E marketing strategy of mobile world investment corporation (luận văn thạc sĩ luật học)

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI
KHOA QUẢN TRỊ VÀ KINH DOANH
---------------------

THÁI TRUNG HIẾU

E-MARKETING STRATEGY OF MOBILE WORLD
INVESTMENT CORPORATION
CHIẾN LƯỢC TIẾP THỊ ĐIỆN TỬ CỦA CÔNG TY
CỔ PHẦN ĐẦU TƯ THẾ GIỚI DI ĐỘNG

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH

HÀ NỘI - 2019


ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI
KHOA QUẢN TRỊ VÀ KINH DOANH
---------------------

THÁI TRUNG HIẾU

E-MARKETING STRATEGY OF MOBILE WORLD
INVESTMENT CORPORATION
CHIẾN LƯỢC TIẾP THỊ ĐIỆN TỬ CỦA CÔNG TY
CỔ PHẦN ĐẦU TƯ THẾ GIỚI DI ĐỘNG

Chuyên ngành: Quản trị kinh doanh
Mã số: 60 34 01 02
LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS. TRỊNH NGỌC HUY

HÀ NỘI - 2019


DECLARATION
The author confirms that the research outcome in the thesis is the result of author‘s
independent work during study and research period and it is not yet published in other‘s
research and article.
The other‘s research result and documentation (extraction, table, figure, formula,
and other document) used in the thesis are cited properly and the permission (if required) is
given.
The author is responsible in front of the Thesis Assessment Committee, Hanoi
School of Business and management, and the laws for above-mentioned declaration.

Date: 15 Jun 2019

Thai Trung Hieu

i


ACKNOWLEDMENT

First of all, with deep gratitude, I would like to send my thanks to my teacher, Dr.
Trinh Ngoc Huy - who guided and helped me with many valuable comments and
suggestions to make the thesis better.
I would also like to thank the teachers of the Hanoi School of Business and
management - Vietnam National University, especially those who directly taught and
helped me in the process of learning and doing the thesis.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my family and friends for
always supporting me during my research.

Author

Thai Trung Hieu

ii


TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ......................................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDMENT ............................................................................................................... ii
ABBREVIATION ...................................................................................................................... v
LIST OF TABLES..................................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. vii
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1
1. Urgency of the topic .......................................................................................................... 1
2. Literature review................................................................................................................ 2
3. Research purposes ............................................................................................................. 4
4. Research subject ................................................................................................................ 4
5. Objectives .......................................................................................................................... 4
6. Research............................................................................................................................. 5
6.1. Data collecting methods ................................................................................................. 5
6.1.1. Secondary data ............................................................................................................. 5
6.1.2. Primary data ................................................................................................................. 5
6.2 Research methods ............................................................................................................ 5
6.2.1. Qualitative research ..................................................................................................... 5
6.2.2. Quantitative research ................................................................................................... 6

6.2.3. Research process.......................................................................................................... 6
6.3. Sample design - Choose a template ................................................................................ 6
6.3.1. Determine sample size ................................................................................................. 6
6.3.2. Sampling method ......................................................................................................... 7
6.4. Official research ............................................................................................................. 7
6.4.1. Scale ............................................................................................................................ 7
6.4.2. Data analysis techniques.............................................................................................. 7
7. Thesis structure .................................................................................................................. 8
CHAPTER I: THE BASICS OF E-MARKETING STRATEGY ............................................ 9
1.1. Basic concepts ................................................................................................................ 9
1.1.1. Definition of strategy ................................................................................................... 9
1.1.2. Marketing strategy ..................................................................................................... 10
1.2. E-marketing and e-marketing strategy ......................................................................... 11
1.2.1. E-marketing ............................................................................................................... 11
1.2.2. Differences between e-marketing and traditional marketing .................................... 13
1.2.3. Basic e-marketing tools ............................................................................................. 14
1.2.4. E-marketing strategy.................................................................................................. 23
CHAPTER II: ASSESSMENT OF THE E-MARKETING STRATEGY OF MOBILE
WORLD INVESTMENT CORPORATION .......................................................................... 25
2.1. Brief overview of Mobile World Investment Corporation business ............................ 25

iii


2.1.1. The formation processes ............................................................................................ 25
2.1.2. Field of operation ...................................................................................................... 25
2.1.3. Management structure of the Company..................................................................... 26
2.1.4. Recent business activities of the Company ............................................................... 28
2.1.5. Achievements ............................................................................................................ 29
2.2. Current status of e-marketing at Mobile World Investment Corporation .................... 30

