuasionalelements These two elements, in fact, are so intertwined that it is sometimesdifficult to tell them apart For example, basic information contained in manyadvertisements such as the product name, benefits, features, and price are presented

in the way that tries to attract attention and encourage purchase On the other hand,even the most persuasive advertisements have to contain at least some basicinformation to be successful

Create the actual message

The creative people in an advertising agency have responsibility to turn appeals andfeatures such as quality, style, dependability, economy, and service into attentiongetting, believable advertisements

e) Selecting the Right Media

Every advertiser must decide where to place its advertisements The alternatives arethe advertising media, the means by which the message is communicated to theaudience Newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV are examples of advertisingmedia This media selection decision is related to the target audience, type ofproduct, nature of the message, campaign objectives, available budget, and thecosts of the alternative media

Television is a valuable medium because it communicates with sight, sound andmotion Besides the network television is biggest network that can reach the mostaudience However, television‟s major disadvantage is cost

Radio

The major advantage of radio is that it is a segmented medium Each station willlead to different segment of audience The disadvantage of radio is that it haslimited use for products that must be seen Another problem is the ease with whichconsumers can tune out a commercial by switching stations Radio is medium thatcompetes for people‟s attention as the do other activities such as driving, working,

or relaxing

Magazines

Magazines are becoming a very specialized medium because there are more andmore magazines launched The advantage of this medium is the great number ofspecial-interest publications that appear to narrowly defined segments Eachmagazine‟s readers often represent a unique profile In addition to the distinctaudience profiles of magazines, good color production is an advantage that allowsmagazines to create strong images

Newspapers

Newspapers are an important local medium with excellent reach potential Because

of the daily publication of most papers, they allow advertisements to focus onspecific current events, such as a “24-hour sale” Local retailers often usenewspapers as their sole advertising medium

Two trends are influencing newspapers today The first is a dramatical increase intheir cost of paper In response, many newspapers have attempted to cut costthrough hiring freezes, while others have raised prices The second trend is the rush

to deliver on-line newspapers

Outdoor

A very effective medium for reminding consumers about your product is outdooradvertising The most common form of outdoor advertising, called billboards, oftenresults in good reach and frequency and has been shown to increase purchase rates

A disadvantage to billboard is that no opportunity exists for lengthy advertisingcopy

1.3.1.4 Executing the Advertising Program

a) Presetting the Advertising

To determine whether the advertisement communicates the intended message or toselect among alternative versions of the advertisements, pretests are conductedbefore the advertisements are placed in the medium

b) Carrying out the Advertising Program

The responsibility for actually carrying out the advertising program can be handles

in one of three ways The full-service agency provides the most complete range ofservices, including market research, media selection, copy development, artworkand production Limited-service agencies specialize in one aspect of the advertisingprocess Finally, in-house agencies made up of the company‟s own advertisingstaff may provide full services or a limited range of services

1.3.1.5 Evaluating the Advertising Program

The advertising decision process does not stop with executing the advertisingprogram The advertisements must be posttested to determine whether they areachieving their intended objectives, and results may indicate that changes must bemade in the advertising program

a) Protesting the Advertising

There five approaches common in posttesting, including:

Aided recall (recognition-readership): After being shown an ad, respondents are

asked whether their previous exposure to it was through reading, viewing, orlistening

Unaided recall: A question such as, “what advertisements do you remember seeing

yesterday?” is asked of respondents without prompting to determine whether theysaw or heard advertising messages

Attitude tests: Respondent are asked questions to measure changes in their attitudes

after an advertising campaign, such as whether they have amore favorable attitudetoward the product advertised

Inquiry tests: Additional product information, product samples, or premiums are

offered to an advertisement‟s readers or viewers Advertisements generating themost inquiries are presumed to be the most effective

