Too late of online advertising campaign for ISB MBA program (ISB MBA) at international school of business (ISB)

ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business
------------------------------

LÊ THỊ TÂM LINH

Too late of online advertising campaign for
ISB.MBA program (ISB.MBA) at
International school of business (ISB)

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2018


ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business
------------------------------

LÊ THỊ TÂM LINH

Too late of online advertising campaign for
ISB.MBA program (ISB.MBA) at
International school of business (ISB)
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SUPERVISOR: TRẦN HÀ MINH QUÂN

Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2018


ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO

Thesis
Instructor: Professor Tran Ha Minh Quan
Student: Le Thi Tam Linh _ Code 22160026_ ISB.MBA 7
Topic: Too late of online advertising campaign for ISB.MBA program (ISB.MBA) at
International school of business (ISB)
st

Date: 10 December, 2018

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ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO

Contents of the thesis:
Executive summary
Part 1: Background
I.

Symptoms

II. Initial cause - effect map
III. Updated cause – effect map
IV. Central problem of interest

Part 2: Problem justification
I.

Problem definition

II. Problem existence
III. Problem importance

Part 3: Causes validation and s
I.

Causes validation

II. The set of solutions
III. Change plan design
References
Appendices
1.

Company background

2.

Secondary data



Classification of sale volume 2017&2018



ISB.MBA online advertising reports in 2017 & 2018



Analysis of delayed potential profile

3.

Summary of interview transcripts

4.

Others

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In the recent years, the rapid growth of Internet has been changing the way to do
marketing. Through using applications such as Facebook, YouTube or online public
relation (PR) articles become useful communication channels to introduce and sell
products or services to potential customers.
However, to achieve the highest effectiveness from online advertising, each company
should take a lot of time to make marketing strategies as well as advertising plan in
detail. In addition, it should be noted that other internal factors in company will also
affect the results of the advertising campaign.
From prominent symptom of low sale volume of online advertising campaign, we

conduct collecting and analyzing the internal databases as well as interviewing with
managers at ISB, and find the central problems lead to low effective of digital
activities are: too late of online advertising campaign.
As mentioned above, aside from the causes of marketing techniques, we have
been exploring main internal factors in the company that is overall real causes of
above central problems:


Lack of cross function cooperation, and



Unclear role of management in organization

Searching from the literatures and reality at ISB, I found some solutions and would
propose action plans: Board of Director and manages should jointly finish ISB
business strategies for next five years, develop appropriate salary policies, and
accompanying specific KPIs. Develop standard and professional work processes…
ISB will meet some difficulties in implementing above solutions. ISB managers will
have to increase the time spent working together and they will be pressured on this
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ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO

volume of work. So need great efforts from the management positions as well as the
role of the HR manager are very necessary.
We do not need increase financial budget for this change. The budget for
teambuilding activities will be the same as in previous years but it needs to be
more effective. The budget for salaries and bonuses will not change much, but it

will be divided more appropriately and clearly based on individual performance.
PART 1: BACKGROUND
I.

SYMPTOMS:

Online adverting is a form of promotion that using the internet and World Wide Web
marketing message to attract target customers. Along with the rapid increase in the
number of Internet users around the world, the World Wide Web has become one of
the most effective advertising medium in this decade (Louisa Ha Ph.D.,2012). A
major advantage of online advertising is the quick promotion of product information
without geographical boundary limits.
At ISB, Ads is run on media tools such as Google Ad words, Facebook, Ad network,
and PR articles on some online business magazines with a medium budget and with
the arm of growth recruited students from this source.


2017 sales report provided by sales department shown that there are no

ISB.MBA student recruit from 2017 online advertising campaign source (total
recruited student in this year is 60.


