Building and developing brand name the case of eastern interational university

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

Mai Son Tung

BUILDING AND DEVELOPING
BRAND NAME THE CASE OF
EASTERN INTERNATIONAL
UNIVERSITY

ID: 22140060

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
SUPERVISOR: ASSOC. PROF. TRAN HA MINH
QUAN


Year 2016


Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................................................ 3
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................... 4
Overview of the market of higher education in Vietnam......................................................................... 4
History and Profile of Eastern International University......................................................................... 5
STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS.................................................................................................................... 6
Brief description of beginning process...................................................................................................... 6
Summary the result of in depth interview................................................................................................ 7
The point of view of the director of marketing department................................................................ 7

The point of view of EIU students......................................................................................................... 8
Statement of problem................................................................................................................................. 9
Initial identification of possible problems............................................................................................. 9
The problem of market segmentation................................................................................................. 10
The problem of brand positioning...................................................................................................... 12
Cause and effect tree................................................................................................................................ 15
SOLUTION GENERATION....................................................................................................................... 18
Objectives................................................................................................................................................. 18
Designed requirement.............................................................................................................................. 19
Solutions development............................................................................................................................. 19
Stage 1: Market segmentation and potential customer identification.............................................. 20
Stage 2: Brand Positioning.................................................................................................................. 23
Stage 3: Adjusting and developing marketing programs.................................................................. 28
Solution evaluation................................................................................................................................... 32
The core standards............................................................................................................................... 32
The supplementary standards............................................................................................................. 33
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................................ 33
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................. 36
APPENDIX................................................................................................................................................... 37

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Eastern International University (EIU) is a new university in the market of higher
education in Vietnam. The school was established in 2010 with 100% initial capital by the
Becamex Corporation in Binh Duong province. The school was oriented to be the leader in
training high quality of human resource for the Eastern and Southern areas. However, since

2011, they have not yet achieved their target in confirmation EIU brand name in the market
of higher education. This document supplied the reference and suggestion to create and
discover potential initiative in building and developing EIU brand name through a real
research at EIU. Method of analysis include horizontal analyses as well as qualitative data
from indepth interview with the marketing department and EIU students.
In the period between 2011 and 2016, the enrollment result of the school was disappointed.
The brand name of EIU in mind of the community was faded and inconsistent.
Year
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Result from the indepth interview and data analysed show that the problem is unclear in
market segmentation and brand positioning. It made the brand strategy of the school was
very weak. Therefore my research has a purpose to propose an avenue to strengthen the
brand strategy of EIU for building and developing the brand name of Eastern
International University among communities.
The designed solutions need to satisfy three big requirements. There are the functional
requirements, user requirements and last but not least is boundary conditions.
-

Functional requirements: Improve the result of enrollment, clear and consistent
brand image in mind of the community.

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

-

User requirements: The solutions are appropriate with the number and ability of
employees in the marketing department

-

Boundary conditions: The level of budget for enrollment, the policies of Becamex
IDC, the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training

I devided the process of applying solutions into three big stages:
Stage 1: Clear market segmentation and potential customer identification.
Stage 2: Clarification of brand postioning
Stage 3: Adjustment of marketing department
When EIU could clarify who are their potential customer. They could be clear in positioning
brand name and set up marketing programs to approach their customer more effectively and
economically. It make students perceive the brand image of the school and strengthen EIU
brand name. I also set up standards for evaluation the effect of our solutions could be
divided into core and supplementary. The core standards include number students in one
year of enrollment, cost in enrollment one student and the index of brand awareness
especially the top of mind. The supplementary standards includethe feed back from potential
students and the brand perception of potential customers.
However we have to admit that improvement internal power is the best solution in long term
for any university to exis and develop in a fiercely competitive market of higher education.

INTRODUCTION
Overview of the market of higher education in Vietnam
Since 2010, the number of university in Vietnam has increased significantly. A booming in
the market of higher education led to fierce competition and thus caused many difficulties

for universities especially is the private sector in remaining their activities.
The demand for studying at university in Vietnam in recent years was decreased steadily
while the supply was increasing significantly. Therefore students would have many more
choices for studying at university in comparison with the past. It caused problems for
private universities in enrollment because students would have priority to apply to public
school. For the purpose of competition with other schools, many universities were trying to

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

reduce their entry requirements. It lead to a lower quality input in comparison with the past.
The gap in receiving favor from the Government between public and private universities
was very high. Therefore competition among public and private schools in Vietnam was
unfair. In recent years, the growth of economic conditions and international cooperation in
Vietnam create high demand for studying abroad or studying in an English environment.
In conclusion, the market of higher education in Vietnam is extremely competitive. It
created many obstacles and challenges for new comers. However, it also had opportunities
which a new school could exploit to be existed and developed further.