2.2.1. Analysis of e-marketing strategy at MWG ................................................................ 30
2.2.2. Assessing the company's e-marketing strategy ......................................................... 39
2.2.3. Analysis of awareness of customers .......................................................................... 39
CHAPTER III: MAIN SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE MOBILE WORLD INVESTMENT
CORPORATION E-MARKETING STRATEGY .................................................................. 52
3.1. The business direction and requirements to improve the effectiveness of e-marketing
activity of Mobile World Investment Corporation .............................................................. 52
3.1.1. Current market context .............................................................................................. 52
3.1.2. The inevitability of improving the effectiveness of e-marketing activities of MWG 54
3.2. Main solutions to improve the effectiveness of e-marketing for Mobile World
Investment Corporation ....................................................................................................... 55
3.2.1. Measuring the effectiveness of the strategy .............................................................. 56
3.2.2. Controling quality ...................................................................................................... 56
3.2.3. Improving e-marketing tools ..................................................................................... 56
3.2.4. Using the opportunities.............................................................................................. 60
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 61
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 62
APPENDIX 01: DATA TABLES ........................................................................................... 66
APPENDIX 02: DRAWINGS, CHARTS, FIGURES ............................................................ 69
APPENDIX 03: CUSTOMER SURVEY................................................................................ 84
APPENDIX 04: SURVEY DATA........................................................................................... 87

iv


ABBREVIATION

NO.

ABBREVIATION

MEANING

1

AR

Augmented Reality

2

B2B

Business To Business

3

B2C

Business To Consumer

4

CRM

Customer Relationship Management

5

ERP

Enterprise Resources Planning

6

IT

Information Technology

7

KOL

Key Opinion Leader

8

KPI

Key Performance Indicator

9

MDS

Multidimension Scaling

10

MWG

Mobile World Investment Corporation

11

ORM

Online Reputation Management

12

PPC

Pay-Per-Click Advertising

13

PR

Public Relations

14

QR

Quick Response

15

ROI

Return On Investment

16

SCM

Supply Chain Management

17

SEM

Search Engine Marketing

18

SEO

Search Engine Optimization

19

SERPs

Search Engine Results Pages

20

SIM

Subscriber Identity Module

21

SME

Small and Medium Enterprise

22

SMM

Social Media Marketing

23

SMS

Short Message Services

24

TOMA

Top-of-Mind Awareness

25

TVC

Television Commercials

v


LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: List of 20 countries with the highest number of Internet users by 30 June 2017.. 66
Table 2: Distribution table of customer survey list ............................................................. 67
Table 3: Most valuable social media platforms ................................................................... 67
Table 4: Business results of MWG ...................................................................................... 67
Table 5: Revenue for the first 11 months of 2017 ............................................................... 68

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Average daily use of the Internet in Vietnam ...................................................... 69
Figure 2: Factors affecting the decision to choose a mobile retailer ................................... 69
Figure 3: Keys aspects of the 7Ps of the classic marketing mix ......................................... 70
Figure 4: Differences Between Digital, Internet and Social media ..................................... 71
Figure 5: The e-marketing strategy in the context of other plans ........................................ 71
Figure 6: Google AdWords ad example .............................................................................. 72
Figure 7: Management structure of the company ................................................................ 72
Figure 8: Important milestones of the company .................................................................. 73
Figure 9: Revenue and profit after tax of MWG over the years .......................................... 73
Figure 10: The Gioi Di Dong and Dien May Xanh logos ................................................... 74
Figure 11: 3 campaigns that stirred up social networks from 18 December 2016 to 18

January 2017 ........................................................................................................................ 74
Figure 12: Total interactions after two months of Dien May Xanh TVC ........................... 75
Figure 13: Details of a product on thegioididong.com website ........................................... 75
Figure 14: Top 10 prestigious retailers in 2017 - durable goods, electrical appliances,
refrigeration, jewelry... ........................................................................................................ 76
Figure 15: The top 5 durable goods retailers listed by consumers in the online survey in
September 2017 ................................................................................................................... 76
Figure 16: Top 10 e-commerce websites in Vietnam .......................................................... 77
Figure 17: Number of MWG‘s stores in 2017..................................................................... 77
Figure 18: Rate of enterprises having websites over the years............................................ 78
Figure 19: The rate of updating information on the website ............................................... 78
Figure 20: Percentage of websites with mobile versions over the years ............................. 78
Figure 21: Percentage of enterprises with mobile sales app over the years ........................ 79
Figure 22: Average time spent by customers when accessing mobile e-commerce website
or sales app. ......................................................................................................................... 79
Figure 23: Percentage of enterprises having a business support website on mobile platform
............................................................................................................................................. 79
Figure 24: Forms of website / mobile app advertising ........................................................ 80
Figure 25: Advertising costs by city group ......................................................................... 81
Figure 26: Evaluating the effectiveness of website / mobile app advertising ..................... 81