Sales test: Sales tests involve studies such as controlled experiments (e.g., using

radio advertisements in one market and newspaper advertisements in another andcomparing the results) and consumer purchase tests (measuring retail sales thatresult from a given advertising campaign)

b) Making Needed Changes

Results of posttesting the advertising copy are used to reach decisions aboutchanges in the advertising program If the posttest results show that anadvertisement is doing poorly in terms of awareness or cost efficiency, it may bedropped and other advertisements run in its place in the future On the other hand,sometimes and advertisement may be so successful, it is run repeatedly or used asthe basis of a larger advertising program

1.3.2 Public Relations

Public relations is form of communication management that seeks to influence thefeelings, opinions, or beliefs held by customers, prospective customers, stockholders, suppliers, employees and other publics about a company and its products

or services

Many tools such special events, lobbying efforts, annual reports, and imagemanagement may be used by a public relation department, although publicity oftenplays the most important role

Publicity is a nonpersonal, indirectly paid presentation of an organization, good orservice It can take the form of a news story editorial, or product announcement Adifference between publicity and both advertising and personal selling is the

“indirectly paid” dimension With publicity a company does not pay for space in amass medium (such as television or radio) but attempts to get the medium to run afavorable story on the company In this sense, there is an direct payment forpublicity in that a company must support a public relations staff

An advantage of publicity is credibility When you read a favorable story about acompany‟s product, there is a tendency to believe it The disadvantage of publicityrelate to the lack of the user‟s control over it A company can invite a news team to

preview its innovative exercise equipment and hope for a favorable mention on thehot-time newscasts But without buying advertising time, there is no guarantee ofany mention of the new equipment or that will be aired when the target audience iswatching With publicity there is a little control over what is said, to whom, orwhen.

Public relations efforts may utilize a variety of tools and may be directed at manydistinct audiences While public relations personnel usually focus oncommunicating positive aspects of the business, they may also be called on tominimize the negative impact of a problem or crisis

Publicity Tools

In developing a public relations campaign, several methods of obtainingnonpersonal presentation of an organization, good, or service without direct cost –publicity tools – are available to the public relations director Many companiesfrequently use the news release, consisting of an announcement regarding changes

in the company or the product line The objective of a news release is to inform anewspaper, radio station, or other medium of an idea for a story A recent studyfound that more than 40 percent of all free mentions of a brand name occur duringnews programs

A second common publicity tools is the news conference Representatives of themedia are all invited to an informational meeting, and advance materials regardingthe content are sent This tool is often used when negative publicity requires acompany response

Finally, today many high-visibility individuals are used as publicity tools to createvisibility for their companies, their products, and themselves These publicityefforts are coordinated with news releases, conferences, advertising, donations to

charities, volunteer activities, endorsements, and any other activities that may have

an impact on public perceptions

1.3.3 Personal Selling

Personal selling involves two-way flow of communication between a buyer andseller, often in a face-to-face encounter, designed to influence a person‟s orgroup‟s purchase decision However, with advance in telecommunication, personalselling also takes place over the telephone, through video teleconferencing andinteractive computer links between buyers and sellers

1.3.3.1 Types of personal selling

There are three types of personal selling: order taking, order getting, and salessupport activities

Order Taking

An order taker processes routine orders or reorders for products that were alreadysold by the company The primary responsibility of order takers is to preserve anongoing relationship with existing customers and maintain sales

Order Getting

An order getter sells in a conventional sense and identifies prospective customers,provides customers with information, persuades customers to buy, closes sales andfollows up on customers‟ use of a product or service

Sales Support Personnel

Sales support personnel augment the selling effort of order getters by performing avariety of services For example, missionary salespeople do not directly solicitorders but rather concentrate on performing promotional activities and introducing

new products A sales engineer is a salesperson who specializes in identifying,analyzing, and solving customer problems but often does not actually sell productsand services.