History and Profile of Eastern International University
Eastern International University was found by Becamex IDC Corporation in 2010 in Binh
Duong province, one of provinces that generates a significant contribution for the country’s
GDP and overall economic wealth of the country. The school began to enroll their first
cohort of new students in 2011. In the period between 2011 and 2015, the school achieved
over 2,500 students in total. The school focused on three main field of education: Business
Administration, Engineering and Nursing.
The advantage of the school is support from Becamex Corporation. Becamex is renowned
as one of the country’s largest industrial park operators, proudly hosting over 13,000

businesses located in seven industrial parks and infrastructure hubs. EIU is surrounded by
Binh Duong New City, the future hub of the province, which by 2020 is predicted to require
over 150,000 working professional. Based on the supporting from Becamex IDC
Corporation, EIU could obtain a close relationship with around 5,000 foreign companies in
total of 13,000 enterprises in controlling of Becamex IDC.
In order to successfully address the needs required, EIU’s mission includes fundamentally
serving the community of Binh Duong and sustaining the local growing business sector
with fully qualified and highly skilled graduates. EIU students will absorb a truly
international learning environment. Students will experience a valuable mix of modern
academic facilities, a native speaking specialist English center, a unique pedagogy of
teaching and learning methods, and challenging international curriculum subjects regularly
designed to match current business requirements.

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS
Brief description of beginning process
Despite very high efforts from the board of directors of EIU in bringing brand name of EIU
into the communities. In the period between 2011 and 2016, EIU has not yet achieved their
target in enrollment new students. Their enrollment result decreased steadily from year to
year. EIU also found that it was hard for them to recruit high quality researchers or
professors. The table below show the real result of enrollment at EIU from 2011 to 2015:
Year
2011
2012
2013
2014

2015
2016
Their enrollment was low in comparison with other international university. For example
RMIT easily achieved enrollment from 1,200 to 1,500 students every year. Some other
international universities also got a quite optimistic result with around from 700 to 1,000
students such as SIU or FPT. In comparison with universities in Binh Duong province, the
result of enrollment at EIU was very low. Thu Dau Mot University could enroll nearly 2,000
new students in one year, while Binh Duong University could get between 800 and 1,000
university. In Binh Duong, there were around 8,000 students who would register to study at
university annually. However EIU could only attract from 200 to 250 students among them.
These numbers made me considered that EIU had low result in their enrollment
performance.
There were many students who used to visit EIU or participated enrollment activities at the
school, but they did not come back after finishing the national examination.
I consider that there are many possible reasons would cause these problems. For example, a
lack of effective marketing programs could make students do not know school brand name

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

or have negative evaluations about the school. Brand equity is an essential factor to create
huge advantages in competition with other schools. Universities which have a celebrated
and trustworthy brand name can enroll high standard students, setting a high level of tuition
fee and have many chances to cooperate with enterprises. Student who come from these
universities have advantages in apply to both domestic and foreign companies. In addition,
a bright brand name is also an appealing factor to attract talented researchers, scientists and
professors. On the other hand, universities which have low brand name would found many
difficulties in enrollment new student or recruitment new talented lecturers. Another reason

would be the policy of the school. A high entry requirement or the high tuition fee would be
obstacles for recruitment new students. For the purpose of identification the key problems
which caused low performance in enrollment at EIU. I decided to contact with Mrs. Thu
Trang, the director of the marketing department to make some of in depth interview. The
marketing department is the functional part of the school which have responsibility in
running all of marketing program. Therefore I believed that after my in depth interview with
the director of the marketing department. I would clarify the orientation in building and
developing brand of EIU and thus I could identify clearly real problems happening.
I also decided to make in depth interviews with some EIU students who live in Binh Duong
province and Ho Chi Minh City to clarify the basic information including the reason why
these students chose to study at EIU, what were their expectations, what is the channel
student got most of information about EIU and thus I could make a comparison about gap
between the real factors of EIU’s potential customers and the point of view of EIU’s top
managers. I believed these information could be useful supplement reference for me in
problems identification and designing potential solutions to improve the marketing
department performance.