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Figure 27: Percentage of enterprises rated high effectiveness of online advertising tools
over the years ....................................................................................................................... 81
Figure 28: Percentage of firms receiving orders through online tools ................................ 82
Figure 29: Percentage of firms placing orders through online tools ................................... 82
Figure 30: Evaluate the effect of sales through online tools ............................................... 82
Figure 31: Geofencing Marketing ....................................................................................... 83

Figure 32: Shopping with augmented reality ...................................................................... 83

viii


INTRODUCTION
1. Urgency of the topic
Over the 20 years of establishment and development of the country in 1997-2018,
the Internet has had a tremendous impact on Vietnamese people‘s lives. From an
agricultural backward country, Vietnam has emerged as one of the dynamic ―Internet
nations‖ in the world. As of 30 June 2017, the world has 3,835 billion Internet users. The
world population at the time of the survey was 8,5 billion people, this means that 47% of
the world‘s population is connected to the Internet. Vietnam has a large population, ranked
14th in the world with approximately 93,6 million people, of which the urbanization rate is
31%. Of the top 20 countries with the largest number of internet users with 2,768 billion
people, accounting for 72% of the world, Vietnam ranks 12th in the list with 64 million
users. (Table 1_Appendix 01). An average Vietnamese people spend 6 hours and 53
minutes a day browsing the web on their PCs and tablets, 2 hours and 33 minutes using
their mobile phones and 2 hours and 39 minutes on social networks. (Figure 1_Appendix
02)
Vietnam is a dynamic Internet country with a steady increase in the number of
users over the years and in the top countries interacting with the Internet. Social network,
especially Facebook, plays an important role in Vietnamese society as it occupies a large
percentage of users, and furthermore takes too much time on an individual daily basis. In
line with international trends, mobile users in Vietnam also make up a large proportion of
the capacity because of the portability and more responsive to the needs of the majority of
users of different classes. E-commerce continues to thrive, but is not commensurate with
the number of users and the strength of Vietnam‘s Internet economy. The expectations and
shortcomings that need to be resolved on e-commerce in Vietnam are still in the future.
This demonstrates the continued development of the communication infrastructure,

the rapid integration of Vietnamese youth into the world, and precise development policies
and orientations from the state. The rapid development of the Internet has opened the door
for Vietnamese businesses to exploit a new type of effective marketing activity at low cost,
which is marketing through the Internet. Therefore, the research and application of emarketing (Internet marketing) tools into the business of Vietnamese enterprises is very
necessary.
Marketing in the Internet environment is actually the performance of advertising
and selling products through the Internet. This is a form of marketing quite popular in the
world but quite new in Vietnam and most businesses haven‘t use it with full potential.
1


Internet is the global computer network, so the implementation of marketing via the
Internet is far more effective than the traditional media such as newspapers or television,
etc. which helps reducing the cost of advertising as well as to overcome the limitations of
traditional media or advertising tools.
Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) is headquartered at 222 Yersin
Street, Phu Cuong Ward, Thu Dau Mot Town, Binh Duong Province, Vietnam. By the
time of 2017, the company operates three retail chains: The Gioi Di Dong, Dien May Xanh
and Bach Hoa Xanh chain. Over the years, the company has been developing quickly and
stably despite difficult economic situations. The Gioi Di Dong is the number one mobile
phone retailer in Vietnam with 950 supermarkets in 63 provinces and cities, accounting for
over 40% of the country‘s market share. Online sales and home delivery nationwide were
launched in early 2007, the website www.thegioididong.com is one of the leading ecommerce websites in Vietnam with the traffic of more than 39,6 million people per
month, providing detailed pricing information and technical features of more than 700
phone models and 200 branded laptops in Vietnam. In addition, Dien May Xanh became
the first and only electric appliance retailer in Vietnam covering 63 / 63 provinces and has
risen to the No. 1 in the market of TV, refrigerator, washing machine, etc. with more than
20% of the market share in December 2017.
However, MWG is hard to repeat the feat of previous years for Bach Hoa Xanh.
One reason is that this is a very competitive segment and the rivals are big players in and