1.3.3.2 The Personal Selling Process

The personal selling process consists of six stages: (1) prospecting, (2)preapproach, (3) approach, (4) presentation, (5) close, and (6) follow-up

Prospecting is the search for and qualification of potential customers If an

individual wants the product, can afford to buy it, and is the decision maker, thisindividual is a qualified prospect

Preapproach

Once a salesperson has identified a qualified prospect, preparation for the salebegins with the preapproach The preapproach stage involves obtaining furtherinformation on the prospect and deciding on the best method of approach Knowinghow the prospect prefers to be approached, and what the prospect is looking for in aproduct or service, is essential regardless of cultural setting

Approach

The approach stage involves the initial meeting between the sales person and theprospect, where the objectives are to gain the prospect‟s attention, stimulate interestand build the foundation for the sales presentation itself and the basis for a workingrelationship The first impression is critical at this stage, and it is common for thesales people to begin the conversation with a reference to common acquaintances, areferral, or even the product or service its self

Presentation

The presentation is at the core of the order-getting selling process, and its objective

is to convert prospect into a customer by creating a desire for the product orservice Three major presentation format exit: (1) stimulus-person format, (2)formula selling format, (3) need-satisfaction format

Stimulus-response presentation format assumes that given the appropriate stimulus

by a salesperson, the prospect will buy With the format, the sales person tries oneappeal after another

Formula selling format

A more formalized presentation, the formula selling presentation format, is based

on the view that a presentation consists of information that must be provided in anaccurate, thorough, and step-by-step manner to inform the prospect A popularversion of this format is the canned sales presentation, which is a memorized,standardized message conveyed to every prospect

Need-satisfaction format

The stimulus-response and formula selling formats share a common characteristic:the salesperson dominates the conversation By comparison, the need-satisfactionpresentation format emphasized probing and listening by the salesperson to identifyneeds and interests of prospective buyers

Close

The close stage in the selling process involves obtaining a purchase commitmentfrom the prospect This stage is the most important and the most difficult becausethe salesperson must determine when the prospect is ready to buy

Follow-up

The selling process does not end with the closing of a sale; rather, professionalselling requires customer follow-up The follow-up stage includes making certain

the customer‟s purchase has been properly delivered and installed and difficultiesexperienced with the use of the item are addressed Attention to this stage of theselling process solidifies the buyer-seller relationship.

1.3.4 Sales Promotion

Sales promotion is a supplemental ingredient of communication marketing and itnot as advertising but also high effective

1.3.4.1 Consumer-Oriented Sales Promotions

Directed to ultimate consumers, consumer-oriented sales promotions, or simplyconsumer promotions, are sales tools used to support a company‟s advertising andpersonal selling The alternative consumer-oriented sales promotion tools includecoupons, deals, premiums, contests, sweepstakes, samples, continuity programs,point-of-purchase displays, rebates, and product placement

The final consumer promotion, product placement, involves the use of a name product in a movie, television show, video, or commercial for anotherproduct.

brand-1.3.4.2 Trade-Oriented Sales Promotion

Trade-oriented sales promotion, or simply trade promotion, are sales tools used tosupport a company‟s advertising and personal selling directed to whole sellers,retailers, or distributors Some of the sales promotion just reviewed are used for thispurpose, but there are other common approaches targeted uniquely to theseintermediaries: (1) allowances and discounts, (2) cooperative advertising, (3)training of distributors‟ sales force

1.3.5 Direct Marketing

Direct marketing is a sub-discipline and type of marketing There are two maindefinitional characteristics which distinguish it from other types of marketing Thefirst is that it attempts to send its messages directly to consumers, without the use ofintervening media This involves unsolicited commercial communication withconsumers or businesses The second characteristic is that it is focused on drivingpurchases that can be attributed to a specific "call-to-action." This aspect of directmarketing involves an emphasis on trackable, measurable results regardless ofmedium

The most common form of direct marketing is direct mail, where the marketers use

a reduced "bulk mail" postal rate to send paper mail to all postal customers in anarea or all customers whose addresses have been taken from a list

Direct mail allows the greatest degree of audience selectivity Direct-mailcompanies can provide advertisers with a mailing list of their target market Directmail has an advantage in providing complete product information, compared with

that provided in 15-second, 30-second television or radio spots Mass media areused to create awareness, while direct mail builds a relationship and facilitates apurchase One disadvantage of direct mail is that rising postal costs are making itmore expensive The major limitation is that people often view direct mail as junk,and the challenge is to get them to open a letter Databases, which help marketerssend their target market only mail that is relevant to them, are improvingconsumers‟ response to advertising they receive in the mail.