Summary the result of in depth interview
The point of view of the director of marketing department
According to the manager of the marketing department, EIU carried out enrollment in the
whole country. They also focused on provinces belong to the South and East, especially is
Binh Duong and Ho Chi Minh City. They considered that most people in Binh Duong

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

province know about the school but in other provinces the brand name of EIU still very
faint. However the marketing department did not have specific information to support her

consideration. In the point of view of the marketing director, EIU is trying to enroll as many
student as possible because they considered that if they approach a high number of students
they could increase their successful rate in enrollment. They set up a quite low entry criteria
and supply high entry scholarship for student who have high result in the national
examination. EIU is trying to approach as many high school as possible. Year by year, they
established enrollment activities in many high school in Binh Duong province, Ho Chi Minh
city and the vicinities of Binh Duong such as Long An and Dong Nai province. In Ho Chi
Minh City, the school used to organize festival of information of enrollment in top and
middle class high schools like Bui Thi Xuân high school, Thu Duc high school, Nguyen
Khuyen high school, Long Truong high school and so forth. In Binh Duong province, every
year the school organized event of information in over 20 high schools in total of 26 high
schools. The budget for enrollment of the school is limited and control by Becamex
Corporation. The budget was not clear for each year. It depend on the decision of Becamex
Corporation, therefore the marketing department is very passive in preparing enrollment
budget.
The point of view of EIU students
Students living in Binh Duong province
Students know the brand name of EIU because they participated some of enrollment
activities of the school. They also received brochure of EIU from their high school. They
expected to study in a popular public university because of the cheap tuition fee and an
expectation of easy job finding in future. They thought that EIU was still new and did not
have high brand name. The students chose EIU as their second choice. They registered to
the school because of recommendation from their parents, their friend’s choice or the
location of the school. When recall the brand name of EIU, the image was different in the
case of distinct students. One student perceived that EIU was a very advantageous in
English environment. However the perception of another student is advantageous in
supporting from a big enterprise.

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

Students living in Ho Chi Minh City
Student know about EIU because the school used to establish a counseling program of
enrollment in EIU. Students found impressive about the infrastructure of the school and she
love the English environment of EIU. However in the national examination she chose the
international university Ho Chi Minh City as the first choice. However her national
examination result was only 15, therefore she could not pass the IU and decided to study at
EIU. They expected to study in IU because it located in Ho Chi Minh City which close to
her home. In addition, most of her friend also studied in Ho Chi Minh City. When I remind
the name of EIU she think about English and high tuition fee. She chose EIU as the second
choice because her good feeling when visiting EIU and she decided by herself. However the
first choice was IU based on both her decision and advises from her family.

Statement of problem
Initial identification of possible problems
In the general overview, I considered that the performance of EIU in enrollment would be
affected by two types of environmental factors. They are external environmental factors and
internal environmental factors. It mean that the possible problems which cause low
performance in enrollment at EIU during the past could be factors which occurred within
EIU or factors which took place outside of the school.
The possible problems belong to internal factors would be high tuition fee, high entry
requirement, limited ability of marketing employees, restricted budget for enrollment
activities or inefficient marketing program. In the meanwhile, the external problems could
be threat from competitors, political or cultural factors, regulations from the Government,
the situation of market of higher education in Vietnam and so forth. However if we consider
the external factors we could see that these problems are objective and the school is not able
to affect to it by themselves. In addition, even suffering the same condition of external
environment but some private universities could remain a positive result in enrollment. For

example RMIT Vietnam could easily achieve from 1200 to 1500 new students in one year of
enrollment. Therefore I considered that the internal factors would be able to affect
significantly to the result of enrollment of private universities and if we could solve these