And in 2018 sales report, numbers of ISB.MBA student getting from 2018

online advertising are 8 students (total recruited student in year is 73, equivalent
to 11%) ( summary at table 1)

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ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO

Table 1

Sources of sale volume:

UEH/ISB brand
Online advertising campaign
Others
Total



In addition, in 2018 online advertising campaign report, this campaign

had 118 potential profiles to convert to real students; however this rate of
convert is too low (8 students of 118 potential profiles, lead to close ratio is
6.7%)


However, basing on business need of ISB as well as key performance

indicators (KPI) assigned to sale and marketing departments, every year ISB
need recruit 100 ISB.MBA students. By sales data analyzing, numbers of
student from UEH/ISB brand or Website UEH/ISB source is 44 students in
2017 and 47 students in 2018( see at table 1) (getting about 50% of KPI 100
students). So, other activities from ISB such as telesales, Alumni events as well
as online advertising campaign need great effort to approach more target
customers, to increase sale volume and to meet KPI

Therefore, low sale volume from online advertising campaign is prominent symptom
that ISB should pay more attention.


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ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO

II.

INITIAL CAUSE - EFFECT MAP

Beginning the research, I have a depth interview with ISB marketing expertise,
Ms .Thao Lam, and I ask her ―which medium are effective and not effective in
2017 campaign?‖ She said that: Google are still an effective channel. Other media
tools bring to the customer database but these data are not quality.
And from this opinion, I review 2017 online advertising report and see that:


Facebook_ Lead ads get 11 potential profiles but taken note that

―although Facebook _ Lead ads has conversion and get customer database but
almost data is not quality‖.


This campaign has only total 11 potential profiles.



Ms Thao Lam notes ―the campaign need find more useful channel to get

more customer database‖
Continuing I interview ISB sales manager, Ms. Linh Le, and ask her ―why do
having fluctuation of sale volume in 2017 and 2018‖ She said that:
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ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO



In 2017, customer database getting advertising campaign is poor

quality and low quantity. So sales department do not approach many target
customers

In 2018, many potential customers from online adverting source postpone their MBA
studying
and move to plan 2019.

Continuing, I also review 2018 online advertising report and see that:
 Banners on Ad network, PR articles or Facebook only get 6 potential
profiles.


Ads on package of Vietnamworks and Google get 112 profiles

Come back analyzing secondary data of sales, I recognize that having 51 of 112
profiles from ADR package of Vietnamworks and Google source following in

potential profile database 2019 (equivalent to 46%)
From investigating, I find out three potential causes of the symptom - low sale
volume from online advertising campaign as follows:
1.

Poor quality of potential profile

2.

Low quantity of potential profile

3.

High percent of delayed potential profiles

For potential cause No.1 &2, poor quality and low quantity of potential profile, Ms.
Thao Lam said that:


The campaign is approved run near the examination of ISB.MBA. So

marketing department has no enough time for preparation and run the
campaign. Furthermore, advertising just run in short time, ―has only about 1
month to promote‖


―Difficulties when doing communication for ISB MBA are time. The

time when UEH approves admissions and ends enrollment is about 4 months,
from May to August‖



The PR articles run in May and July.

And Ms. Linh Le also said that:


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ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO



Online PR articles run at wrong time and need expand Ads on more

many business editors


Both campaigns in 2017 and 2018 run too late. Potential customers know

about ISB.MBA lately
Coming back to online advertising reports, we see that:


Facebook _ Lead ad, editors such as Vnexpress.net; News.zing.vn and

Cafef.vn or banners run on Ad network get low outcome.


Need search more useful medium and need an effort run adverting as

soon as possible
For potential cause No.3, high percent of delayed potential profiles, Ms. Linh Le said
that:


In 2018, potential profiles getting from Ads on ADR package of

Vietnamworks and Google is too late , so many potential audiences have no
th

enough time to prepare for ISB.MBA exam ( about 20 Aug)


Delayed about 40 potential profiles need finish a certificate of economics at

short courses (such as Pre MBA course at ISB) before attend ISB.MBA exam.