The second most common form of direct marketing is telemarketing, wheremarketers call selected (or random) telephone numbers Email Marketing, includingspam may have passed telemarketing in frequency at this point, and it is a third type

of direct marketing

1.3.6 E-marketing

E-marketing means using digital technologies to help sell your goods or services.These technologies are a valuable complement to traditional marketing methods.Though businesses will continue to make use of traditional marketing methods,such as advertising, direct mail and PR, e-marketing adds a whole new element tothe marketing mix Many businesses are producing great results with e-marketingand its flexible and cost-effective nature makes it particularly suitable for smallbusinesses

Tools of e-marketing include:

1.3.6.1 The benefits of e-marketing

E-marketing gives businesses of any size access to the mass market at an affordableprice and, unlike TV or print advertising, it allows truly personalised marketing.Specific benefits of e-marketing include:

 Global reach - a website can reach anyone in the world who has Internet access.

This allows you to find new markets and compete globally for only a small investment

 Lower cost - a properly planned and effectively targeted e-marketing campaign can

reach the right customers at a much lower cost than traditional marketing methods

 Trackable, measurable results - marketing by email or banner advertising makes it

easier to establish how effective your campaign has been You can obtain detailed informationabout customers' responses to your advertising

 24-hour marketing - with a website your customers can find out about your

products even if your office is closed

 Personalisation - if your customer database is linked to your website, thenwhenever someone visits the site, you can greet them with targeted offers The more they buyfrom you, the more you can refine your customer profile and market effectively to them

 One-to-one marketing - e-marketing lets you reach people who want to know about

your products and services instantly For example, many people take mobile phones and PDAswherever they go Combine this with the personalised aspect of e-marketing, and you can createvery powerful, targeted campaigns

 More interesting campaigns - e-marketing lets you create interactive campaigns

using music, graphics and videos You could send your customers a game or a quiz – whateveryou think will interest them

 Better conversion rate - if you have a website, then your customers are only ever a

few clicks away from completing a purchase Unlike other media which require people to get upand make a phone call, post a letter or go to a shop, e-marketing is seamless

MBA Graduation Thesis Page 36 of 82 Hanoi, Dec

2007

 Together, all of these aspects of e-marketing have the potential to add up to moresales.

1.3.6.2 Stages in developing e-marketing plan

It is important to recognize that planning for e-marketing does not mean startingfrom scratch Any online e-communication must be consistent with the overallmarketing goals and current marketing efforts of your business

The main components of an e-marketing plan will typically include the followingstages:

Identify target audience - if you identify multiple targets, rank them in order of

importance so that you can allocate resources accordingly Profile each target groupand understand their requirements and expectations so that you can pitch your costsand benefits at the correct level

Set objectives - possible objectives could include awareness raising (of your

business or disseminating information about your products or services), enteringnew markets, launching a new product, focusing on sales (building Internet sales of

a product or increasing the frequency of sales from regular customers), or internalefficiency (decreasing marketing costs, reducing order-taking and fulfillment costs,

or improving customer retention rates)

Decide upon the marketing mix - you should choose a mix of e-marketing

activities that will help you achieve your objectives and fit with any existingtraditional marketing activities you already have planned Agree a budget - carefulbudgeting allows you to prevent costs spiraling out of control By identifying thereturns you expect to make from your investment in e-marketing activities you cancompare these with the costs in order to develop a cost/benefit analysis

Action planning - identify the tactics for implementing the selected e-marketing

activities The plan should also cover other non-Internet marketing activities thatare being undertaken