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

problems we would improve the performance of EIU in enrollment activities. Therefore, in
initial identification, I decided to focus on solving problems from internal environment of
the school.
The problem of market segmentation
The first category is EIU was confusing in market segmentation. They has not yet had clear
criteria for segmentation of the market of higher education to clarify their targeted
customers.
EIU also segment the higher education market by geographic criteria. They had priority in
running enrollment programs in the South East of Vietnam, especially are Binh Duong
province, Ho Chi Minh City and the vicinities of Binh Duong including Dong Nai, Long An
and Binh Phuoc. In geographic market segmentation EIU clarified it in the level of
province. It mean that people who live in different towns or districts in the same province
would be considered to belong in one group. EIU also segment the market by the academic
performance of high school students. They provided entry scholarship to attract excellent
students who have high score in national examination. However EIU still try to approach as
many students as possible by setting up a very low entry score to achieve their target with
around 1,000 students every year. According to the marketing department, there was around
90% high school student in Binh Duong recognized EIU brand name. The proportion would
be around 30% in Ho Chi Minh City and from 25% to 30% in the vicinities of Binh Duong
including Dong Nai province, Binh Phuoc province and Long An province. The data of
structure of EIU students which was collected from the office of academic affair at EIU also

support the picture of the marketing department:
Year
2013
2014
2015
However, based on the result of the interview with EIU’s students, we could see that many
students chose EIU as their second choice instead of the first choice and they studied at EIU
because they did not meet the criteria to register to public universities in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

It mean that despite EIU has a high brand awareness, the rate is only aided or spontaneous
not the top of mind.
For the purpose of market segmentation and potential customer identification, we need to
consider the factors which students based on to evaluate a university and thus we would
compare these factors with the real condition of EIU. Curtis (1) stated that there are seven
factors which affect to the decision of choosing college including course, location,
reputation, cost, social life, local activities and grade requirements. However the most
important factors are course, location, reputation and grade requirement. In the meanwhile,
Six (2) recommended that tuition fee, academic program, location, lectures and professors
are reasonable condition for students to evaluate a university. Base on above theory we
could consider that location, reputation and entry score would be seen as crucial conditions
for students in choosing their university, and thus link to the case of EIU, habitat and
academic performance of student are appropriate factors to identify the potential customers.
Based on the data collected from the office of academic affair and the result of in depth
interview with EIU students. I can pointed out that the most important targeted customer of
EIU are students who have quite low academic performance and living in Binh Duong

province. I considered the characteristics of these student could make them become the
target which EIU should follow to attract them. Student who live in Binh Duong province
could found comfortable studying at EIU because their living place closed to school,
therefore they can stay with their family. Their living environment would not be changed.
Students who live in Ho Chi Minh City and the vicinity of Binh Duong province and had
quite low academic performance could be also considered as targeted customers. Because
those students still found easily to live and study in Binh Duong which closed to their
hometown. The academic performance of these students are not impressive and thus the top
public universities which have high enrollment score are very hard for them to pass and thus
EIU which has the low enrollment score is an appropriate choice.
In conclusion, I discovered that EIU has not found yet the right factors to clarify the market
of higher education and thus they could not identify their potential customers. EIU still had
market segmentation. However they only segment follow geographic criteria and the level

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

of segmentation was not specific enough. Because despite living in the same province,
people who live in different towns or districts would have different conditions for instance
economic ability, income and so on. Distinct students would have different demand for
studying at universities. EIU did not clarify a clear band of criteria for market segmentation
to identify what are the characteristics of their potential customers and design appropriate
program to approach them. It is reason caused them confusing in identification and
approaching their most potential customers. According to Tonks and Farr (3) market
segmentation and branding positioning are considered as the center of marketing activities
in the market of higher education. They always are considered as top concern in building
and developing brand name of university. However Niculescu (4) stated that in the past, the
demand for studying at a university is higher in comparison with the capacity of current

universities, these universities found easily to enroll new students without promoting too
much. Therefore the concept of brand positioning, potential customers and so on are not
familiar in their enrollment activities. However, in recent year, the situation was changed
because of the boom in the number of university. It created a higher supply in comparison
with demand of place in universities and caused many more difficulties in enrollment.
University now has to change their mind and they need to pay more attention in brand
positioning and market segmentation. In 2007 Musyoka, Mutyauvyu, Kiema and Siriba (5)
supported the point of view of Niculescu that segmentation would help the company
approach to potential customer more quickly and cost-effective. I completely agree with
above ideas. In recent year, the market of higher education in Vietnam is saturated.
Therefore it would be more feasible for EIU in enrollment if they could identify and follow
the need of a small and potential group of customers.
The problem of brand positioning
The second category problem in low building and developing EIU brand name is the
problem of brand positioning. EIU has not yet identified and developed the unique and
strongest factors of the school.
Aaker and Shansby (1982) defined (as cited in 6, p103-111) six methods which brand
positioning could be conceived. There were by attribute, by use, by user, by product