Pre MBA course at ISB need reform of teaching method to create more

flexible and convenient for target customers.
Come back analyzing secondary data of sales, I find that having 19 Pre MBA profiles
of 51 profiles (equivalent to 37%) from package of Vienamworks and Google source
waiting attend Pre MBA course 2019.
From analyzing, I find that there are three prominent potential central problems
influenced low sales volume of online advertising campaign:
1.

The campaign run too late ( Too late of online advertising campaign)

2.

Some current medium is inappropriate, the campaign need search more

useful media tools ( Inappropriate of some medium)
3. Short course at ISB (Pre MBA) is low efficiency ( Low efficiency of
short course Pre MBA)
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ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO

III.

UPDATED CAUSE – EFFECT MAP

According to E.W.T. Ngai (2001) in an article ―Selection of website for online
advertising using AHP‖ he identified ―impression rate is measure by counting each
time that a page displaying the banner is viewed: it gives advertisers a sense of the
traffic at the site. A page view differs from a hit: a view involves the number of times
a page has been accessed, whereas, a hit counts the number of times that all elements
in a page, including graphics, have been accessed. This implies that the higher the
number of impressions, the higher the chance that a banner advertisement will be
viewed by potential customer‖.
In an article ―Marketing industry in digital era‖ by Liliana Dugulaena (2008), she says
that ―the ―click-through‖ is means the process of clicking through an online
advertisement, being the most immediate response to it. The number of click-throughs can

be a good indicator of the interest involved by the advertising. The ―click-through rate”
(CTR) is the average number of click-throughs per hundred ad impressions, expressed as
a percentage, to arrive at the destination site. A high click-through rate
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ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO

does not assure a good conversion rate, sometimes it can be oriented
towards curiosity clicks‖.
E.W.T. Ngai also said that ―audience fit” as how well the visitors compare
to business‘s target customers profile in terms of age and education level.
Base on www Vinalink media, in an article ―10 indices “vital‖ in internet marketing‖
shows that: ―total conversions” are one of the most important metrics for measuring
profitability in overall marketing efforts. This conversion rate can be statistically
measured in several ways for example, order form, message form, etc. And ―Lead” is
the focal point of business, business can collect this information in a variety of ways,
including online and offline marketing: fill in the form, conferences, trade shows…The
purpose storage Lead is to find chance converts to real customers.― Lead to close
ratio” is lead conversion rate into customers purchase or service use.

In an interview with Ms Linh Le, she also said that ―2017 online PR articles do
not come to audience fit and communication is too late. We have the articles on
some channels. However, most students do not know about this information, and
so they chose other programs to study‖
Analyzing 2018 advertising campaign report, we see that real KPI of impression and
click on Facebook are higher estimated KPI. However, real conversion (contact)
number is too lower than estimated KPI one.
In the interview, Thao Lam also said that we have conversions on Facebook in 2017
campaign but this conversion (Lead) is poor quality so lead to close ration is 0%.

In 2017 advertising campaign report mention click-through rate (CTR) of Google
display network is average 0.23% and do not have any conversion (contact).

IV.

CENTRAL PROBLEM OF INTEREST

As we discuss in symptom part ―why should we focus on the symptom of low sales
volume from advertising campaign?‖, because if advertising effectiveness significantly
enhance, they will be one of vital tools to reach ISB volume goal.
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ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO

Choosing right time and right medium are one of important steps in advertising
plan. In limit time, I will prioritize research on central problem ―too late of online
advertising campaign” to discover real causes and proposal for solutions.
With this problem of interest, the online advertising campaign runs too late, I think
that boards of director (BOD) and marketing department at ISB have enough control
on solving problem.
My marketing knowledge is limit, so the research do not focus too much on problem
―inappropriate of some medium‖, but I will still present the existence and
important of this problem.
Readjust the time of the campaign and choose more useful medium will help ISB to
determine level of real utility of advertising influenced on sales, BOD will have a
more suitable budget for advertising activities to maximize the profit as well as finish
volume objective and increase ISB brand awareness.
Reforming of teaching method of Pre MBA class also is an important element to
expand volume, however, they involve in many other departments (such as production,

testing, faculty) as well as academic quality. To solve this problem, BOD and ISB
departments need take much time for the research. My work scope is outside this field,
so low efficiency of Pre MBA course will be stop research here.
PART 2: PROBLEM JUSTIFICATION
I.