out of the country, instead of small scale domestic firms like few years ago. Moreover, the
cycle of the telephone and electronics market in Vietnam a few years ago is still in its early
stages and MWG has picked up the trend of the market for strong investment and
development while the groceries market at this stage has finished the period of rapid
growth and seems to be entering a saturation stage when big rivals have gained a stable
market share so competing for the market share will be fierce.
Deriving from the urgent practical necessity and important significance is the need
to provide a reasonable marketing solution to continue to raise consumer awareness of the
The Gioi Di Dong brand, the author proposed to select the topic E-marketing strategy of
Mobile World Investment Corporation as the thesis research topic for his Master of
Business Administration program.
2. Literature review
Regarding the e-marketing strategies researches, up to now there have been a large
number of works and articles announced and published. Some representative works which
2


are directly related to the thesis can be listed as follows:
- Dave Chaffey in Internet Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. In
this book, Chaffey provides comprehensive, practical guidance on how companies can get
the most out of the web to meet their marketing goals. The book links marketing theory
with case studies on cutting edge companies such as Dell, eBay and Facebook to help
readers to understand digital marketing in the real world. There are plenty of practical,
real-world tips, with advice based on solid experience and case-studies.
- Simon Kingsnorth in Digital Marketing strategy: An integrated approach to
online marketing. The book combines a detailed knowledge of digital channel management
with classic marketing theory. Kingsnorth brings various strategies to life through case
studies, charts, illustrations, and checklists. Digital Marketing Strategy covers what digital
marketing is, how to budget and forecast, acquisition, personalization, customer service,
user experience, content strategy, how to analyze and perform social measurements, and

how to structure and present a digital marketing plan in order to win support and funding
- Robert Davis in Social Media Branding for Small Business: The 5–Sources
Model. Social Media Branding For Small Businesses provides a framework to guide your
strategy and implementation. In this book, Davis proposes the approach called the 5Sources Model. The five Sources are the five fundamental branding principles that focus
on simply outsourcing one‘s brand. It simply says that the social media brand for small
businesses needs to play an important role in your customers‘ functional and emotional
existence.
- Ian Dodson in The Art of Digital Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Creating
Strategic Targeted and Measurable Online Campaigns. As the author claimed: ―This book
provides you with a framework for applying your digital marketing skills in a structured
and iterative fashion‖. The Art of Digital Marketing provides a strategic framework for
digital marketing campaigns, like how to set goals, how to achieve those goals (strategy),
how to break that strategy into tactics (action steps) and how to measure KPI's. The vast
majority of tools this book suggests are really free or inexpensive, so it's very useful for
both low and high budget digital marketing campaigns.
- Nick Westergaard in Get Scrappy: Smarter Digital Marketing for Businesses Big
and Small. Get Scrappy is a practical guide to maximizing marketing on a small budget.
The book gives small business owners or even startups the confidence to realize they can
compete with larger competitors or market leaders using some creative thinking and
modern marketing techniques. Westergaard is accurate and effective with his message 3


that with the many tools & techniques that are now available, marketing done properly
with modern approaches & tools does not have to be expensive and in some cases, having
a small budget can be an advantage in that it incentivizes a marketer to be creative. In the
end, the book provides a valuable & helpful framework for an SME to follow in order to
challenge bigger competitors.
- Chong Woon Kian (2011) in the PhD. Thesis on The design and development of
an e-marketing framework for the asian B2B marketplace. The author‘s research focuses
on the SMEs operating in a number of Asian economies, specifically in China, Malaysia,

Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and India. This study employed a triangulated
methodology containing both quantitative (online survey) and qualitative (interview) data
collection mechanisms. A key finding is the development of a theoretical framework for
SMEs, emerging from the analysis of 406 companies from various industrial sectors. Based
on the findings, an e-marketing framework derived from B2B e-marketplace, termed as
B2B e-MF, was developed for practising e-marketing in SMEs. The framework emerged
from a review of literature in the fields of e-marketing and the B2B e-marketplace and was
empirically tested from SMEs who participated in the B2B e-marketplace. The analysis
performed in this study shows that interaction with the B2B e-MF is an important
dimension and has a positive and significant impact for the business efficiency and service
improvement of Asian SMEs.
3. Research purposes
The main purpose of the given research is to study the existing e-marketing tools,
to analyze MWG effectiveness in this field, determine the most suitable methods for the
company to represent itself online and to provide objective recommendations and
suggestions on e-marketing strategy based on the actual situation, theoretical and practical
research results.
4. Research subject
The thesis focuses on researching e-marketing strategy of Mobile World
Investment Corporation.
5. Objectives
Apart from the main goal of this research, which is already mentioned above, there
are also several objectives allocated to the most meaningful parts of it. All of the three
objectives of this study are of directing character, explaining the area of the work and
giving a preliminary understanding of the possible outcomes.
The first objective is to describe and analyze existing e-marketing tools such as
4


Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and others. It is followed by the objective: ―To assess

existing e-marketing strategies of MWG,‖ and recommendations part: ―To recommend
best suitable strategies for MWG.‖
6. Research
6.1. Data collecting methods
6.1.1. Secondary data
- Inside data is internal information and company statistic reports. These resources
have been consolidated and archived at the company.
- Data on business environment conditions in Vietnam and e-marketing application
conditions: publications officially published by prestigious organizations and agencies of
Vietnam and international; Research topics and thesis which have been recognized.
- External data sources include books and journals and international specialized
journals, reliable internet sources on management, strategy, marketing and e-marketing.
6.1.2. Primary data
Primary data was collected by questionnaires through direct interviews with
customers. Data after being collected will be encrypted and processed via SPSS software.
6.2 Research methods
This study was conducted through 2 main stages: (1) Qualitative research to build
customer survey questionnaires. (2) Quantitative research to collect information and
analyze data for research purposes.
6.2.1. Qualitative research
Building theoretical research model base on theoretical research. The objective of
qualitative research is to understand the buying behavior of customers and the factors that
directly affect their buying behavior.
Qualitative research uses open-ended questions to interview customers who buy
products at The Gioi Di Dong stores. The investigation qualifies 15 customers of The Gioi
Di Dong to find out the main factors that influence their buying decisions in mobile
supermarkets in Hanoi. The purpose of qualitative customer surveys is to adjust and
supplement the observed variables used to measure control factors.
In addition, we use expert methods to gather opinions of people who regularly
interact with customers. Specifically, the interviewees are 2 sales consultants and 2

managers at The Gioi Di Dong store in Ngoc Hoi. These are people who regularly contact,
advise and answer questions of customers so they will understand customer behavior when
shopping.
5


From the qualitative interview process, we summarize and eliminate duplicate
variables to give the most influential factors to customer buying behavior. This result of
qualitative research will be used in the next quantitative study.
The qualitative research process we have synthesized and proposed the research
model in (Figure 2_Appendix 02).
6.2.2. Quantitative research
Based on the results from qualitative research, the author designed the official
questionnaire to collect information from customers. Quantitative research was conducted
through the direct interview method of customers who purchased products at major mobile
reatailers in Hanoi. Official research results are used to re-test the theoretical model. The
steps to take are:
- Design questionnaires, investigate and conduct to adjust the questionnaires so
clearly to obtain results in order to achieve research objectives.
- Official interview: Using the direct interview technique by distributing
questionnaires to customers, the interviewer explains the content of the questionnaire so
that the respondent understands the question and answers correctly according to their
assessments.
Based on the results from qualitative research, the author designed the official
questionnaire to collect information from customers.
The preliminary questionnaire was adjusted through interviews with 30 customers
to see if they understood the correct words, meaning and purpose of the question and agree
to provide the information asked.
After conducting the interview, the official questionnaire was adjusted and included
in the official interview.

6.2.3. Research process
Theoretical basis (marketing, positioning, measurement techniques) → Table of
qualitative information collection → Qualitative research and synthesis of expert opinions
→ Form a preliminary questionnaire → Investigate 30 customers → Form a official
questionnaire → Official interview → Processing and analyzing data→ Write report.
6.3. Sample design - Choose a template
6.3.1. Determine sample size
To determine the sample size of the survey representing the overall study, the
author use the following formula: n =
6


n: sample size
Z 1-α/2 = 1.96 (Z value corresponding to the permissible reliability)
α: permissible reliability = 5%
p: the rate of customers deciding to buy products of MWG (assuming p = 0.5)
e: allowable error = 8%
According to the above formula, the number of samples to be researched is 150
subjects.
6.3.2. Sampling method
Use convenient random sampling method. Time of research from the daily working
time of mobile retailers in Hanoi. Randomly interview the first customer to buy the
products, the next customers are determined by the step k = 2. The order of interviewing
customers by each session is: 1, 3, 5, 7, ... The interview process is conducted until the
required sample is reached.
(Table 2_Appendix 01) shows the number of customers to investigate in mobile
retailers.
6.4. Official research
Official research is done by quantitative research method through questionnaires
for customers to evaluate their opinions.

6.4.1. Scale
Using Likert scale of 5 steps: Summarizing customer survey questionnaires on
factors affecting the decision to select mobile retailers include 2 main parts, in which: Part
I includes 5 questions about general information of customers, Part 2 includes 7 questions
around factors affecting customers' supermarket choice decisions.
There are 8 groups of important factors: Price, product quality, brand reputation,
after-sales regime, service attitude, promotion, product diversity, convenient location. To
evaluate 8 main elements, we use Likert scale with conventions (1: Very good, 2: Good, 3:
Normal, 4: Not good, 5: Very bad) to measure.
6.4.2. Data analysis techniques
After collecting data from customers, proceed to check and remove unsatisfactory
questionnaires. Next is data encryption, data entry, data cleaning. Then analyze data with
SPSS software with the following methods:
- Descriptive Statistics: To handle collected data and information.
- Multidimension Scaling: To build the cognitive map.