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

category, by price in comparison with quality, and by competitive positioning. Positioning
by attribute is the association among the brand name of the company with a particular
attribute. In the case of university, the school would position themselves as having
international program or the most modern infrastructure. Positioning by use is based on the
function of the product which universities normally focused on the major for instance the
top of business school or the best engineer university. The third category is positioning by

user which based on the characteristic of students and their family. Some universities they
position that the school is only for students who have high academic performance, on the
other hand the others would position that they are opening with those who only have
average academic result. Brand positioning by product category could be considered as a
university classify that they belong to the system of national universities, the others could
category they belong to the group of international universities. Positioning by price per
quality is a method of brand positioning which confirm the high quality in comparison with
an acceptant tuition fee, an example of price per quality positioning is the University of
Phoenix in US (6) who confirm themselves as the Havard of the Midwest. The final method
is competitive positioning. It is the method which based on the characteristics of the rival to
position the company to be same or different. Depend on the market and domestic strategy,
the organization could choose an appropriate method to position their brand name. Some
organization mixed some methods together. However the application of multiple brand
positioning is very complicated and sensitive to implement because it would cause a
confused perception in customer’s mind.
In the case of EIU, in the period between 2011 and 2015, the school tried to positioning
their brand name in many way without a clear concept. They position their brand name by
attribute, by use, by user, by other competitors and so forth. For example, they confirmed
that EIU is a place to train and supply high skillful labor. EIU supply a premium training
program with a low tuition fee in comparison with among private universities. EIU students
are going to find a job easily when they graduate. EIU is a place where attract many popular
and professional lecturers and researchers. In addition, EIU also positioning that they are
different with other universities as EIU focus very much on training English, therefore
students could achieve at least 6.0 IELTS point before they graduate. However based on the

1
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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

result of indepth interview with EIU students I could clarify that these students did not have
a consistent perception of EIU, and most of the perception are still very faded. For example
one student said that he used to do not know anything about EIU, but he had relatives who
worked for Becamex Corporation and thus recommended to him. In the meanwhile the
other have the perception that EIU was a school which has good infrastructure or to be
supported by a big enterprise. I discovered that students did not get the perception of EIU in
the way the school want it to be. In the period between 2010 and 2016, EIU issued various
different printed advertising including leaflet, brochure, banner, poster and electronic
advertising including e-letter, e-brochure, e-magazine and so forth which was created by
different designers in different styles. Choosing appropriate and consistent brand elements
is a crucial and basic step to create brand recognition. Aaker (1996) argued (as cited in 7,
p33-42) that brand recognition can be essential for a new or niche brand. EIU is a very new
brand in the market of higher education. Therefore EIU has to pay more attention on
creation brand recognition among communities.
The problem of brand positioning would directly affect to enrollment activities of the
school. When EIU could not determine how to confirm their brand name appropriately,
students would not get the brand image of EIU, they could not recall and understand the
image of EIU, they could not recognize what are the unique characteristics make EIU more
considerable than other universities. If students would not be interested in EIU, how they
could chose to study in the school. It is explained why the school has to clarify their
strategy of brand positioning. Walker and Jean (6) point out that there are many universities
trying to apply multi-brand positioning to satisfy all requirement from their customers.
However it would cause a confused perception in people’s mind. They pointed out that
effective brand positioning require three factors: unique (perceived uniqueness), strength
(strong and transparent association with brand position) and prevalence (the majority of
potential customer get brand awareness). In my point of view, the school need to consider
all of the factors of the university which students would consider before they chose to
participate and thus the school could evaluate their position in the market of higher
education, compare with other universities and consider which are strengths and which are

weaknesses of the school to set up appropriate strategy to position brand name.