POBLEM DEFINITION

In Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising has an article: ―Online
Advertising Research in Advertising Journals‖ by Louisa Ha Ph.D (2012). The article
show that ―author proposes the definition of online advertising as deliberate messages
placed on third party web sites including search engines and directories available

through Internet access. Deliberate messages mean that the advertiser intends to
place the message on the online medium. They are not unsolicited list ing on thirdparty sites‖
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Other definition as follow: “Internet advertising(online advertising) whose goal it is
to drive customers to your website or location (s) or to make a call regarding your
products or services” While traditional offline advertising is used by many companies
to drive customers to their websites, many businesses are trying online ads on the
online medium: e-newsletters (such as banners, pay-per-click ads, pay-per-call ads
and pop-ups), compatible websites, search engines and online versions of newspapers
and magazines as a way of reaching people who use the internet for shopping or to
gather information (www Entrepreneur Asia Pacific )
According to E.W.T. Ngai (2001), he identified five evaluation criteria that can were
used in selecting the most effective website for online advertising as follows:

1.

Impression

2.

Cost

3.

Audience fit ( education level/ age)

4.

Content quality

5.

Look and feel ( design/ user_ friendliness)

In an article ―10 indices “vital‖ in internet marketing‖ (www Vinalink media)
show how to measure efficiency of online medium as follows:
1.

Total visit

2.

New session

3.

Channel – specific traffic

4.

Bounce rate

5.

Total conversions

6.

Lead to close ration

7.

Customer retention rate

8.

Customer value

9.

Cost per lead ( CPL or cost per sales_ CPS; cost per action_ CPA)

10. Return on investment ( ROI)
In next part, we will base some critical figures (such as impression, conversions, cost

per sales ( CPL) and ROI) to evaluate effective of Google, Facebook, ADR package of
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ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO

Vietnamworks, Ad network and online versions of newspapers and magazines using at
ISB.
II.

PROBLEM EXISTENCE
th

Entrance examination of ISB.MBA is often organized at the mid of Aug (about 20
st

Aug) by UEH/ISB and deadline of application form is about 31 Jul. Students
need take from 2 weeks to 7 weeks to prepare of attending for this exam (2 weeks
for review knowledge of 2 subject English and Gmat and 5 weeks for attending
short course Pre MBA at ISB).
Students also can attend other short courses Pre MBA at UEH by Vietnamese
language in about April every year.
I ask Ms Thao Lam: ―Do you think when is suitable for running ISB.MBA
advertising? And she said that ―Due to the behavior of the students, after the Lunar
New Year they will usually start looking for information on MBA classes‖. And
Ms.Linh Le said that: customers converting economics certificate, should know
ISB.MBA information before April to make plan for attending short course Pre MBA
at UEH or ISB. She also said more: potential customers in 2018 know about ISB.MBA
lately, they cannot attend ISB.MBA entrance exam on time.
Basing on sales database, information of some potential profiles form the advertising

campaign is shown as follows:

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Table 2:
Date

Sources

11th, July

Vietnam

2018

work

11th, July

Vietnam

2018

work

20th, July

Vietnam

2018

work

20th, July

Vietnam

2018

work

24th, July
Google
2018

th

Table 2 show that, data of potential profile from Ads have from 11 July but almost
among them to be failed because of too late for Pre MBA course at ISB or UEH.

According to online advertising campaign reports 2017 and 2018, I see that timing
th

th

of campaign 2017 run from 11 Jul to 10 Aug and campaign 2018 begin from
first days of Jul.

From above reality situation at ISB, we find that the campaign start in July is too
late. Advertising should run sooner and in many periods of time.