7


7. Thesis structure
Apart from the introduction and conclusion, the thesis is divided into three
chapters:
Chapter I: The basics of e-marketing strategy
Chapter II: Assessment of the e-marketing strategy of Mobile World Investment
Corporation
Chapter III: Main solutions to complete Mobile World Investment Corporation emarketing strategy.

8

CHAPTER I: THE BASICS OF E-MARKETING STRATEGY
1.1. Basic concepts
1.1.1. Definition of strategy
Through the concepts and definitions of business strategy or corporate strategy are
varied or different, most scholars and authors have shown a common viewpoint that a
strategy of a company is an integrated set of decisions, plans and actions to be
implemented for maximizing company‘s competitiveness.
According to Hoang Dinh Phi (2015): ―A strategy of an organization or a company
is a document, either written, printed or electronic, in which the responsible people set out
long-term mission, vision, core values, and strategic objectives for 5 years as standard, as
well as the resources to be mobilized and solutions to be implemented in order to achieve
the set objectives. There are 6 embodied contents that create a strategy: Mission, Vision,
Core values, Objective, Resources and Solutions.‖
Strategy is a master plan that the management of a company implements to secure a
competitive position in the market, carry on its operations, please customers and achieve
the desired ends of the business.
In business, it is the long-range sketch of the desired image, direction and
destination of the organisation. It is a scheme of corporate intent and action, which is
carefully planned and flexibly designed with the purpose of:
- Achieving effectiveness;
- Perceiving and utilising opportunities;
- Mobilising resources;
- Securing an advantageous position;
- Meeting challenges and threats;
- Directing efforts and behavior;
- Gaining command over the situation.
A business strategy is a set of competitive moves and actions that a business uses to
attract customers, compete successfully, strengthening performance, and achieve
organisational goals. It outlines how business should be carried out to reach the desired
ends.

Business strategy equips the top management with an integrated framework, to
discover, analyse and exploit beneficial opportunities, to sense and meet potential threats,
to make optimum use of resources and strengths, to counterbalance weakness.

9


1.1.2. Marketing strategy
The original concept of marketing was simply market activity, along with different
stages of economic development, and there were a lot of different perspectives on
marketing, but no definitions were found most correctly.
As defined by the American Marketing Association, ―Marketing is the activity, set
of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging
offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.‖
Dr. Philip Kotler defines marketing as ―the science and art of exploring, creating,
and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit. Marketing identifies
unfulfilled needs and desires. It defines, measures and quantifies the size of the identified
market and the profit potential. It pinpoints which segments the company is capable of
serving best and it designs and promotes the appropriate products and services.‖
―Marketing is traditionally the means by which an organization communicates to,
connects with, and engages its target audience to convey the value of and ultimately sells
its products and services. However, since the emergence of digital media, in particular
social media and technology innovations, it has increasingly become more about
companies building deeper, more meaningful and lasting relationships with the people that
they want to buy their products and services. The ever-increasingly fragmented world of
media complicates marketers‘ ability connect and, at the same, time presents incredible
opportunity to forge new territory.‖ Julie Barile - Vice President of eCommerce, Fairway
Market.
These are just a few of the thousands of marketing definitions that exist today. It
can be seen that, although different, these definitions all have one thing in common: they

come from the market and the needs of consumers. After all, marketing is the whole
business of activities aimed at satisfying the needs of consumers in the market to achieve
profit goals.
Marketing strategy is the marketing theory whereby a business hopes to achieve its
marketing objectives. The marketing strategy of a company contains the company‘s value
proposition, key marketing messages, information on the target customer and other highlevel elements. ―The marketing strategy lays out target markets and the value proposition
that will be offered based on an analysis of the best market opportunities.‖ (Kotler &
Keller, 2011). Marketing strategies include specific strategies related to target markets,
marketing mix and marketing budgets.
Marketing strategies usually involve 4P, detail as following:
10