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

Cause and effect tree
The cause and effect diagram is a relevant tool in exploring possible problems which cause
the company had low performance. The cause effect diagram normally has two types: the
fish born and the tree. In my researching, I applied the tree type in drawing cause and effect
diagram. In comparison with the fish born, the tree structure is quite simpler and clearer
because all the items on the tree are aligned vertically. The cause effect tree of EIU as
below:

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

Wasted
resources

Low budget for
communication

Lack of
information
Unclear in
market

segmentation

Could not identify
potential market,
targeted customers

No demand
Low
enrollment

Lack of
marketing
ability
Unclear in
brand
positioning

Weak
Brand name

Lack of faith

New
Brand name

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

We could see that the symptom of EIU is low enrollment which could be confirmed by a
comparison the result and target of enrollmet at EIU and a comparison among result of
enrollmet at EIU and at other private or international universities in Vietnam. We also could
recognize the symptom of EIU by comparison the result of enrollment of the school with
the number of 12 grade students in Binh Duong province, Ho Chi Minh City and the
vicinities of Binh Duong. The symptom is caused by three main problem: students do not
have information about EIU, students are not appreciate brand name of EIU and finally
students have different demand or they do not have ability to study at EIU. These problems
made students would not consider EIU as their choice.
Considered the cause and effect tree, we could see that the main problems are unclear
market segment and unclear brand positioning. When EIU is unclear in market
segmentation, they could not identify what are their targeted markets and who are their
potential customers. The budget for enrollment activities are limited. Therefore the school
would waste their resources to approach wrong customer while still missing potential
students who most likely choosing them. It explained why many potential customers of EIU
lack relevant information about the school while many students who have information are
people actually have no demand for studying at the school.
The second problem is unclear brand positioning. When EIU was unclear in confirm their brand
positioning, it could cause a failure in effort of creating brand identification and transferring
brand image of EIU to the community. It has been proven through my interview with some EIU
students. By the time those students chose EIU their perception about EIU image were very
distinctive and unclear. They also could not recognize any signal which represent the image of
the school. When students could not recall the name of the school as well as could not perceive
the brand image, they would not believe or highly evaluate the value of EIU. It explained why
the brand name of EIU was still very weak. I also considered that because EIU was a very new
university therefore it easy to understand that their brand name was weak in comparison with
other universities. However we could not interfere into

17

Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

the problem of new brand name. Therefore we should focus on the problem of brand
positioning.

SOLUTION GENERATION
Objectives
The research has a purpose to propose an avenue in building and developing the brand name
of Eastern International University among communities. In the process of achievement
these big targets, I defined three major objectives as below
-

Identification of potential customer

-

Clarification in brand positioning

-

Develop brand image and improve the result of enrollment

The objective one is identification of potential customer. EIU should create a clear board of
criteria to segment their market and thus identify their potential customers. When the school
know who are their potential students they could mobilize their resources to approach them.
It help the school not only approach customer more effectively and precisely but also
achieve cost-effective in using resources.
The second objective is clarification in brand positioning. EIU should clarify clearly the
position they are staying in the market of higher education and the image they want to be. It

help the school could realize who they want to become and their customer could realize
who they are.
Last but not least is development of brand image and improve enrollment result. The school
should design a consistent and coordinated marketing mix to strengthen their brand
association and thus transfer the image of EIU into the mind of customers and the
communities in general. By the time EIU could confirm their brand name. People will
remember the name Eastern International University. They are also able to perceive the
great value of EIU. It would increase the opportunity student will choose EIU and thus
improve enrollment result.

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

Designed requirement
Based on theory of Aken, Berends and Bij (8) in 2012 the designed solutions need to satisfy
three big requirements. There are the functional requirements, user requirements and last
but not least is boundary conditions.
-

Functional requirements: These requirements deal with basic and core factors which
the company should do to help themselves improve their performance. They defined
requirements which were asked in the solutions to focus on the main problems.

-

User requirements: these are requirements about the concordance between applying
solutions and the existence of human resource in the company. It mean that the
solution should be designed to be parallel with ability of people who deal with it.

-

Boundary conditions: These are restricted conditions that the company has to suffer
and could not be broken.