Measure success - build in feedback mechanisms and regular reviews to enable

you to assess the success of your e-marketing activities, particularly as e-commerce

is such a dynamic and fast-changing area

CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH ON MARKETING

COMMUNICATIONS OF SECURITIES COMPANIES 2.1 Summary about Vietnam securities market and securities

companies

Vietnam securities market official has officially operated since 2000, when Ho Chi MinhSecurities Trading Center - HOSTC (now changed to Ho Chi Minh Securities Exchange –HOSE) was established on July 2000 At that time, there were only few stocks traded withtotal capital about USD 1.7 million Through first 6 years, market capitalization onlyreached USD 0.5 billion In two year 2006 and 2007, Vietnam securities market hasdeveloped significantly with series of impressive records Market capitalization in Dec

2006 was estimated USD 13.8 billion, account for 22.7% GDP This number in April 2007reached USD 24.4 billion, approximately 38% GDP, increased 1400 times comparing tothe year 2000 Currently, the number of listed companies is 213 companies, increase 704%comparing to 2000

Figure 2-1: Chart of VN Index from 2001 to 2007

Source: http://vndirect.com.vn

The above chart describes the performance of VN Index in 8 years from 2000 to

2007 If in the first session on 28 July 2000, VN Index only got 100 points, then inMarch 2007, it reached the peak of 1170 points It‟s obvious that the market hasgrew tremendously in 2006 and 2007 In 2006 only, VN Index grew 146%, while in

the first three months this year, the Index made another 43% growth Currently, VNIndex fluctuates around 900 point, 90 times higher from the beginning day oftrading.

Up to date there are 60 securities companies operating in the market There are 60securities companies trading in Ho Chi Minh Securities Exchange (HOSE) and 55securities companies trading in Ha Noi Securities Trading Center (HASTC) Thesecompanies operate in four main areas including (1) deposit and brokerage, (2)consultancy, (3) self-trading and (4) under writing

The total trading account have increased from 50,100 accounts in 2005 to 106,393

in 2006 and up to Sep 2007 is about 320,000 account, increase 300% against 2006,

in which there are more 140,000 new account were open in first 6 months of 2007

The chart below describes the percentage of accounts that were opened at differentsecurities companies The leader currently is Sai Gon Securities Incorporation (SSI)with 21.20%, the second is Vietcombank Securities Company (VCBS), the thirdposition belongs to Bao Viet Securities Company The other big players areSecurities Company of Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACBS), SecuritiesCompany of BIDV (BSC), and Securities Company of Agribank (AGRISECO) andIncombank (IBS) The others securities companies only account for 20.90% of thetotal accounts These statistics show that the brand names of experienced and bigsecurities companies help them attract a lot of customers It‟s rather difficult fornew-born securities companies to compete with the existing players if they don‟thave marketing policies that suit their status and affect the awareness of investors

Figure 2-1: Percentage of Accounts Opened at Securities Companies

Percentage of Accounts opened at Securities Companies

VCBS 4.30%

BVSC ACBS

BSC AGRISECO 9.40%

10.20%

OTHERS

Source: Statistics of State Securities Committee in Sep 2007

Base on company size, market share, time of establishment and fame, securities

companies in Vietnam can be divided into three groups

Group 1 includes big and well-known securities companies which keep the big

market share, at least 5% of total market share Besides, these companies have been

established and operated in the market for a long time, at least two years Several

companies in this group are:

Sai Gon Securities Incorporation (SSI)

Vietcombank Securities Company (VCBS)

Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC)

ACB Securities Company

BIDV Securities Company (BSC)

Agribank Scurities Companies pany (Agriseco)

…

Group 2 consists of medium companies These companies are established after the

first group for about 6 -12 months and have a relatively well-known market

position One common feature of companies in this group is that they are normally

a member or closely related to big financial institutions, big banks, big corporation

Therefore, they are supported in terms of capital, human resource and customer