- Product: General policies on branding, positioning, cancellation, design,
packaging...
- Place: General channel policy and customer service level.
- Price: The price is the most important factor for marketing. The general price
policy should be followed for each product group in each market segment.
- Promotion: General policy of communication, contact with customers such as:
advertising, sales team, promotion, community relations, fairs, mail, customer service
center, Internet... (McCarthy, 1960).
This 4P base can be developed and extended into 7P, sometimes known as the
service mix with the appearance of:
- People: Include people who are directly or indirectly involved in the trade of the
product or service. These are mainly customer contact employees, customers, personnel
and management.
- Physical evidence: Refers to an environment in which a service comes about from
an interaction between an employee and a customer which is combined with a tangible
commodity.
- Process: Represents the activities, procedures, protocols and more by which the

service in question is eventually delivered to the customer. As services are results of
actions for or with customers, a process involves a sequence of steps and activities to get
there. (Booms & Bitner, 1981)
(Figure 3_Appendix 02) summarizes the 7 main elements of the marketing strategy.
1.2. E-marketing and e-marketing strategy
1.2.1. E-marketing
First and foremost, in terms of form, though appearing under different names as
Internet marketing, electronic marketing, online marketing, digital marketing, etc. but the
content deals with the application of digital technologies that connect and exchange data
on the Internet for marketing purposes, including computers, interactive television, phones,
digital devices. However, as mentioned, the scope of this research will focus only on the
main target which is the Internet. (Figure 4_Appendix 02)
Businesses can take advantage of all Internet tools such as websites, blogs,
electronic newspapers, etc. to promote, building community on the Internet, strengthen
relationships with the public which has become very important in building the image of the
business.
Marketing on the Internet helps businesses to reduce the cost of promoting their
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images, also it can bring great results. With the promotion on the Internet, businesses can
give detailed information of products as well as business to the consumers from which
creates the demand for product consumption. Sending promotional emails, setting up
forums, building blogs, etc. for customers to self-assess the advantages and disadvantages
of the products, exchanging experience after using products, etc. help create trust of
customers for the image of the business as well as the product of the business.
Although the number of customers seeking traditional businesses remains high, the
number of users who uses the Internet as the most important and most useful information
channel is growing rapidly. In particular, they use search engines as the gateway to
knowledge and these web search sites are now becoming the most visited for Internet

users. Businesses need to realize that the Internet is now a useful and practical platform for
a large number of customers. If businesses want their products to be well-known, they
can‘t stand out of this ideal playground. The Internet is not just a place to gather
information about types of products and services, but it is also expected to be the place
where customers can research the products and making purchases simply and with least
time consuming. This is especially effective for younger clients. In many countries around
the world, ―addicting‖ to the Internet is increasingly popular especially among young
people. If these people become businesses managers, they will certainly expect the
presence of their company‘s products and services on the Internet.
As an information gathering tool, the Internet plays a very effective role in
providing information about customer activity. Whenever someone visits a website, they
are sure to have left some ―traces‖ on the site: which items they clicked on, what they
bought and more. When linked with customer recognition methods, such as access tools,
businesses may know how customers return to their site. Capturing customers‘ behaviors
and preferences will help businesses to meet their customers‘ needs in a timely fashion,
and if they do, they will be able to turn them into their loyal customers.
The internet is the most convenient tool for conveying business information and
images at the fastest speed to not just a few hundreds of people, but millions in the open
world which no longer separated by the geographical boundary. Whether consumers like
the product or not, the Internet has proven to be a very good tool for boosting consumers‘
impromptu buying decision. The advancement of high technology can help businesses do it
easily. Just by offering product suggestions based on the study of attitudes and psychology
of customers, manufacturers or service providers can able to streamline online transactions.
Pre-paid purchase, prefer to buy more to get discounts psychological ... of consumers in
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online transactions is what the business and marketing companies use to exploit
thoroughly.
In the age of Internet boom, manufacturers or service providers can grow loyal

customers when the quality of their products and services meets the individual needs of
each customer. This allows businesses to carry out online marketing, according to
customer requirements, whereby customers can be comfortable, freely choosing products
or services they love. The Internet is an information boulevard, a giant supermarket where
customers can visit or shop at will. The Internet allows customers to view sample products
online, from groceries to cars, houses, villas, etc. so that customers can make decisions
immediately after viewing the ads. The Internet makes it easy for distributors to become
product or service providers with perfect quality. Unlike traditional product or service
providers, online sales sites make consumers feel good about their suppliers.
Internet technology is replacing the traditional methods of delivering products and
services as well as in capturing information about customer needs. It is easy to see the cost
savings in providing digitized products and services (e.g. music, publications, graphic
design, etc.), in which producing and shipping cost are excluded from the cost of the
product. Sales people also benefit by encouraging customers to collect information about
products online prior to direct dealing. This helps manufacturers save time in explaining
company and product profiles so they can spend more time capturing and solving customer
concerns.
The Internet is a communications and distribution channel that gives potential
customers worldwide access to the company‘s products and services. Through the web,
businessmen from all over the world can expand their target market multiple times. Even
though setting up a website does not guarantee a global business (there are other things that
need to be done to make the site commercially viable), the Internet is still considered a big
leap in business, global scale.
1.2.2. Differences between e-marketing and traditional marketing
The essence and the principle of marketing do not change, it is still a process of
exchanging information and economic behavior, from the identification of needs, the
planning to the implementation and the inspection of the use of marketing tools suitably to
bring products, services, ideas to customers and markets. However, there are some
differences between e-marketing and traditional marketing:
- Cost: Every business strategy engages to budget, so does both strategies. There