In the case of functional requirements, the solutions has to be designed to help the school
improve the brand image among the community to enhance the result of enrollment new
students and recruitment skillful lecturers. Regarding to the user requirements, the solutions
should be developed to be appropriate with the human resources of the school especially are
staffs of the marketing department. For example solutions do not require a number of staff
in the marketing department which is over than their resources. The final requirements are
boundary conditions. The designed solution should also meet the boundary conditions of
EIU. They must be appropriate with the policies of Becamex Corporation. They also have
not to violate any regulation of the Ministry of Education and Training and other
Government organizations.

Solutions development
We know that the problem of market segmentation and brand positioning are caused by lack
of marketing ability from the marketing department and even from the board of director of
EIU. However I considered that the possible solution should not interfere to the people in
marketing department such as replacing employee or organizing training course. Because

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

the structure of human resources in Becamex IDC is very complicated. It is not easy to
become employee or to be fired in Becamex IDC. In addition, during the time in working

with the marketing department, I found that marketing employees have basic marketing
knowledge. They are very dynamic and enthusiastic in doing their job. The problem is only
they did not realize the importance of market segmentation and brand positioning in
building and improving EIU brand name as well as their enrollment result.
We know that the brand name of EIU is weak because not only EIU is a new brand name
but also because during the period of time between 2010 and 2016, the school confused in
confirmation their position and also did not know who are their potential customers. It mean
that their brand strategy was very dim and weak. Therefore the solutions which help EIU
building and developing brand name should meet requirement to strengthen and clarify their
brand strategy.
The process of solutions generation include three big stages:

Mark
segmentati

potential cu

identific

Stage 1: Market segmentation and potential customer identification
The first step in the process of solving problem of EIU is an identification clear market
segmentation. For the purpose of segment the market of higher education, the school has to
clarify the factors of segmentation for the higher education market. The school need to
ensure that these factors would meet requirements as follow: measurable, accessible,
substantial, differentiable and actionable. The first criteria is measurable which is very
important in market segmentation because we need to know the size and the volume of the
market for example the number of customer of the volume of product demand to ensure we
segment a reliable market. However a reliable market would not be intended for us if we
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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

could not approach to it. This reason explained why we need to satisfy the criteria of
accessible. The criteria of substantial is meaning that the size of the market and the
purchasing power are large enough for us to focus on. We do not want to waste our valuable
resources to invest into a very insufficiently profitable market. Differential is criteria for
ensuring that the market which customers in the market segment are homogeneous and each
of the market sector are different and distinguished with the others. The final factor is
actionable it mean the school can exploit and analyze the useful information of the market
segment. In other words, the market segment has to have practical value for the school.
According to Kotler (1988) (cited by 9, p36) the process of market segmentation including
three basic steps. The first step is an identification of segmentation variables. The second
step is an evaluation of the attractiveness in each market segment and choosing the
appropriate segment. The final step is positioning which involve activities to identify and
develop the promotional concept among community to distinguish with other competitors.
Applying the theory of Kotler into the market of higher education, the market could be
segmented bases on the basic variables including geographic factors, demographic factors,
and psychographic factors. Base on the geographic variable, the market would be segmented
by location of the school, location of student living places, population density. By
demographic factors, we could segment base on the characteristics of students as academic
performance or economic ability. By the psychographic, we could consider our customers in
social class, personality or lifestyles and so forth. In the case of EIU, I considered that the
appropriate variables to segment their market are the academic performance and the
economic ability which belong to demographic factors and the location of students living
places which belong to the geographic factors. Based on the geographic variables EIU could
divide their market into the market of students living in Binh Duong province, the market of
students living in Ho Chi Minh city, the market of students living in the vicinity of Binh
Duong (Long An province, Dong Nai province and so forth) and the final market is students
who live in other provinces which are far away from Binh Duong province. Based on the

demographic factors, EIU could segment their market into the market of students who have
high academic performance and students who got low academic performance. They also
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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