Next, I will analyze efficiency of communication channels run in the campaigns:

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Table 3: Online advertising
campaign 2017

Channel

Facebook
Google
display

Total

Table 4: Online advertising
campaign 2018

Channel

Facebook

Google

Ad network

Vnexpress.net

News.zing.vn

Cafef.vn

Vietnamwork


Total

Note: Vulue of a ISB.MBA student about 20% of revenue (
source from ISB. Finance & Accounting department
information )

Impression: called a view or an ad view, is a term that refers to the point in which an
ad is viewed once by a visitor, or displayed once on a web page
Click: once a user sees our ad (logs an impression), they can click on it to take them
to our landing page.
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ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO

Conversion: a conversion must happen after a click, and is always more valuable than
a click. A conversion can be any sort of action we want the user to take such as filling
out a form to give customer information

Sales: making an purchase action (a conversion become a real customer)
ROI: is the most important factor for any marketing campaign, it will give us an
idea of how profitable rate it is to invest.
If ROI>1, campaign has been effective
If ROI<1, campaign need to be adjusted
ROI = (value of a customer – cost per an action)/cost per an action)
 From table 4, we see that, ROI of Google media is the highest and cost per
conversion is lower other some channels. So, Google should be continuing invested in
the next year.
 ADR package of Vietnamworks with cost per conversion is the lowest but
ROI is loss, due to lead to close ration is 0%. However, we should consider late
of advertising influenced this ROI. Thao Lam also note in 2018 campaign report
that
―data from ADR package of Vietnamworks are quite useful‖.
 ROI of all Vnexpress.net, News.zing.vn and Cafef.vn is rather low and cost per
conversion is highest. We should seek some other useful channels to replace for some
current ones.
In the last two year, effective of Facebook and Ad network is low with cost per
conversion is high as well as ROI is loss.
From the analyzing, we see that combining above indexes with searching other
activities influenced on low outcome of sales, we will have reasonable decisions
in choosing right medium

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ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO

Finally, I also have an interview with Le An Binh, a fourth year student of University
of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH), to understand how a target audience know

about ISB.MBA and the result is as follows:

Questions

Question 5: Do you know ISB.MBA programe?
And how do you know?

Le An Binh:

Question 8: What do you think about online
advertising activities of ISB.MBA?

Le An Binh:

Le An Binh is a target audience of ISB.MBA, he knows about the program because he
is student of UEH. He has a lot of chance to get ISB.MBA information from UEH‘s
lecturer and his friends than others. Almost, he does not see any online advertising
about the program.
III.

PROBLEM IMPORTANT


An advertising plan is a basic part of a marketing strategy. It helps a business to
establish smaller goals as part of a larger marketing strategy. An good advertising
plan lays out exactly how and when a business will reach out to potential
customers through various types of media. This includes setting advertising goals,
identifying a target audience, defining a message to that audience, and clarifying a plan
of action to achieve those goals ( Michael R. Lewis, 2017, www.wikihow.com)
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ISB.MBA -THESIS-PSO

According to Michael R. Lewis, consider which types of media to use and think
about timing are important items in identifying a target audience part. Determining
which types of media to use can be difficult. We need advertise in medium that target
audiences interact with them frequently. Consider both target audience and their habits
when determining what forms of advertising to purchase. Think about timing,
Michael R. Lewis also states that “even if you get everything else perfect, you still
need to advertise to consumers at a time when they are thinking about buying‖.
Develop a schedule that hits target audience base at just the right time of year.
―The impact of digital marketing on the business‖ article by Zaid Noaimi (2015)
shows that: ―the impact of digital marketing on business in general will minimize
the marketing costs by transforming from traditional/offline marketing to a mix of
offline and online marketing with a focus on the online marketing, and the cost per
unique users will decrease. For example, the 10,000 USD investments on an offline
advertisement will attract less than 6,000 users, but with the same amount of money
online, at least 100,000 users will be attracted and consequently may be interested in
your product.‖
According to Jeninfer (1998), the difference in traditional media and online media as
follows:

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