are some difference in the cost between traditional marketing and e-marketing. Traditional
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marketing promotes the products of a brand through ads on paper, billboard, television,
radio, etc. This marketing strategy spends huge cost to keep the promotion running as the
schedule. E-marketing can also carry a cost, but there are numerous e-marketing strategies
that are virtually free.
- Coverage: In traditional marketing, coverage of your product will be printed on
paper media or aired on television and radio. Unfortunately, the exposure your products
will get is often momentary. For example, the newspaper where a high-cost business
advertisement appeared in could be thrown away the next day. On the contrary, online
coverage will always be there for like forever. It will be archived on the internet and ready
to be found easily whenever your customers need it.
- Audience: Traditional marketing is more effective for target customer which out
of reach of internet. They are people who do not connect to the internet on daily basis.
Senior citizens or low-end economic citizens who are internet illiterate are the best target
for traditional marketing strategy. On the other hand, people who are never without
internet in their reach, such as teenagers and businessmen, are easier to reach through emarketing.
- Immediacy: Traditional marketing takes more time to go from a concept to a
finished product. It goes through numerous steps, each takes some times. While it still
takes time for developing concepts and creating contents, e-marketing takes almost no time
to get into the customers simultaneously.
- Tracking: It is difficult to keep track of traditional marketing strategy. Businesses
need to put a lot of effort and time-consuming research to get information how customers
react to their products. With online marketing, businesses can utilize various tools, such as
Google Analytics, Hootsuite, Doppler and Crazy Egg, for tracking results of advertising
campaigns. Using these tools, not only can they measure and track the effectiveness of
online marketing campaigns, but also illustrate its progress in detailed graphics.
1.2.3. Basic e-marketing tools

1.2.3.1. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Over the last few years, searching for online information has become a ubiquitous
and critically important activity for many products and services. Many Internet visitors
now access websites from a search engine instead of through a direct link from another
web page. Search engines now occupy a prominent position in the online world (Dou et al.
2010).
Nowadays, they are used to finding all kinds of information about things, events,
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people, places, and more. Eventually, search engine will play an even greater role helping
firms that use the Internet create an online identity and find their target customers (Wu et
al. 2005). Although the purpose of many searches conducted through search engines is
purely information seeking, the goal of companies is to influence their potential and
current customers‘ important decisions. As a consequence, budgets for search engine
marketing are growing faster than spending on other types of online advertising.
SEM, including paid search engine advertising and search engine optimization
(SEO), has experienced tremendous growth in the past few years. It has been found that
62% of search engine users only click on links on the first page of the search results, with
less than 10% clicking on links that appear after the third page (Malaga 2008). SEM is an
effective audience acquisition strategy and allows companies to reach target customers
through advertisements placed on search engines. A successful SEM strategy can generate
steady traffic levels and tremendous return on investment.
1.2.3.2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of ensuring a website can be
found and ranked in search engines for words and phrases relevant to what the site is
offering, etc. and what people are searching for. Search engines help millions of users to
find required content or web page by word or group of words. These days alternative
search engines are emerging all the time, but there are some of them, which are keeping the
leading positions and always have a high demand. Google, Bing, Yahoo! Search, Ask.com

and AOL Search are continuing to keep dominance in the sector, where Google has the
first place with its 1,6 billion monthly users.
To provide users with the results, search engines are involving programmed
indexes of words. One search attempt can result on thousands of outcomes related to the
given topic. Normally, the most suitable pages appear on the top of search result, allowing
getting the best matches of the information. For the user search process does not normally
go more difficult than typing the word in the field of search sngine, finding the right or the
most suitable page from the results and clicking on it. On the other hand companies does
not have to do anything to be found by search sngine and gain more traffic to their web
pages, if they do not want to. Nevertheless, to influence the traffic and to boost the number
of users reaching the site, search marketing should be involved into companies‘ digital
marketing activities.
Multiple results can be provided by search sngines; however, all of them can be
divided into two categories. The first category stands for organic results that are the most
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