should segment their market into the market of high income family, the market of medium
income family and the market of low income family. In evaluation the attractiveness in each
of market segmentation we could see that by the geographic variables Binh Duong province
is the most attractive segment of EIU, following by Ho Chi Minh City and the vicinity of
Binh Duong province. Provinces which are far away from Binh Duong is not attractive for
EIU. By the demographic variables, the appropriate sectors for the school is the market of
students who have quite low academic performance and the market of family who have high
or medium income.
In conclusion, I could identify that the appropriate market segments of EIU are two
segments:
Group one are students living in Binh Duong province. These students in this group have
the characteristics that have advantageous conditions to interact with EIU especially who
have parents working in Becamex and related enterprises in Becamex system or working for
the Government of Binh Duong province. These people know the role of Becamex and have
good impression with Becamex therefore it could be a very effective channel to impact
students’s choice. Students living in Binh Duong normally are willing to work in their
native place. Therefore a school which belong to the biggest industrial developer in Binh
Duong would be attractive for them. In addition, students in this group should have quite
low academic performance and have high or at least medium economic ability to cover cost
of studying at EIU. I considered that group one is the most potential market of EIU.
Group two are students living in Ho Chi Minh City and the vicinity of Binh Duong
province. These students in this group still potential for EIU because they would found easy
to study in a place which close to their home town. Based on the result of indepth interview

with EIU students, I found that students in this group normally be attracted by the modern
and plentiful facilities of the school. The other characteristics of this segment are also
similar with group one. They are having quite low academic performance and having high
or at least medium economic ability to cover cost of studying at EIU. I considered that
group two is the second most potential market of EIU.

2
2


Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

Stage 2: Brand Positioning
Positioning is a key factor in the whole process of bringing EIU brand name into the
communities. Ries, Trout et al (as cited in 6) confirmed that positioning is considered as a
core branding activities. It create a unique image of the school to help students distinguish
with other universities and thus the school could achieve a distinctive place in the market of
higher education. University which has clear and distinct positioning would have ability to
convey students and their parents who it is and what is stand for. Therefore it would be said
that a clear and unique brand positioning is the next step in the process of solutions
development to improve the result in enrollment and recruitment of the Eastern International
University.
In the process of market identification, I have already clarify that the potential customers of
EIU are students who live in Binh Duong province, Ho Chi Minh City and the vicinity of
Binh Duong province and the students most likely have quite low academic performance.
For the purpose of approaching and penetrating to this market segment, EIU should find out
core benefits which customers in this market segment expected and than develop a
positioning program which focus on these benefits to attract them. Based on the interview
with EIU students, I discovered that demand of students in the market segmentation of EIU
having some distinct features dealing with students in different groups.

Group one: students living in Binh Duong province: These students and their family
normally are influenced significantly by the image of Becamex IDC. They choose to to
study at EIU because they want a high job opportunities in Binh Duong province. Working
in Becamex system including VSIP, Becamex international hospital, Becamex hotel or
applying to work into around over 20,000 enterprises in industrial parks which to be under
control of Becamex IDC are sound very attractive. People in Binh Duong do recognize that
Becamex IDC is the biggest company owning by the Government in Binh Duong. They are
easily attracted by feeling that students who graduated from EIU would find easier to work
in State system or at least receiving many favors from the Government of Binh Duong
province. Students in group one also want to study in convenient location where having

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Building and Developing Brand Name – The Case of Eastern International University

easy transportation and comfortable living condition. Students could choose EIU because
the school staying in their local place. Therefore students would found familiar with living
environment. They also do not need to hire a place to stay and reduce living cost when they
live with their family as before.
Group two: students living in Ho Chi Minh City and the vicinities of Binh Duong province:
these students want to find a school which is at least to be authenticated by the Ministry of
Education and Training of Vietnam and has a quite easy criteria in entry because students
who have low academic performance are afraid of register to a public university. These
students are normally be attracted by modern gorgeous facilities of the school and the
English environment. Staying in Binh Duong province is not convenient in comparison with
Ho Chi Minh City. However Binh Duong is still closed to their home town. Therefore it
would be not very unfamiliar and uncomfortable for them to study at EIU.
In the market segmentation of EIU, their main competitors are not popular public
universities. Because they have many favour from the Government, having a very low

tuition fee and setting up a very high entry requirement. The main rivals of the school in this
case are universities in Binh Duong province dealing with students in group one and other
private and international universities, for example RMIT, Saigon International University,
FPT, Vietnam Germany University and so forth dealing with students in group two.
Group one: Main rivals would be Thu Dau Mot universities, Binh Duong universities,
Vietnam German universities, university of economic and technology.
In the SWOT analyzation we could clarify the advantage and disadvantage of EIU in
competition with their main rivals in Binh Duong province:
Strengths
- School of Becamex IDC - one of
the country’s largest industrial park
operators
- The English environment with at

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